The Noviciate at Saint-Jodard


What is the purpose of a novitiate ?

The novitiate is a sort of birth to religious life and, for us, to a monastic life which is both contemplative and apostolic. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Christ Himself uses the image of childbirth to describe being born to divine life: "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Jn. 3:5). While baptism brings about this new birth for a Christian, there is a new beginning after entrance into religious life, which consecrates a person more intimately to God's service.


The novice separates himself from his former environment. Such detachment allows for a greater closeness to God, in the presence of the Virgin Mary, with the help of those who are given to the novice as guides.
This requires purification of the heart and the intelligence, especially with regard to the various forms of atheism which permeate our world.

 

How are these purifications brought about ?

Purification of the heart is received primarily in silent prayer, under the action of the Holy Spirit.

Purification of the intelligence is more "active" and entails the discovery of a realistic view of oneself, the other, and the world to which we belong. In such a discovery, we always need teachers to guide us: "deceased" teachers -for us, Aristotle and St. Thomas- and living teachers who invite and help us to embark upon a personal search for the truth.

The purpose of all this is to love better: truth intensifies our love for God and our brothers and and enables us to love more freely.

 

"Outside of the times scheduled for fraternal encounters and of the demands of the apostolic life, the brothers will respect this exterior silence as the greatest sign of fraternal love"
(Rule of Life).

 



What is the role of intellectual work in the life of the brothers ?

It is only a means which each brother uses according to his abilities, in alternation with manual labor and various community services : cooking, cleaning, etc.

Discovering intimacy with Christ is the goal to be pursued throughout all these activities. This intimacy, which implies a certain solitude with God, led the community to choose a monastic way of life. The brothers are "monks" in the sense that the purpose of their religious consecration is primarily a life of union with Christ in silence, adoration, and thirst for contemplation.

Solitude does not mean isolation. Notre vie comprend des liens très forts avec les autres frères. Our life includes very strong ties with the other brothers. In his first letter, Saint John stressed the connection between communion with Christ and communion with our brothers :

"If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar" (1 Jn. 4:20).

How does a young man enter the novitiate ?

Prompted by the Holy Spirit and filled with a great desire to give himself completely to Christ ! Nevertheless, the Church, in her prudence, asks that religious profession be made in stages.

A young man who comes knocking at the door of the novitiate is first of all " looking ". In other words, he is given time to observe the life of the Community from the exterior. Then, if he asks to continue the experience, the novice master invites him to cross the threshold and to participate in the brothers' life in all that they do: "Come and see" (Jn. 1:39). Thus begins the period of postulancy which lasts two months. Having experienced his vocation inwardly, the novice can enter the Community and become a novice.

In the Community of Saint John, the novitiate lasts for eighteen months. Six months after entering the Community, the novice takes the habit. At the end of the novitiate, a brother commits himself for three years by pronouncing vows of poverty, chastity and obedience: this is called temporary profession, as opposed to perpetual profession, which is a lifelong commitment. After temporary profession, the brother spends another year at Saint-Jodard in order to complete his philosophical formation. Then he leaves for Rimont, where he prepares for his perpetual profession

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