Religious Life is a form of life to which some Christians are freely called by God so that they may enjoy a special gift of grace in the life of the Church and may contribute each in her own way to the saving mission of the Church, while living, praying and sharing in community.
The qualities required of candidates are:
- A desire to enter the Religious Life, which is based on a supernatural motive, for example, to save her soul, to make Christ known in the world.
- Endowment with qualities of mind, body and personality required to live and work in a happy, well adjusted way in the Congregation. Generally, these qualities are good health, sufficient strength and intelligence to carry on the work of the Congregation; and psychological balance needed to live in a religious community. There should also be evidence that she is a person of good moral character.
Admission to the Pre-Novitiate Program:
Each candidate, before admission to this program, is interviewed by the Admission Board, whose members are: Vocation Directress, Pre-Novitiate Directress and Directress of Novices.
Two months before this interview, the candidates will have presented the following documents, to be examined by the Admission’s Board before the actual interview:
- Baptismal and confirmation certificates
- Certificate of health recently obtained from a medical doctor
- A recent testimonial of good moral character from the Pastor
- If the candidate has been a Postulant, Novice or Professed Religious in another Congregation, testimonial letter from the Superior General of that Congregation will be required.
- Other testimonials.
Pre-Novitiate – One Year:
Candidates for admission into the pre-novitiate program will have three days Retreat before reception. This ceremony is private and within the Community.
The candidates for the Pre-Novitiate program will spend this period in a house of the Congregation designated for this purpose under the care and competence of the Pre-Novitiate Program Directress.
The aims of the Pre-Novitiate Program of the Congregation are:
- To make sure that candidate has a sound understanding of Christian doctrine and morality.
- To give the candidate the experience of living a more intense kind of Christian life within a Christian community.
- To provide the candidate with a clear knowledge of what the religious life means.
- To afford the candidate basic instruction in prayer and the liturgy.
- To teach the candidate how the apostolate fits into the religious life.
- To help the candidate make transition from lay to religious life.
- To give the candidate and the Congregation the chance to discover whether she has a vocation as a Sister of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.
In order to achieve these aims, the Program last for one year and include:
- Instruction on Christian doctrine and Christian moral principles.
- Explanation on the basic elements of the religious life and vows with special attention to the spirituality of the Congregation.
- Elementary training on community prayer, private prayer and the liturgy.
- An experience of living together and working together in mutual love and helpfulness.
- Participating in some apostolate of the congregation.
- Some training on openness and sincere search for God’s will on the candidates’ life, as related to discovering whether or not she has a religious vocation.
Novitiate – Two Years:
At the end of the Novitiate, Novices accepted for profession take temporary vows:
- for 1 year
- for 3 years
- for 1 year
- for 1 year
Postulancy (one year) and Novitiate (two years). Sisters spend the majority of their time at the formation houses studying, attending classes and engaging in apostolic activities.
Temporary Professed (six years) Sisters begin work on academic degrees and gradually become more fully involved in the congregation’s apostolate.
Final Professed Sisters are fully engaged in the apostolate as well as serving the community through administrative roles within the Congregation.
