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Formation Process
Download a PDF chart of our formation process
Resident Contact Program
Candidate Program
Canonical Novitiate
Non-Canonical Novitiate
Temporary Professed
Perpetual Profession
Resident Contact Program
The formation process is a perfect time to dialogue with a sister to explore the question of whether or not you are really being called to religious life.
We also have a resident contact program for women who have limited contact with our sisters. Resident contact is a time when you can live with the Sisters of Saint Francis of the Neumann Communities and be in closer contact with a team member. This is especially beneficial in the discernment process when a women lives at a distance from our sisters.
Once there is a mutual decision that someone will begin formation in the community and once she is accepted, she becomes a candidate in our contact program.
Candidate Program
A candidate (formerly known as postulant) spends 6-24 months in a pre-novitiate program and is employed part-time to support herself during that time.
This is a time to experience life with the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, to “come and see” if this is a community in which there is a mutual fit. This is also a time to study some of the history of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities and do some volunteer service with the poor. One is free to leave at any time if she believes religious life is not her call. When the time of candidacy is completed one may become a canonical novice.
Canonical Novitiate
The canonical novice lives at the designated formation house with the novice minister for a time of one year.
This time is prescribed by the church "to deepen" one’s relationship with God; to strengthen prayer practices; to become familiar with the community's history and with the evangelical councils of poverty, minority, contemplation and conversion; to strengthen one’s vision and call to religious life; to study the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience; and to help grow in a balanced personal relationship with God. The novice also has this opportunity to search deep within and further discern who she is and her call to religious life. At this point, prior to temporary vows, the novice is not bound to remain in community.
Non-Canonical Novitiate
The non-canonical novice lives outside the formation house and is involved in ministry.
A non-canonical time can be extended up to six months beyond one year. This is when the novice lives with sisters outside the formation house and implements practices initiated during the canonical year. At the same time the novice is developing a deeper relationship with the poor and with more of our sisters. By the end of this year it must be determined if she is to make a three year commitment of vows in the community of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.
Temporary Professed
Temporary professed make first vows for three years and are involved in full time ministry. After three years, if a sister does not make final vows, she may renew her vows for a period of one to three years.
Perpetual Profession
After a time of initial formation a sister professes final vows. When a sister makes final vows, she has then made a lifetime commitment to live out those vows.