Formation
Christ calls His disciples, forms them into a community and prepares them to be with Him constantly and to continue His mission in the world even today (cf. Mk 3:14). Religious formation is the process that helps one to become a disciple of Christ, gradually identify with the attitude of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5) and grow in union with Him. The primary purpose of religious formation is to initiate the candidates into religious life, to prepare them to consecrate themselves totally to God and to enable the professed young religious to discover, assimilate and to deepen in them their religious identity". The objective of the religious formation of the Sisters of the Destitute is to make the candidate competent and determined to be configured with Christ the Destitute who, being obedient unto death on the cross, revealed the compassionate love of God the Father in its fullness and to serve Him by seeing Him in all, especially the poor. Our formation is Christ-centred, person-oriented and integral, taking into account the specific charism of our Congregation, our spirituality, the signs of the times and the specificity of the culture.
Different Stages
Formation aims at realising the spontaneous, dynamic and steady religious growth of the candidate. In order to achieve this, the formation period is divided into different stages: pre-novitiate, novitiate, juniorate, tertianship and ongoing formation.
A.The Pre-Novitiate
There shall be a pre-novitiate stage so that the candidate can come and see, make the primary and responsible choice regarding her call, experiencing SD solidarity and can bring about a gradual transition from secular life to a life proper to the novitiate acquiring human and Christian maturity. The period of the pre-novitiate is divided into three stages namely candidacy, aspirancy and postulancy.
Candidacy
The aim of this stage is to help the candidate grow in human and Christian maturity so as to discern and respond to her call to religious life.
Aspirancy
The common aim of aspirancy is to help the candidate to strengthen her desire to co-operate with the grace of vocation, realizing the special place of her vocation in the mystery of the redemption. She is also helped to dedicate herself generously to Christ, deepening her knowledge of Him who is her Lord and Master.
Postulancy
The aim of the postulancy is to help the candidate co- operate more deeply with the grace of vocation, recognizing her call to the discipleship of Christ the Compassionate.
B. Novitiate
The Church considers the novitiate as an important formation period of religious life. Our novitiate shall therefore be a home and school of discipleship and of our SD spirituality. The novice learns to sit at the feet of Jesus her Master and enters into an intimate and experiential knowledge of Him. With Jesus and in Jesus she is led to grow in her experience of the presence of the indwelling Trinity.
Temporary profession
At the completion of the novitiate the Provincial Superior with the consent of her Council can permit the novices who are found suitable to make their temporary profession, and dismiss those who are found unsuitable. When the duration (one year) of the first profession expires the temporarily professed member canonically renews her vows again for one year. Thus, for five years she canonically renews her profession each year, till the duration of temporary vows expires. The period of temporary vows shall not be shorter than three or longer than six years.
C. Juniorate
The junior sister who becomes the disciple of Jesus the most Compassionate, Destitute, and Obedient recognizes that He invites her to be like her Master, inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. She ardently desires this identification. By her gradual configuration with Christ her friend, at the time of perpetual profession she is enabled to say "It is no longer I, who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20).
D. Tertianship
True and constant fidelity to the divine call inspires one to consecrate oneself to God fully and forever. Since perpetual profession is a sign of indivisible unity between Christ and His spouse, the Church, tertianship is a period of thorough preparation and training for this consecration. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit and accepting Christ as her divine spouse she becomes identified with the divine qualities of His Heart – purity, humility and meekness. Configuring with Christ through the constant gift of self, she zealously prepares herself during this period for her total consecration.
Perpetual Profession
On the basis of the report and consent of the Provincial Superior and her Council and the report of the mistress, the Superior General with the consent of her Council can admit a temporarily professed member to her perpetual profession.
E. Ongoing Formation
Ongoing Formation is a holistic renewal process that spreads to all levels of a personality and to all members of our Congregation. God calls each one of us at every moment and in new circumstances 135 to abide in the Trinitarian communion of love by configuring with Jesus the Compassionate, Destitute and Obedient. Our response to this call is to be constantly in the process of growth till the end of our lives.