Subtitle
Art. I
Common Principles
- Post-novitiate formation is aimed at consolidating and developing novitiate formation, and completing the time of testing both by the Order and by the brothers.
- Therefore, for a period of time determined by our laws, the brothers shall live in a convent of formation under the care of the master. They shall dedicate themselves earnestly to more profoundly understanding the values and demands of their vocation, and putting them into practice. By so doing, they will be fulfilling their Dominican profession faithfully and responsibly.
- The norms set out in n. 182 concerning the appointment of novice masters, their duration in office and removal, are to be followed when appointing other masters.
- The master, according to the capabilities of each, shall advance the brothers towards the gradual attainment of the perfection of religious and apostolic life, in the spirit of the Order. He shall teach them that to follow Christ is the supreme rule of our life; he shall teach them to be of one mind with the Church, to know and cherish the spirit of Saint Dominic and the Order’s sound traditions, to read when opportune the signs of the time and to interpret them in the light of faith.
- Guided by their love for their Dominican family, which receives them and enriches them with its manifold traditions, the brothers will learn that religious life provides a more stable life-style, tested doctrine for the way to perfection, fraternal communion in solidarity with Christ, and freedom fortified by obedience.
- During the studentate the master shall discuss the students with the conventual chapter at least once a year and shall send a written report on this to the prior provincial. If a brother is studying in another province, his own prior provincial shall be given a yearly report about him.
So that religious formation may be imbued with an apostolic spirit it should be possible to conduct an apostolate in the convent of formation and to introduce the brothers to it, by way of real and active sharing, each according to his condition, gradually and prudently.
After first profession, the brothers may be given the ministries of reader and acolyte as a way of forming them gradually and prudently in the apostolate.
- To facilitate religious formation, those personal aptitudes which contribute greatly towards human maturity should be integrated and developed. Among them are a stable personality, the ability to make weighty decisions, and the acceptance of personal responsibility.
- If religious life is to be fully responsive to the world’s needs, not only must the brothers, each according to his aptitudes and situation, acquire an adequate understanding of the behaviour, the sentiments and the thinking processes to be found in current social life, they must also learn to assimilate and judge them in the light of their Dominican vocation.