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| Discalced Carmelite Friars California-Arizona Province of Saint Joseph |
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| "Those who seek their joy in God are the ones who give joy to God” Saint Raphael Kalinowski, OCD |
| After a Postulancy of six months, the young man enters the novitiate. The novitiate is of the utmost importance since it consitutes the first steps and foundation of the religious life. It is during this time that the novices discover the basic values of the consecrated life in Carmel, and begin to build on them by following the directives of the Church and the Order. The formation program will help them experience these basic values. as they try to live them faithfully instead of knowing them only theoretically, they will begin to keep their eyes fixed on our saints, who are masters in this art. |
| By Solemn Profession a religious is definitively incorporated into the Order and becomes a full member of it. For that reason no one should be admitted to it without proven human and spiritual maturity. |
| At the end of the novitiate it is for the Provincial, with the consent of the formation community, to admit the novice to temporary profession. The Novice should have given proof of his suitability, of possessing a well-balanced personality, adapted to community life. He should have demonstrated a promptness in giving himself in a radical way to the Lord and to his brothers in community. |
| After Solemn Profession and/or Ordination, all our religious should strive to combine an intense spiritual life with an unflagging application to sacred and profane studies. They will thus be unceasingly renewed in spirit, and their service to the Church will keep abreast with the needs of the times. |
