Little manual of novices

Table Of Contents

Chapter to the Novices 5

CHAP. I. —Importance of the novitiate, ii

1. During the Novitiate we study our voca-

tion more calmly and with more light, and we decide it with more security. . . 12

2. During the Novitiate we test our courage,

our disposition and our acquirements.. 15

3. During the Novitiate, you study whether

the community you have chosen suits you, and the community on their part learn whether the novice is a suitable subject for the order 18

4. During the Novitiate, the soul makes

abundant provision for its welfare and that of others 19

5. During the Novitiate the novice is formed

for the spiritual life 22

CHAP. II.— The Spirit of the Novitiate .. . 25 A spirit of faith 28

A spirit of trust and confidence 29

A spirit of candor and simplicity 33

A spirit of order and regularity . . 34

A spirit of peace and charity 35 .

A spirit of courage. 37

A joyful spirit. . . 38

A spirit of sacrifice and self-denial. 42 iv CONTENTS.

CHAP. III. — Faults to be corrected in the Novitiate 47

Faults of the mind 50

Faults of the heart 55

Corporal faults 60

CHAP. IV. — Spirits to be avoided in the Novitiate 64

A fretful spirit 64

A worldly spirit 65

A spirit of singularity „. 67

A spirit of ridicule 68

A spirit of criticism 7°

Party spirit 72

CHAP. V.— Virtues to be acquired and practised in the Novitiate 74 Obedience *]6

Motives for obedience 77

Practices of obedience , 79

Simple reflections on obedience 83

Fraternal charity 85

Motives for the practice of fraternal

charity 87

Practices of fraternal charity 88

Humility 93

Motives for practising humility 94

Practices of humility. 96

Mortification 100

Motives for practising mortification .... 102

Practices of mortification 103

CONTENTS. v

Notes on mortification ioS

Simplicity 113

Motives for acquiring simplicity 114

Practices of simplicity 116

Simplicity of mind 116

Simplicity of heart 116

Simplicity of disposition 117

Simplicity of action 117

Simplicity of exterior 1 18

Simplicity in piety 118

Sketch of life at St. Sulpice 119

CHAP. VII. — Labors of the Novitiate 150 Summary of a treatise on the religious

state, 154

Nature of the religious state 154

Conditions requisite for entering religion. 162 The ordinary marks of a divine vocation. 166 The obligation of following one's vocation 1 70

Taking the veil 1 71

The Novitiate 173

The obligations of Novices 175

" " "Profession 178

Vow and virtue of poverty 184

Vow and virtue of chastity 193

Vow and virtue of obedience. 197

The cloister 200 vi CONTENTS.

CHAP. VII.— {Continued.)

Summary of a treatise on the Interior Life. 203

Nature of the interior life 203

Excellence of the interior life 205

Acts of the interior life 208

Means of attaining the interior life 209

Obstacles to the interior life 212

The pious novice's day. . . . 215

CHAP. VIII.— The trials of the Novitiate. 221 Source of trials 222

Trials directly from God 223

Trials on the part of the mistress 225

Trials coming from our companions 229

Manner of bearing trials : 23 1

With generosity 232

With constancy 237

CHAP. IX. — Devotions in the Novitiate... 240 General rules 240

Particular rules 247

Devotion to the Most Blessed Trinity... 247

Devotion to divine Providence 249

Devotion to the Holy Eucharist 250

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. . 253

Devotion to the Mysteries of Jesus 253

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin 255

Devotion to St. Joseph 258

Devotion to the Angel Guardian 259

Devotion to the Souls in Purgatory 261

CONTENTS. vii

CHAP. X. — Aids of the Novitiate 265 Meditation 266

Particular Examen 275

Monthly Retreat 279

Examen to be made during the monthly

retreat 280

Act of renovation 291

Particular rule 293

Exterior aids 296

The Rule 296

Prayer in common 303

Direction , 305

Chapter 309

Spiritual reading. 311

Sister Simplicienne. 313

CHAP. XII. — Last days of the Novitiate... 327 General trials of the religious life 328

Consolations of the religious life 338

The religious lives more purely and

meritoriously 340

falls more rarely 341

rises again more quickly 342

walks more cautiously 343

—receives more abundant graces. 343

shortens her Purgatory 346

—gains a more beautiful crown 347 a iii CONTENTS.

Prayer of the novice preparing for profession 348

The symbol or creed of the religious .... 349

Appendix

Considerations on the Religious State and the

Secular State, to help the soul in its choice* 353

The Convent and the World 362

A departure for the cloister 365

A few pages from the life of Madam Louise of France, Carmelite religious, and daughter of

Louis XV 370

Prayer of Madam Louise to obtain the grace to

enter the Carmelite convent 371

Happiness of Madam Louise at Carmel 374

The happiness which the Prince Schouvaloff

experienced in the religious life 377

The novice unfaithful to her vocation 380

Preface

We humbly beseech Almighty God to bless this little book and to grant that, having become the Manual of Novices, it may serve to enlighten them in their vocation, and prepare them for the very important grace of a religious calling.

We know well that God does not need our labor to perfect souls ; therefore, we do not so much offer it to Him, as beg that He will deign to accept it, and let it serve His designs.

We are further aware that the Novitiates of the different religious houses possess, under the title of the Novices' Directory, wise rules which, up to the present moment, have helped to form holy religious, who, filled with the spirit of their respective founders, will always serve as guides and aids to the souls who go to seek shelter in these holy asylums.

Therefore, our idea is less to replace these books, written with so much learning, prudence

2 Preface.

and piety, than to prepare the novice to comprehend, appreciate, and love them.

It is not all at once that a young girl from the midst of the world, even though she may have led a devout life, assumes the spirit of a religious community, and forms herself to that supernatural life which is that of every person consecrated to God. The spirit of every religious house is a special atmosphere, which gradually penetrates and permeates the souls and characters under its influence. Its effect on souls is stronger, in proportion as they are better prepared to receive it.

Our little book has no other aim than to prepare souls for the influence of this religious atmosphere by teaching them what they should retrench, what they should add; the exercises they should practise; the thoughts with which they should slowly nourish their souls. Its counsels are simple, within the reach of every understanding, and inculcate nothing which the youngest Novice cannot comprehend and strive to practise. Later, God willing, we will aspire somewhat higher, and endeavor to address ourselves to the Professed. Let the

Preface. 3

Novices pray for us ; and the Mistresses, if they find in our book any assistance for the instructions they have to give, will they not ask Gcd to grant that we may sanctify ourselves whilst laboring for the sanctification of others ?

S.

December 2$tk, Birthaay of the Infant Jesus, the special Protector and Model of A T ovitiates.

TO THE NOVICES.

Devout Novice, faithful to the teachings of those who direct you in the silence of meditation, and in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, ask yourself, Why have 1 come here?

Listen to the sweet and gentle voice of your angel Guardian, who whispers to your heart:

'* You have come here to be a religious; that is, to unite yourself to God by an eternal bond; and every action of your Novitiate forms a link in the mysterious triple-chain which will soon unite you to Jesus Christ forever." And at this very simple and truthful reply, your heart will exclaim with emotion :

1 ' Oh ! how I long for the day which will unite me to Jesus Christ !

Oh ! how I long to say, I can never, never more, be separated from Jesus Christ!

Ah ! to be united to Him I do not regret the sacrifices I have made ; and, notwithstanding their painful memories, I am still ready to renew them.

When I am Thine, my God, wilt thou not take to me the place of father, mother, brothers, sisters ?

And one day will we not all, my loved ones and I, be reunited with Thee in heaven to love Thee for all eternity ?

And, perhaps, from the lips of loved ones whom I have left for Jesus Christ, I may hear these words:

My child, it is to thee, to thy prayers, that we owe our salvation !

"Yes, yes; I desire to be a religious I"

II. And the voice continues

"You are here, that you may attain

your salvation more easily, and more securely; in a state where every thing speaks of God, where every thing leads to God, where every thing is done in the name of God.

Look ! you are already rid of the responsibility of your actions. In the world you would have yielded to the influence of your interest, of your humor, of your position.

You could not have distinctly heard God's voice asking a sacrifice, suggesting self-denial, indicating a duty.

Once you are a religious, your Superior will tell you, Do that; and, in your obedience, you are sure of doing the will of God.

She will tell you, Go there; and you are sure that God desires you should go.

Later, you will be delivered from the yoke of your natural inconstancy.

The links which then bind you to Jesus Christ will fix your instability; you can no longer do anything but what will virtually tend to your salvation.

You will be tempted to acts opposed to the law of God, and you will answer: I am no longer my own mistress.

Nature will urge you to throw off the yoke, and you will answer: I can no longer do it.

And in spite of yourself, so to speak, you will follow to heaven Jesus Christ, your Master, to whom you will have bound yourself.

III

"You have further come here to serve as an instrument of God's glory and mercy. "

Doubtless God does not need to ask the permission of creatures to use them for His designs; yet, when He wishes a particular creature to serve as one of His direct instruments, He asks her, if she is willing; and this insignificant being can say to her Creator, / am unwilling to chain my liberty to Thy good pleasure.

But you, you have not feared to break your heart to reply to this appeal. You have given your consent ; and, behold, you are now, so to speak, a pupil in the school of God.

In effect, the Novitiate is a school : 2l school where God forms the souls who have given themselves to Him:

Some that they may win other souls to Him by the preaching of the gospel;

Others, that they may glorify Him by their prayers;

Others, that they may expiate sin by their voluntary suffering;

Others, that they may plant His love in the hearts of little children.

Others, that they may care for the bodies of the sick, prevent the blasphemies which they utter in their pain, and gently lead them to heaven.

IV

H Behold why you have shut yourself within the walls of this Novitiate, under the direction of experienced mistresses.

" Receive from their hands this little book, which will complete their teachings; read it with attention; it will suggest means of profiting by this school of God, and of making yourself worthy of what He asks of you.

" Be simple, that you may comprehend this reading;

"Be humble, that you may receive it;

" Be docile, that you may love it;

" Be generous, finally, that you may practise the counsels which you will receive. "

The following are the titles of the chapters treated in the book:

1st . The importance of the Novitiate, io To the Novices.

2d. The spirit of the Novitiate,

3d. The faults to be corrected in the Novitiate.

4th. The different spirits to he avoided in the Novitiate.

fth. The virtues to be acquired and practised in the JSovitiate.

6th. Maxims of the Novitiate.

fth. The labor of the Novitiate.

8th. The trials of the Aovitiate.

gth. The devotions of the Novitiate.

loth. The aids of the Novitiate.

nth. The temptations which the devil suggests during the Novitiate.

12th. Last days of the Novitiate.

LITTLE MANUAL

OF

NOVICES.

Chapter I. Importance Of The Novitiate

The Novitiate is a time during which one who believes herself called to a religious life puts to the test, in the community which she has chosen, her strength, her disposition, her general fitness for the life ; while the community also study and prove her character to discover whether she is suited to the order.

It is sufficient to read this definition attentively to comprehend the great importance of the Novitiate.

I.

During the Novitiate we study our vocation more caimly and with more tight, and we decide it with more security.

Souls, even the most upright, frequently form in the world erroneous, or at least very incomplete ideas of a religious life; and the greater part are led to embrace it by an attraction which is rather the effect of imagination than of grace.

They know in a general way that it is a life of self-denial; but they have never considered the details of this abnegation. They have seen the brilliant side of the sacrifice, — and certainly there is something heroic and beautiful in that adieu to the world, and everything alluring, captivating, and flattering, at an age when life is so full of pleasure, — and, without seeking or weighing what follows, they are seized with envy of a soul which has proved itself so generous.

They know that it is necessary to do violence to the heart in leaving one's family; that habits of a lifetime must be abandoned; homecomfort sacrificed, which, though composed of perhaps a thousand insignificant nothings, made family life very sweet.

But they have read of the happiness of a religious life: of the charms of community life; of the sweetness of the yoke of Jesus ; of the peace which is born of retirement from the world; of the rewards promised and assured to those who have left all for Christ; they have read pages so touching, so devout, so convincing, that they tell themselves: Once there I shall be happy !

Oh ! yes, you will be happy in a religious life — yes, your heart and your soul will there find unspeakable joy and peace — but on condition that you be seriously called to it, and that you faithfully correspond to your vocation.

Now the Novitiate has been established, that you may judge of the sincerity of your vocation, not with the impressions produced upon you by a touching ceremony like the taking of the veil, or by the reading of books written by ardent souls, but with the calmness which reason enlightened by faith begets.

Moreover, you alone do not judge ; your superiors who you see at work, who watch you closely, and who, like you, are equally and strongly interested to prevent the admission into their community of a wavering and doubtful vocation, will themselves judge you with the wisdom which grace and experience give them.

And if at the end of the year their voice, in accord with the voice of your conscience, tells you, Take your vows, you can then take them without fear.

II,

During the Novitiate a trial is made of strength, of character, of acquirements.

Being a religious is not only faithfully ful filling, like a true Christian, the engagements you made in baptism, when, by the lips of another, you promised to renounce the devil and all his works and pomps, and give yourself to fesus Christ forever ; it is the binding yourself still more closely to fesus Christ, and following Him everywhere, to heaven, doubtless, where the ties which bind you to Him, if they remain unbroken, will necessarily lead you; but first walk with Him along the road of Calvary which he has dyed with His blood, and like Him let yourself be crucified if necessary.

With our ideas of independence, and our self-indulgent habits, is not this an alarming thought ?

Therefore what priest is not a little anxious, and does not ask himself, Will she have sufficient strength? when a young girl comes to him and tells him, / would like to be a religious.

With the majority, becoming a religious is doubtless gaining heaven ; but frequently it is also leaving an undecided, anxious path to embrace the calm monotony of a rule sweetened by the love of God, and the affection of a family of sisters.

There is all this in the religious life : there is even still more . . . but that is not all.

Do you know the bridal gifts Jesus bestows on her whom he espouses? — His Cross , — the nails, — His crown of thorns.

Do you know what He whispers to the heart of her who vows fidelity to Him ? — If you love me, take up my cross and follow me.

Do you know the portrait He leaves with her, that in days of absence she may not forget her Spouse ? — A crucifix.

Then it is to bear this cross, and this crown of thorns, — it is to walk all your life on this road of Calvary, that we are going to train you during your Novitiate. We are going to teach you how to renounce your inclinations and habits in exchange for those of Jesus.

We do not wish that, once engaged as a follower of Jesus Christ, you should find the life too hard, and be able to say: If I had known!. .

Do not conclude, however, that there are. only painful days in the Novitiate.

Oh ! no, no, Sister ; neither consolation nor joy nor peace is lacking in these blessed asylums, which have been so fitly called paradise upon earth\ for here, as in heaven, is felt, in an ineffable manner, the goodness of Him who has said : Come to me; my yoke is sweet, and my burden light.

No; happiness is not lacking in those houses of God, where the whole year is but one joyous festival; where the laughter of all rings out to the walls which separate them from the world. Thus wrote, from her Car-

Importance of the Novitiate. \J

melite convent, Mme. Louise of France, who nevertheless had enjoyed here below all of which the imagination could dream.

And why should not religious have happiness, joy, and consolation? They live with God, they obey God, they repose near God, they are useful to God, their life is slowly consumed in the service of God, and, above all, they feel that God loves them !

"Ah ! " cried a Trappist nun ! " though it were necessary to walk over burning coals to become the Spouse of Christ, could one hesitate?"

III.

During the Novitiate you study whether the community you have chosen suits you; and the community, on their part, learn whether the novice is a suitable subject for the congregation.

God has respected your liberty by not asking you to engage yourself without reflection. The Church in His name, to leave you a choice, has multiplied religious communities, giving to each one a particular character; and she desires that, during one year, the house in which you have chosen to make your trial of a religious life, should make itself manifest to you with the spirit which directs it, the virtues which it asks, the practices which it imposes, the labor which it exacts; . . . and when you have seen and know all, it tells you: You are free to remain with us, otto go elsewhere to make a new trial, or to return to the world.

But this freedom which is granted you, the community should also be privileged to exercise in accepting you or refusing you. Your indifferent health, your disposition, your natural faults, which may not prevent you from winning heaven, but would disturb the general harmony of the community, your acquirements wholly opposed to those which the house requires, may all be reasons for not keeping you.

Should you separate, there is no reason for anxiety on either side. There has been no injustice; the charity which might have become more intimate remains as it was before. You will not cease by your prayers mutually to aid each other on the way to heaven, only you will not go by the same road.

IV.

During the Novitiate the soul makes abundant provision for its own good, and for the good of others.

For much is given to it: There is the continual example of souls rivaling each other in their efforts after perfection;

Defects assiduously and constantly corrected with gentleness and experience;

Frequent exhortations, the aim of which is to strengthen, encourage, and stimulate you to the practice of virtue;

Obligatory studies, clearly taught and long continued; assiduous vigilance, which never wearies for a moment, which sees all, which divines all, which seeks to know all, but with the sole aim of perfecting and sanctifying you.

Devotion which meets every trial, which is always ready to solve difficulties, to listen to troubles, to enlighten doubts . . . and which meets you every day with renewed and untiring patience.

Though much is given in the Novitiate, very little is asked.

But two things, first of all, are required of the novice: docility of character, in allowing herself to be moulded ; a strong will, that she may not be discouraged.

And what magnificent results, what unlooked for miracles, follow a good Novitiate !

The Novitiate is the furnace whence the soul comes forth, transformed and purified from all the grosser faults which marred its beauty.

The Novitiate is the mould whence the soul comes forth moulded to a new life, the life of Jesus Christ.

The Novitiate is the arsenal whence the soul draws the rudiments of the knowledge with which she is about to begin the work of God; where particularly she has strengthened herself to receive and preserve the graces necessary for the employment which will be given to her.

1 'The Novitiate is that regenerating work of the mind which, as much as possible, delivers to divine grace the entire possession of the faculties, the forces, the habits of the. soul.

"It is a sort of creation, a powerful transformation, which must free the soul from innumerable obstacles with which it was embarrassed by the interests, the ideas, the affections, and the passions of nature.

" It is the fire where the iron is softened, to take a new shape; it is the file which smoothes the rough edges, removes the rust, and prepares the instrument to be useful in the hands of the workman.

"Then is impressed on the soul a direction which replaces in it all purely human direction by the sole ambition for the Divine glory, and the eternal salvation of all." P. de Ravignan.

St. Ignatius is so convinced that during the Novitiate such a great change is effected in the soul, and that the novices leave it with so great a spirit of fervor, mortification, love of retreat, and such great ardor for meditation and spiritual exercises, that he believes himself obliged to warn those who still continue their studies, to moderate their fervor, and to practise fewer austerities than usual. — Happy novices to whom such recommendations are necessary !

During the Novitiate the fidetity of the novice is so important, that, morally speaking, all her religious life depends upon the fervor or slothfulness of her Novitiate.

The experience of all religious, as well as the teachings of masters in the spiritual life, are unanimous in justifying this assertion.

Alas ! says a pious author, it is not a rare thing to see a fervent novice fall from her first fervor; but, among tepid novices, I do not know that it is possible to count on one out of a hundred becoming sincerely converted after her profession, and later proving herself an exemplary religious.

A Novitiate badly spent is a misfortune which is repaired with difficulty.

Hear Rodriguez's words to a Novice: "Now that you are in your Novitiate you have much time to apply yourself to your spiritual advancement, and many means which can contribute towards it; for it is the sole object of your superiors, and they make it their principal duty.

" You have before your eyes the example of other novices whose only thought is to sanctify themselves; and example usually makes such an impression upon us, that living continually with persons devoted to and making considerable progress in the practice of virtue, it is difficult, however indolent we may be, not to feel roused to abandon our slothfulness.

"You possess, moreover, a heart disengaged from all the opinions of the world, and which even seems inclined to the practice of virtue; you encounter no object which curns you from it: on the contrary, you have a thousand which lead you toward it.

"If then, now that you are here solely to become virtuous, and with nothing to occupy you but the acquiring of virtue, you make no progress, you lay up no provision of piety for the future, how will it be when your heart is filled with a thousand distracting cares ?

" If now, with so much leisure, so much facility, and so much assistance, you do not make your meditation or your examen well; if you do not devote yourself to performing your spiritual exercises with fidelity and piety, how will it be when you will be charged with an office filled with exterior duties ? "

If with so many conferences and so many exhortations, so many examples and so many solicitations, you make no profit; how will it be when you are left almost to yourself, and you encounter unexpected impediments and obstacles of every sort ?

Oh ! then profit well of this precious time of the Novitiate; remember that you have probably no other time so favorable for laboring at your advancement in virtue, and amassing spiritual treasures. Lose not one day, one hour.

Chapter II. The Spirit Of The Novitiate

The Spirit of the Novitiate is the atmosphere, so to speak, which the soul breathes there.

The novices are not conscious of this special atmosphere which surrounds — nourishes their souls, and gradually transforms them; but if a stranger spend but one day in their midst, she experiences an atmosphere of peace which astonishes her. She finds herself in the midst of a family which delights her, and she involuntarily exclaims: How peaceful it is here!

Yes, all is peace in the Novitiate-, and the young girl who brings to this blessed house a purified heart, an upright soul, a strong will to belong to God, experiences a gradual transformation throughout her whole being.

It is as if a new nature was given her; her bearing, her thoughts, her language, her manner, her ideas, even her countenance, have something heavenly about them which charms the beholder.

The Novitiate in religious life is like childhood in home life.

The young girl in the Novitiate, like the child in the family, has:

A little pain, and much joy;

A little labor, and many rewards;

A little self-denial, and much affection.

Oh, if one could long remain child and novice !

The spirit of the Novitiate is called in general the spirit of God; for God rules there as Master, and is so recognized, and all that is done there is approved by Him, willed by Him, commanded by Him.

It is particularly within that this spirit operates; within that is effected the transformation which the Church expects in young souls whom she submits to the test of a Novitiate.

" If," says the Imitation, n we place our progress in religion in these outward observances only, our devotion will quickly be at an end. A good religious ought to be much more in his interior than he exteriorly appears ; because he who beholds us is God, of whom we ought exceedingly to stand in awe, wherever we are, and like angels walk pure in his sight."

A good novice is not one who never fails in any of the observances of the Novitiate: who is prompt in rising in the morning; who is the first in the choir ; who punctually acquits herself of her charge ; who never rebels against a command ; who is reserved in her words ; who willingly lends herself to the necessities of others . . .

Doubtless all these things are necessary in a good novice, but they must be practised with the intention of pleasing God, of obeying God, of glorifying God, Oh ! if the spirit of God does not animate a novice who is almost forced to be punctual, silent, modest, — for she is always observed, and all about her are punctual silent and modest ... it is much to be feared that she acts through temperament, habit, or even vanity and hypocrisy.

It is important then, that from the beginning she should allow herself to be guided, and thoroughly penetrated, by the spirit which forms, as we have said, the atmosphere of the Novitiate.

Now this spirit is :

A SPIRIT OF FAITH.

A spirit of Faith causes you to regard the Novitiate as the house of God, a house in which God is sovereign Master.

The rule is the expression, not of such a person's will, but of the will of God.

The creatures who surround us are, each according to her position, character, intelligence — even her faults, the material means by which God communicates Himself to us.

A spirit of Faith causes you to behold God directing you by the voice of your confessor;

God commanding you by the words of the rule and the voice of your superiors ;