Definition and requirements The word novice, which among the Romans meant a newly acquired slave, and which is now used to denote an inexperienced person, is the canonical Latin name of those who, having been regularly admitted into a religious order and ordinarily already confirmed in their higher vocation by a certain period of probation as postulants, are prepared by a series of exercises and tests for the religious profession. In Greek, the novice was called archarios, a beginner. The religious life, recommended by Jesus Christ, is encouraged by the Church and any person is allowed to become a novice who is not prevented by some positive legal impediment. No minimum or maximum age is fixed by canon law for admission into the novitiate. Those, however, who have not arrived at puberty cannot enter without the consent of their parents or guardians; and canon law ("Si quis", I; "De regularibus", III, 31) grants to parents one year to compel the return of a child who has entered without their consent. As the Council of Trent fixes at sixteen years the earliest age for the profession
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:56:16 +0000
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