novitiate

Information about novitiate

Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice (or prospective) monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life.

A novice is free to quit the novitiate at any time, and the Superior is free to dismiss them with or without cause. During the novitiate, the novice is often clothed in special clothing which, while distinct from secular dress is not the full habit worn by professed members of the community. The novice's day normally encompasses participation in the full canonical hours, manual labor, and special classes designed to instruct the novices on the religious life they are preparing to embrace. Spiritual exercises and tests of humility are a common feature of the novitiate. Many communities encourage frequent confession and reception of Holy Communion by their novices.

A Superior will often appoint an experienced member of the community to oversee the training of novices. This may be a single novice master who is responsible for the training of all novices, or an individual elder may be appointed for each novice.

Different religious communities will have varying requirements for the duration of the novitiate. Often one must go through a postulancy before entering the novitiate. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the novitiate is officially set at three years before one may be tonsured a monk or nun, though this requirement may be dispensed.

The term novitiate also referes to the building or complex within a monastery or convent which is devoted exclusively to the needs of novices (sleeping, training, etc.).

See also

References

novice in Catholic law and tradition, is a prospective member of a religious order who is being tried and being proven for suitability of admission to a religious order of brothers, sisters or monks.
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MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes, particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor, or k-effective, of a system. It is owned by Serco Assurance.
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A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice.
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Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of the religious life – cenobitic and eremitic – of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches, whereby they confirm their public profession of the Evangelical Counsels or Benedictine equivalent.
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The term "vocation" should not be confused with vocational education.

A vocation is an occupation, either professional or voluntary, that is carried out more for its altruistic benefit than for income, which might be regarded as a secondary aspect of the vocation,
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Superior may refer to
  • superior (hierarchy), in a hierarchical structure of any kind, a superior is above a subordinate and closer to the apex
  • superior is the generic term, and in some cases the formal title, for the head of a monastery or other local unit of a religious

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Habit may refer to:
  • Habit (psychology), an acquired pattern of behavior that often occurs automatically
  • Habituation, non-associative learning in which there is a progressive diminution of behavioral response probability with repetition of a stimulus

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religious profession is defined in the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church in relation to members of religious institutes as follows:
By religious profession members make a public vow to observe the three evangelical counsels.

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Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers.
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Confession of sins is part of the Christian faith and practice ( James 5:16 ). The meaning is essentially the same as the criminal one – to admit one's guilt. Confession of one's sins, or at least of one's sinfulness, is seen by most churches as a pre-requisite for becoming a
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Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, among other names) is a rite or act of worship that most Christians[1] perform in order to fulfill the instruction that they believe Jesus gave his disciples, at his last meal with them before
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The master of novices or novice master is a term used in the Catholic Church to refer those religious to whom is committed the training of the novices and the government of the novitiate of a religious order or congregation.
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An elder (in Greek, πρεσβυτερος [presbyteros]; see Presbyter) in Christianity is a person valued for his or her wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group.
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A Postulant (from the Latin postulare, to ask) was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. Its use is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a monastery, both before actual admission and for the length of time proceeding their
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Eastern Christianity

History
Byzantine Empire
Crusades
Ecumenical council
Baptism of Kiev
Great Schism
By region
Eastern Orthodox history
Ukraine Christian history
Asia Eastern Christian history

Traditions
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Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches, mystics, Buddhist and some Hindu temples of cutting the hair from the scalp of clerics, devotees or holy people as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem.
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economy (Greek: οικονόμια, economia ) has several meanings.[1] The basic meaning of the word is "handling" or disposition" or "management" of a thing -- usually assuming or implying good or
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Monastery (plural: Monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον (monastērion), denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer (e.g.
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convent is a community of priests, religious brothers or religious sisters, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion.
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novice in Catholic law and tradition, is a prospective member of a religious order who is being tried and being proven for suitability of admission to a religious order of brothers, sisters or monks.
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A Postulant (from the Latin postulare, to ask) was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. Its use is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a monastery, both before actual admission and for the length of time proceeding their
..... Click the link for more information.
The master of novices or novice master is a term used in the Catholic Church to refer those religious to whom is committed the training of the novices and the government of the novitiate of a religious order or congregation.
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Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone) is the religious practice in which one renounces worldly pursuits in order to fully devote one's life to spiritual work.
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