The Journey

At the origin of the religious consecration there is a call of God for which there is no explanation apart from the love which He bears for the person whom he calls. This love is absolutely gratuitous, personal, and unique. “Come and you will see…" (John 1:39). Christ invited the Apostles, and they followed Him.

Postulant - The new member gradually takes part in the community life and learns about the charism of the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church.  While receiving basic instruction in consecrated life and Catholic doctrine, the postulant actively participates in a program of human, spiritual, academic and pastoral formation under the guidance of the postulant director for up to one year. During this time of transition from life in the secular world, the postulant learns to grow in intimacy with Jesus Christ through Eucharistic prayer, the practice of recollection, and joyful community life.  She learns the characteristic spirituality of the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church, the Total Consecration of St. Louis Marie de Montfort.

The Novice Sister – Novices  receive a new religious name and the novice habit in a private ceremony in the presence of the community.  The novitiate program typically lasts for two years. The novitiate is"a time of integral initiation into the form of life which the Son of God embraced and which He proposes to us in the gospel…" (DF, 45).   During this time, the novice is gradually initiated into the life and charism of the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church. Her mind and heart are formed as in the School of Mary, wherein she is led to a more intimate knowledge and love of Jesus Christ and of the Father through the lived experience of the evangelical counsels.

The Junior Sister – First Vows and Temporary Profession - Desiring to strengthen her bond with Christ and to derive still more abundant fruit from the grace of her baptism, a sister makes public profession of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, is consecrated to God through the ministry of the Church, and is incorporated fully and joyfully into the community. Temporary profession is a time to experience and train in the apostolic works of the community and to attain professional education while integrating the religious and spiritual training of the novitiate.