How do you become a sister?
One of the most common questions that sisters get asked. People wonder about the process, how long it takes, and what it's like.
There's a lot to say about this, as you can imagine! This blog post kicks off a series about each step of Felician formation, the training the sisters receive as they commit more and more to Felician community.
To start this off, I'm going to lay out the steps for you, including photos and stories of my own experiences. Here we go!
Aspirancy
In the past, teenage students attended the high school associated with the province's motherhouse. The sisters served as principal and teachers there, with an increasing number of lay teachers as the years passed. Among the day-students at the high school were aspirants, who lived in the convent as boarders. They received an education while participating in convent life, prayer and community. At the end of high school, after graduation, the aspirants had the choice of joining the convent and becoming a sister. A number of them did! This was a common practice among religious communities until around the time of Vatican II. I've met numerous sisters who joined as aspirants and stayed in community their whole lives.
Aspirants in 1925 in the Buffalo province.
Affiliates/Candidates
After the aspirancy closed, a woman's journey with community began as an affiliate or candidate (as they were later called). At this point, she started a formal process of getting to know the sisters. Sometimes candidates lived with the sisters and sometimes they didn't. As a candidate from about 2007 to 2008, I continued to reside at home while visiting the sisters.
Postulancy
When a woman was ready to enter, she became a postulant. She moved in with the sisters (if she didn't live with them already) and wore a uniform that resembled the habit. The photos show that the attire was more formal in the past, but later was simpler, usually a brown jumper. The province I entered didn't give me specific postulant garb to where, but rather gave me guidelines: modest dresses that were brown, black, or possibly gray. Also, in the past, postulants wore a veil, which I didn't receive until I was a novice.
Postulants in 1918 in the Buffalo Province.
In the early 2000s, S. Rita Marie became a postulant in Livonia, Michigan.
Novice
After a year as a postulant, the woman petitions to become a novice. This ritual is done in the presence of community. When she becomes a novice, she receives the habit. In the past, this always meant the traditional garb with a white veil. Later on, the community developed different options for the habit, with or without the veil. I had that choice, during my time as a novice from about 2009 to 2011, and opted for the traditional (modified from the past) habit and white veil. Novitiate is a two-year process that includes a canonical year of study and prayer with community, according to canon law.
Circa 1960 in the Buffalo, NY, province. A postulant (left), novice (middle) and professed (right) sister pose together, showing three stages of Felician Formation.
Junior Professed/Temporary Professed
After two years as a novice, the sister makes her temporary vows. She professes poverty, chastity, and obedience for a year. These vows will be renewed annually for six years. She also receives a black veil and the Felician crucifix. During this time, the sister lives in community and has a full-time ministry. I lived in a number of convents in a variety of places, which is typical of this time. During my time as a temporary professed sister from 2011 to 2017, I got a good look at what life as a Felician Sister is like.
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This is the group that I was in temporary vows with, c. 2015. We were at the local ice cream parlor close to the main convent in Chicago.
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