Question: new communities doing formation in other established communities

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limabella

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Hi there,

I heard recently that sometimes new forming religious communities spend time in an established community or novitiate as part of their formation process.

Is that true ? Can anyone give any examples for me ?

Do these new communities spend a few months … or years with the established communities ? Does everyone go or just the founder / leader ?

Many thanks,
 
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Welcome to CAF, @limabella!

I’m in the process of founding a new congregation myself. What you’re asking about is known as the Founder’s Novitiate. There is one group, the Marian Franciscans, who just finished a year with the Baltic Sisters of Charity.

The new community has to have their formation program written down before going to the Founder’s Novitiate. As one cloistered nun told me, “We have to know what to teach you.”

The Founder’s Novitiate is one year, which is the canonical Novitiate year required by Canon Law. Those in formation should be able to pay $100 a month/$1200 for the year to defray the expenses for the host community.

I’ve often fielded questions about the Formation program contents, and all seem to intuit the requirement of the Theology of the Religious Life. The formation program explains the Spirituality and the Constitutions. There must also be a Formulary, which gives the formula for the vows; and Customary which explains the spiritual exercises, or Customs. In other words, what devotions make this community unique?

New communities assist the bishop with the fulfilment of his pastoral plan (needs assessment for the diocese).

The community hosting the Founder’s Novitiate is to be similar in Spirituality to the new group. Again, from my experience, no community will say yes until asked by the bishop.

Hope this explains. The second link under my moniker is the old site for my new congregation. We are working on an updated version, probably with another host.

Blessings,
Mrs Cloisters OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
 
This has gone on pretty much forever. St. Katharine Drexel, for example, founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, did her novitiate with the Pittsburgh Mercys. The Maryknoll Sisters’ novitiate was originally conducted by the Scranton IHMs and then the Sinsinawa Dominicans. Scranton also conducted the initial novitiates for the Srs of St. Casimir and the Srs of Sts. Cyril & Methodius. The Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate conducted the first stages of formation for the Sisters of Life, who later brought in Mother Asumpta Long, then of the Nashville Dominicans. This could go on and on. It’s nothing new, or unusual. And it doesn’t have a formal name, Mrs. Cloisters’ statement notwithstanding.
 
That is true. The Sisters of Life did part of theirs with the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate.
 
The Sisters of Life also did part of their formation at the Hawthorne Dominicans. They had a specific reason for doing so. Something along the lines of developing their sensitivity to human suffering.

More examples of one community training another could also include the Queenship of Mary community in Canada doing their formative year with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. The latter even sang their send-off song to them.

The Little Servants of the Cross, who minister to the Native Americans, had their foundress do her Novitiate over two years with the local Benedictines.

Truly fascinating stuff!
 
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Wow thank you for your replies.

So is it usually organised through a bishop ? or from Order to order ?

And is it always one year ? or different lengths of time ?

Blessed Passiontide all.
 
A canonical novitiate must be at least a year in length. So the initial formation, under the auspices of another congregation (or a MEMBER or members of another congregation) has to be at least that long.

Bishops need to offer approbation of any new religious society. And some formations have been declared invalid if they were undertaken before that approbation was secured. That, for example, was the case for the Maryknoll sisters, and why their first novitiate, directed by the Scranton IHMs, was considered invalid and they had to do another with the Sinsinawa Dominicans.
 
The Sisters of the Holy Family made their original novitiate with the Madames of the Sacred Heart.
 
limabella said:
Is that true ? Can anyone give any examples for me ?
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The monastery of Bose, in northern Italy, often sends its novices not only to other communities but to communities in other countries, speaking other languages, as the monastery attracts retreatants from all over Europe.

I recall a sister telling me how, during her novitiate, she was told she would be sent to France in order to learn French as well… only to end up in a Carmelite congregation which kept strict silence. The only French she ended up learning was the vocabulary of the Psalms 😅
 
And Cornelia Connolly, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, also made her novitiate with the Religious of the Sacred Heart.
 
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