Parish Workers, Little Daughters of the Holy Family

Formation














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The first year will be cloistered.  Even the novitiate choir will be cloistered.  Ideally, the monastic novitiate will be attached to a parish church.  Or the community will offer their chapel to the diocese to be a parish church for the sake of training novitiate sisters.

The cloistered novitiate year will be divided into four quarters.  The first day will be the postulance, followed by 365 days of novitiate.
 
The novitiate garb will be a black skirt, white blouse, and a white headcovering of some sort: tiechel; scarf; triangle or something comparable.  A Miraculous Medal will also be worn.  Either black bars or chevrons will be worn on the right sleeve as a show of progress.
 
The first three months will concentrate on developing the prayer life.  Interior silence; building the convent within; Instruction in the Benedictine rule; the Liturgy of the Hours; Lectio Divina; and Mental Prayer will be studied at this time.  The novitiate sisters' ability to learn to ask questions will enhance not only their novitiate experience, but will assist them in the apostolate.

The second three months will incorporate more formal instruction in the Little Way, and in further study of the Benedictine Rule.
 
The third three months will continue in the study of the Benedictine Rule; and the evangelical counsels as lived in the Parish Workers, Little Daughters of the Holy Family charism.
 
The fourth three months will entail instruction in parish dynamics and interpersonal relationships, to include body language, and age-based psychology.  In the second and third months, on-the-job training will take place.   The last two weeks will be dedicated to a cloistered pre-profession retreat, and the making of the habit.

Temporary vows will be renewable for three years.  At the end of the third year, final simple vows may be made.  At any time, the sister may either decide to leave, or be dismissed by the superior and her council.

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