Entrance and Novitiate

When God Calls...
God calls in very different ways. A reliable sign of a vocation is if one feels in his heart God’s invitation to surrender himself to God alone. An invitation is not a command! Just as in marriage the decision involves both concerned, so a response to a religious vocation must be made in a spirit of freedom and generosity.
 

Where is God Calling?
Many people decide to follow God’s call to a special closeness with Him. This does not necessarily mean that God is calling one to the Charterhouse, however. For a Carthusian vocation it is necessary to also feel a longing for life devoted to prayer and silence alone, or a clear, though often not understood call to just this Carthusian order.

Decision
The entrance in monastery demands considerable courage as it is most often made without the benefit of any foreordained certainty, save that which faith provides. Jesus permits such uncertainty as He wants us to decide based on Himself alone, not sheer calculation. One thing however is certain: no one has ever regretted such a decision when made in love for God.

Aptitude
In the first place a candidate must be a practicing Catholic with a well ordered religious life and at least a fundamental education in the Faith. Furthermore, he must be physically and mentally healthy, have an aptitude for solitude as well as for life in common and be ready to fulfill all those obligations dictated by his state or imposed upon him by his superiors. Among the qualities, with which candidates for life in solitude should be particularly endowed, a sound and balanced judgment is of prime importance. Besides this, a cloister monk is required to have an education sufficient for a monk destined for the priesthood; singing ability; and sufficient knowledge of Latin, which he must attain before entering the novitiate. Candidates younger then 20 years and older then 45 years we receive only under certain circumstances. But the most important condition is: to love God more then oneself.

Acceptance
For those who wish to better acquaint themselves with our Order there is the possibility to live the life of the brother or father in cell under the direction of the Novice-Master for several weeks. If one then decides he wishes to enter, the decision is made between the Prior and Novice-Master. Several days after entering, the candidate receives the black cloak and cap of a postulant, which is worn during the common liturgy. The postulancy lasts at least three months and not longer than one year. After this, if he perseveres in his resolution, the postulant asks in chapter to be received “for probation in the monastic habit, as the most humble servant of all”. The community then votes in secret on his acceptance, while the final decision rests with the prior. Such a petition and voting accompanies each subsequent step in monastic formation.

Novitiate
During the novitiate, which lasts for two years, the novice wears a white habit with a shorter scapular and during liturgy in common the black cloak as well. While retaining ownership of their property until solemn vows, one does not keep anything personal for themselves in cell so as to better follow the poor Christ. Brother candidates choose between the life of a converse or donate toward the end of the first year in the novitiate. Father novices begin theological studies in their second year, which take place in the monastery and are tailored to our way of life.

Profession
At the end of the novitiate the monk makes his first profession of vows of stability, obedience and conversion of life for three years. The cloister monks remain during this time under the direction of the Novice-Master, while the brothers do so until their solemn vows. After three years the vows are renewed for an additional two years, after which, if approved, one is admitted to solemn vows which are binding until death. Our rule says that before one makes such a decision with vows “he should first sit down and consider whether he really wants to yield himself to God forever” (30,1). Although such an irrevocable public commitment only occurs after a probation of seven years and during the two years of novitiate the novice is free to leave at any time, still, Jesus’ words are valid upon entering: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks behind is worthy of the Kingdom of God”. To enter the Charterhouse with the mere intention of trying it out would be to deny oneself the essence of Carthusian life, which is in surrendering oneself unconditionally to God.