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| Religious life |
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| Initial formation for the Marist
brothers |
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 “The
vitality of our religious family and its fidelity to its
mission depend, to a great extent, on the formation of its
members. The Institute takes great care to provide a formation
that is well based and adapted to the personalities and
the cultures of its members. The different stages of formation
should all be characterized by a common goal – to
form men capable of vowing their entire life to God in an
apostolic Marist community”
Marist Constitutions,
§95
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The Pre-Novitiate (cf FG, 132, 165, 134) |
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 Before
he enters the novitiate, the young man interested in becoming
a Marist Brothers begins his formation in the pre-novitiate
period. The purpose of this formation is to help him to
know himself better, to accept himself, to transcend himself,
and to be converted to the Gospel.
It has two stages:
a) A time of enquiry for aspirants (each Province or
District devises its own program)
b) A time of postulancy (lasting at least six months)
The aim of the pre-novitiate is above all discernment,
that is, the recognition, by both the candidate and the
Institute, whether or not there has really been a call
to follow Jesus in the Marist life.
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| The
Novitiate (cf FG 194 and 196) |
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The novice is entering a new form of life,
leading him with Christ into an experience of profound interior
life, like Mary and Marcellin Champagnat, in order to discover
there the source of the love of God and of others. This
will allow him to make a well-motivated, free and joyful
commitment, and to have a genuine experience of Marist life
according to the Constitutions.
Letting oneself be led by the Holy Spirit
calls for a certain degree of solitude and a great deal
of inner space. Only in the desert can the novice discern
the validity of God’s call, that is to say, detect
the motivations that are leading him to choose Marist religious
life, and purify them little by little.
The Novitiate lasts two years (cf. FG §238).
This time of formation prepares the novice for his religious
profession, seen as a response to God’s call (§240).
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| The
Post-Novitiate (cf. FG 286, 287) |
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 From
the Novitiate until perpetual profession, the formation
of the Brother in temporary profession is continued in
two stages, in a systematic and balanced way. It is organized
with a view to the needs of the Church and of the people;
it is adapted to the personal capacities of the Brother;
and it is in keeping with the charism of the Institute.
Throughout this time the Brother steadily deepens his
sense of consecration to the Lord.
The general aim of the post-novitiate is the formation
of the young professed Brother’s apostolic personality.
It involves completing and deepening the work of the novitiate,
by managing to lay the foundations on which the adult
being of the Little Brother of Mary can be built up.
This stage consists of
two phases:
a) Formation for mission: More specifically the Brother
prepares himself for evangelizing and educating young
people, especially the most neglected, by means of his
presence and through a program of human, Christian,
cultural and social advancement. This phase lasts at
least three years (cf. FG §290 and 308).
b) Apostolic apprenticeship: After the preceding phase,
centered mainly on theoretical knowledge and personal
unification, there follows one that emphasizes apostolic
apprenticeship (FG §293).
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| Perpetual
profession (cf. FG 316 a 318) |
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During his final year of temporary profession,
the young Brother is admitted to perpetual profession by
the superiors of the Institute who have acknowledged his
capacity for “vowing his entire life to God in an
apostolic Marist community” (Constitutions §95).
The Brother prepares for this important
decision by making a serious evaluation. At that moment,
his Marist life should have reached a level of identification
and unification that will permit him to commit himself realistically
and definitively.
To give him time to reach this goal, the
period of temporary profession normally lasts six years.
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