If you are reading this and feel that you are being called to the Religious Life it would be good to make contact with the Mother of the Community. But if you feel a vague attraction to a life given to Our Lord in some way which might or might not include the Religious Life and you would like to explore this, it will be possible to apply to become part of our Quest Programme which we are hoping to launch in 2010.
Quest will offer the opportunity to be residential at the Convent for certain weekends over a series of months, along with others like you in a group, and with the companionship of two or three Sisters of the Community as you search for the direction of your life. It offers opportunity to find direction in broad vocational terms. For this, go to the Quest pages of the Website.
To know something of the experience of a calling to our Community, read on here.......
Our formation programme covers very specific areas: Firstly and most importantly formation fosters a deep relationship with the Lord Jesus and this personal relationship is the basis of the life of each Sister. Time and energy is given to prayer and spiritual growth, and in discovery of a spiritual life as lived within the context of CSMV. This journey is shaped by the Gospels and the Rule of CSMV, its ethos and dedication. Learning how to live with others in Community forms an important part of the experience in which this life of prayer is encouraged. You will be living closely with Sisters of all ages and from very different walks of life. Each person is under the same Spiritual Rule, by which, with grace and in the power of the Spirit, we are being drawn closer to God and to one another.
What you bring to a period in our novitiate is your precious raw material..... whatever struggle there may be in early formation years, it is only the beginning of a great adventure filled with hope if you are totally open to the love of Our Lord, learning to listen to him and to others. The purpose of being called into community in CSMV is to live together for Christ, walking with Christ, and being conformed to Christ. If you give him everything he in turn will give you everything and more.
These days those applying to join our Novitiate may have a theological academic background, or perhaps have little or no Christian knowledge at all. Those who come with theological qualifications have a rich task of honing this form of knowledge to the realities of shared common life and of making deep spiritual connections. Those who come with no Christian background or little have the opportunity of an exciting theological exploration and its spiritual fruition within the context of a shared commitment to Our Lord. There are joys and gifts in this shared journey and there are challenges which search and stretch us.
Specific areas of study in novitiate formation are:
The roots of the religious life in the early Church, and the diversification of its expressions over two Christian millennia.
The charism of the Religious Life in the wider Church ....The location of CSMV in the development of the Religious Life.
The Rule of CSMV, its history and ethos, our dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the threefold vow of poverty, chastity and obedience.
The Divine Office as prayed in CSMV, and training in Gregorian Chant, the Creeds, the Eucharist and the Church Fathers.
Any gaps which there may be in someone’s background will be filled on an individual basis.
.
Alongside the time and guidance given to growth in prayer, there will be opportunity to explore scripture alone and with others in formation, for lectio divina (reading meditatively), for reading about the lives of the Saints and diverse spiritualities.
Also we would reckon to give space and care in the formation time to the human development of those who come to the Religious Life young
Community living itself is an important teacher and perhaps something needs to be said about this here...
It seems that contemporary society is affording us unique challenges in those we receive for formation. Breakdown of marriage and family, small families with little sibling experience.... these often make the adjustment to community life hard work. People come with much anger inside them from such previous experiences. In community life anger is difficult to manage, and projecting it onto others has to be unlearnt.
Relationships in society are often transient, perhaps subtly conditional and quite simple to dissolve..... marriage is one option among many. But in the religious life as lived in CSMV, formation is towards life commitment to God in the context of community and a journey towards maturity within this. Your relationship with the Lord Jesus is vital to this. If you refuse to be made, within this crucible, into his image and to come to know his unique love for you, but look instead to the community to give you something only he can give, you will be disappointed.
The materialism and instant gratification so valued in today’s world is in sharp contrast to the demands of a vow of poverty, which means that we have nothing we can claim as our own possession.
The emphasis on sensuality and sexual freedom is antipathetic to a vow of chastity and a radical spiritual path.
Contemporary education puts stress on individual choice and ambition, but the Religious Life is not a career option in which you are regularly offered promotion. It is very simply a life of prayer and humble service.
Normally we would not accept anyone into the Novitiate over the age of fifty.
If you recognise yourself in any of this then you will understand that discernment on both the part of the Community and of the Novice, at all stages in formation prior to Life Profession, is a rigorous and searching process. For this purpose there are set thresholds for review, and either withdrawal or deeper commitment. For example after the Postulancy, the habit is given, and after a year as a Novice there is a review, and further reviews in following years. Life Profession is only at the end of some years of such discernment and is preceded by an elective chapter to a Period under Promise as well as an elective chapter to Profession under Life Vows.
Formation time is rich with possibilities, and each person’s journey is unique...... it is an inner journey encompassing the whole person, which takes place within the Community’s corporate journey. Formation does not end with the Novitiate, it extends as long as we are open to God’s love for us.
Obviously there is much that is not covered in this brief statement, and if you want to know more, get in touch with us by contacting the Reverend Mother.
