Explaining Religious Formation

In my earlier post, 'Explaining Consecrated Life', I had reflected on various analogues for consecrated life that might be helpful in explaining who we are and why we do what we do. After, “What is consecrated/religious life,” the question I've faced most often is, “How long does the training last?” That is the question I'd like to reflect on today; hence we look at formation in consecrated life.

As I had written then, I found marriage the best analogy to what we are in consecrated life (the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience we make as consecrated being analogous to the exchange of vows in marriage). In fact, consecrated make two kinds of vows – simple and solemn. The former is usually a low-key affair attended by members of the consecrated institute and immediate family only; the latter is a much more public and … well... solemn affair. There are technical and canonical differences between the two in terms of how they are viewed by the institute, the Church etc. As I understand it, solemn vows have a definitive, public and permanent character (thus they are also often called perpetual or final vows). One cannot usually be dispensed from them without the approval of the General (that's the highest authority within a consecrated institute). Thus, it is actually the solemn vows that I find come closest to the definitive commitment of marriage.

What about simple vows, then? They represent a positive commitment and intent, but of a more contingent nature. A person can usually be dispensed from these by the provincial (the head of the institute in a province or region). In most institutes, consecrated first make simple vows that are temporary (say, for 3-5 years; thus simple vows are often called temporary or first vows), subsequently renewing them annually or biannually etc. until it is mutually agreed between the order and the consecrated that she or he is ready to make solemn vows. A few institutes, like the Jesuits, make perpetual simple vows so that, as far as the person making the vows is concerned, the vows have a definitive, permanent character etc. (as you can guess, there is no end of confusion caused by this, especially when interacting with members of other consecrated institutes!) To go back to my analogy, I find that it is the rite of engagement that comes closest to simple vows. (In my experience, while marriage retains its ceremonial nature in the West, a ceremony that celebrates the engagement of a couple is largely unused. That is not the case here in India, however, where an engagement ceremony is only outdone by the actual wedding itself.)

With that in mind, we can look at the process of formation itself. Formation is a two-fold process. On the one hand, it is a process of discernment: both the individual and the institute try to determine over a period of time whether it is really God's will that the person consecrate her or his life in this institute. On the other hand, it is a process of incorporation: the individual becomes part of the body of the institute and makes the charism and way of proceeding of the institute her or his own. Or, as I prefer to think of it, both the person and the institute increasingly discover that God has already endowed this person with the charism of the institute, which must be developed and nurtured so that the person becomes a gift to the concrete institute. Put another way, formation is the process of establishing connaturality between the person and the institute. Of course, the balance between discernment and incorporation normally shifts to the latter as the formation process continues.

In one sense, formation is a lifelong process as there is always room for growth. In another sense, the formal process of formation ends with the solemn profession of vows. At that point, the consecrated has judged herself or himself as possessing and has been judged to possess the gifts needed for a full and productive life in the institute.

When a person wants to join a consecrated institute, the first stage of formation is the postulancy, which is also known by other names like aspirancy, pre-noviceship, candidacy etc. This is, effectively, a “come and see” programme that is implemented variously between institutes and provinces. So, for instance, some institutes admit postulants into the house or community but accommodate them in a separate part of the house (postulants do not usually wear the habit or cassock of the institute); while others have a programme of spiritual direction and visiting of communities while the candidate continues to live and work in the professional world. Some institutes have a separate pre-novitiate house established in the province with a fixed programme of academic and spiritual formation. At the end of the process, the postulant formally applies to enter the institute. This stage of formation can take between 6 months to a few years (if the candidate continues studying or working etc.).

If accepted, the person enters the noviceship stage (also called novitiate – but I prefer to use that term for the novitiate house itself). This is a period of focussed discernment in the context of an atmosphere of prayer, work, increasing familiarity with the rules and way of proceeding of the institute one has joined etc. In terms of the analogy, this is the “serious dating” phase. Novices of many congregations wear a modified version of the habit of their institute. At the end of the noviceship, the novice makes simple vows (as described above) and becomes a consecrated proper. They subsequently receive the full habit of the order. Canonically, the noviceship must last at least 1 year; some orders (like the Jesuits) have a 2-year noviceship.

The period between simple and solemn vows is characterised by growth in the connaturality (as I wrote above) between the individual and the institute. This is usually facilitated by inserting the consecrated into the full flow of life in the institute. In an apostolic institute, this means full-time work in an approved apostolate; for contemplative institutes it is simply integration into the conventual or monastic life proper. Some institutes may have a period of reflection and study similar to the noviceship during this period (in the Jesuits, this is called tertianship as it is considered the “third year” of the noviceship). This stage of formation can take between 3 years to a decade or more.

Everything I've written so far applies to all consecrated institutes – of men and women. Whether one joins an institute as a brother, a sister, a monk or a nun, this is the basic process of consecrated formation. If you've been doing your maths, the process will be seen to take about 7-9 years on average.

The alert reader now asks, “But what about priestly studies?” I've not included it in my description of formation so far. Canonically, the candidate for the priesthood in the Catholic Church must have studied for a minimum of 6 years full-time or equivalent – 2 years of Philosophy and 4 years of Theology. All priests – diocesan (also called secular) or consecrated – have the same 6 years of study as a requirement.

Different institutes integrate priestly studies into their overall process of formation in different ways. Many institutes will have the two run concurrently; in such cases the consecrated makes his solemn profession before ordination to the priesthood. Some institutes effectively alternate between the two; e.g. having a 2-4 years full-time apostolic work between philosophy and theology (this is usually called regency). In this case, depending on the length of formation stipulated between simple and solemn vows, the consecrated may be ordained before or after solemn profession. In most cases, it is the latter but, with the Jesuits for instance, ordination always precedes solemn profession.

To summarise, formation in a religious institute has the following stages – postulancy, noviceship, (simple vows), “on-the-job” (my term) formation, (solemn vows). Priestly studies (philosophy and theology) can run either concurrently or interspersed with these.

A final note: I've seen that many diocesan seminaries (that's where a diocese trains men for the priesthood) have adopted elements from religious formation. For instance, some seminaries in England have a pre-seminary year (analogous to the noviceship) in Valladolid. Similarly, many seminaries in India have adopted the regency as a period of personal integration of one's studies with pastoral work.