Religious Discernment
The initial stages of religious life provide a time to learn more about community life, vows, ministry, prayer and other facets of being a member of the Oblates of St. Augustine. Each stage has a different focus. During each stage of his initial formation in religious life, a man is assisted by a formation director who seeks to guide him in listening to and responding to God’s invitation.
Postulancy: 6 Months – 1 Year
Responding to God’s invitation and affirmed by the community, a candidate is welcomed into the pre-novitiate where he begins to share life with the Oblates of St. Augustine. He lives in community and participates in the Oblate’s rhythm of life: prayer, community and ministry. Prayer, instruction and study facilitate growth in his relationship with God, his brothers in Augustinian community and with himself. Gradually, he becomes more familiar with Augustinian spirituality and our community.
Novitiate: 1 Year
Having completed the Postulancy, the candidate enters into a year of novitiate. As a novice he enters more deeply into the mystery of God’s call in his life as he prepares to profess Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience in Augustinian Religious life. At the conclusion of the novitiate he professes vows for one year, renewable each year for a period of three to five years.
Temporary Profession: 3 – 5 Years
A temporary professed brother of the Oblates of St. Augustine shares fully in the life and ministry of the community. Usually, he remains under temporary commitment for a minimum of three years. During this time, he grows in integrating his life of prayer and ministry in the context of an apostolic religious community of men who are committed to sharing with others their experience of God’s goodness and provident care. Growth in prayer leads to the inner freedom that prepares him to offer his whole life to God in faith and love. At the conclusion of this stage, the brother makes a lifelong commitment to God, the Catholic Church and the Augustinian way of life through the profession of perpetual vows.
Perpetual Vows: Life
Continuing the process of ongoing formation the brother becomes a full member of the community, entering into its ministries and works.
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