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Missionary Benedictine Sisters Immaculata Monastery Norfolk, NE
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Journey Toward
Membership
Affiliation Affiliation is a time of searching. The affiliate and the community come to know each other and together discern the affiliate's call to the Missionary Benedictine way of life. The directress assists the affiliate in her growth in spiritual, social and emotional maturity. The candidate will grow in her relationship with Christ through personal prayer, spiritual reading, guidance and service. A woman applying for affiliation is to be at least 18 years of age and normally not over the age of 45. She will have completed her high school education. The period of affiliation is normally six months to one year. An affiliate provides her own living arrangements and continues her social contacts, education and/or work in which she is involved. The relationship between the affiliate and the community is informal, entailing no mutual legal responsibilities. Postulancy Postulancy is a time of discerning. The purpose of the postulancy is to review with the candidate her fitness for religious life; help her deepen her religious knowledge and assist her in adjusting gradually to the new mode of life. She will deepen her human and spiritual maturity through her life in community, formation classes and spiritual guidance from the postulant directress. The affiliate applying for postulancy is to have the right intention; sufficient mental and physical health; the ability to live and work with others; sufficient education and the ability to learn; and the freedom from any canonical impediment. An affiliate may request admittance to the postulancy when she and her directress agree that she is reasonably certain about her vocation and has met these requirements. She is accepted into the postulancy in a simple ceremony. She receives the Scriptures and the Rule of St. Benedict as tools to learn the Missionary Benedictine way of life. The duration of the postulancy is generally two years. Novitiate Novitiate is a time of intense preparation for monastic profession. When the postulant and her directress feel she is ready to enter this period of preparation, the postulant requests acceptance into the novitiate. The purpose of the novitiate is to help the novice continue to discern her religious vocation, experience the community's way of life, become rooted in mind and heart with the spirit of the Congregation, and examine the novice's resolve and fitness for religious profession. Entrance into the novitiate is marked by the Rite of Initiation in the presence of the prioress and community where the novice receives the dress of a novice and the basic documents of the Priory and the Congregation. The duration of the novitiate lasts a minimum of thirteen months and may be extended to an additional year and includes time for formative activity in one of the houses of the priory. Profession Profession is a time of commitment and integration. If the novice believes that God is calling her to this way of life, and that she will find her joy in serving the Lord as a Missionary Benedictine Sister, she requests to become a professed member of the community. The ceremony of first profession of the novice takes place at a simple Eucharistic celebration. She surrenders her life to God in this community through her monastic vows of "conversatio," obedience and stability. She receives the religious habit, veil, and her religious name. She sings a song of trust and surrender; "Uphold me, Lord, according to your promise and I shall live forever. Do not disappoint me in my hope." The purpose of this initial commitment is to help the sister to learn how to integrate a life of prayer and work, become more deeply rooted in the community and the congregation, receive further training for missionary activity and prepare for final monastic profession. The minimum length of this commitment is three and a half years. However, this period may be extended to help the sister prepare for her life of commitment. Toward the end of her initial profession, the sister presents her request to be admitted to final profession. After her acceptance and a period of preparation, the final profession ceremony takes place during a Eucharistic celebration. The sister receives a ring as a pledge of fidelity.
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Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled. Luke 1:45
Missionary Benedictine Sisters
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