Novitiate Totally Explained

Everything about Novitiate totally explained

Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice (or prospective) monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they're called to the religious life.
   A novice is free to quit the novitiate at any time, and the Superior is free to dismiss them with or without cause. During the novitiate, the novice is often clothed in special clothing which, while distinct from secular dress isn't the full habit worn by professed members of the community. The novice's day normally encompasses participation in the full canonical hours, manual labor, and special classes designed to instruct the novices on the religious life they're preparing to embrace. Spiritual exercises and tests of humility are a common feature of the novitiate. Many communities encourage frequent confession and reception of Holy Communion by their novices.
   A Superior will often appoint an experienced member of the community to oversee the training of novices. This may be a single novice master who is responsible for the training of all novices, or an individual elder may be appointed for each novice.
   Different religious communities will have varying requirements for the duration of the novitiate. Often one must go through a postulancy before entering the novitiate. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the novitiate is officially set at three years before one may be tonsured a monk or nun, though this requirement may be dispensed.
   The term novitiate also referes to the building or complex within a monastery or convent which is devoted exclusively to the needs of novices (sleeping, training, etc.).

Further Information

Get more info on 'Novitiate'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://novitiate.totallyexplained.com">Novitiate Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.