Formation process to become a religious of the Society of Mary
The person who wishes to be a religious of the Society of Mary has before him a path of personal, community, spiritual and apostolic integration. It is a progressive process for their gradual incorporation into the Order.
Vocation Ministry
In the search for your Life Project, the desire to know the Society of Mary may arise in you. In this case you can start a process of vocational discernment, always accompanied by a nun.
My name is Angely and I am in search of my vocation. I still don’t know what the Lord wants from me, but I sense “something else.” I am in the beginning, in Vocation Ministry, with the accompaniment of a sister of the Society I am discovering signs that indicate that my path can be religious life.
Aspirantate
This Phase is part of the process of vocational discernment. Its objective is for you to get to know the Society of Mary more closely: through a community experience, knowledge of different educational projects and other activities. The aspirantate is always flexible, it adapts to the reality of each place and to the characteristics of the people who wish to continue seeking God’s dream for them.
Our names are Miveline and Rose, we have started the aspirantate in Ouanaminthe (Haiti). We are getting to know what it means to live in community and the mission that the sisters carry out in the school. At the same time, we grow in our relationship with the Lord through personal and community prayer and participation in other celebrations. We are happy and grateful for this opportunity that they have offered us.
Postulancy
This is the First Stage of Initial Training in the Company. It also adapts to the needs and characteristics of each person. Its objectives are to continue the discernment of the vocation to religious life in the Society of Mary and to strengthen formation as a woman and as a Christian. It lasts for one to two years.
I am María de la Caridad (Cachita). Since my adolescence, a question from Jesus moves me internally: “And you, who do you say that I am? To respond to him, I have embarked on an exciting path of search in which my love for him grows, the desire to know him deeply and to make him known to others so that they also love and follow him. I have begun the Postulancy, in this stage of Formation, a religious accompanies me, I get to know the life in community, the mission of the Society and with prayer my relationship with Jesus is strengthened.
Novitiate
The Novitiate lasts for two years. The objective is to form women who are passionate about Jesus and willing to love and serve in his own way to make possible a more just, more humane, more fraternal world… The most significant experiences of this Stage are the Ignatian Exercises and participation in the educational mission of the Society.
At the end of the novitiate, the First Vows are made.
The Society today has three novitiates: Peru (America), Madrid (Spain) and Kinshasa (DRC)
My name is Thoa and I am a novice of the Society of Mary. The most important thing about this time for me is the profound encounter with the Lord, to let him fill my heart so that I can make his attitudes and his way of situating myself in life my own. I am happy to be able to know the educational-evangelizing charism that God gave to the Church through Jeanne de Lestonnac and to feel that I connect with it.
Juniorate
The next stage of the novitiate is the juniorate. The junior lives in community, gets to know the Charism more from her own experience and participates, progressively, in the educational mission. It is also a time to complement the studies carried out and acquire the preparation that our vocation to the Society of Mary requires.
Every three years the vows are renewed and from the fifth year the Junior can request admission to the Third Probation.
Our names are Patience, Anita, Louange and Kerene. We are juniors, we have done the novitiate together, now we live in different communities. We learn to put into practice what we have learned and to combine prayer, study and other tasks. Also to realistically integrate the difficulties we are encountering. We continue to learn and grow in contact with our older sisters and we do the deepening and studies necessary to prepare for the mission. We have a Junior Manager who accompanies us on our way.
Third Probation
The Third Probation is the last Stage of Initial Formation, with a view to definitive integration into the Society. It usually lasts one year. During it, the experience of the years of Juniorate is collected to evaluate what they lived and confirm their vocation to follow Jesus in the Society. The experience of the month of Ignatian Exercises, the re-reading of the Constitutions and the encounter with the person and work of Jeanne de Lestonnac from the commitment to the Universal Company are key.
At the end of the Third Probation, if the person confirms his choice to follow Jesus in the Society and the Society verifies his suitability, he makes his solemn Profession.
My name is Arendy. I am doing the Third Probation, it is being a time of pilgrimage to the interior to contemplate again the response that I have been giving to the Lord and to affirm desires and convictions and continue to fall in love with the God of Life and the charism to which I feel called. The Spiritual Exercises and the international phase, which I have lived with my companions in the third phase, have also been confirmation to commit my life definitively to the Lord in a universal Company of Mary.
From the Solemn Profession, the nun was fully incorporated into the Order of the Company of Mary.
