Religious Life

Whether studying for the priesthood or pursuing the life of a brother, both a cleric and a brother take the same steps in religious life, with the exception that a brother receives a new name upon entering the novitiate.

Formation Training

Postulancy

When a young man enters the seminary, he begins as a postulant. During the postulancy aspirants to the priesthood or brotherhood take several classes to help prepare them for their future studies. They learn, as well, what it means to live religious life.

Novitiate

Having completed his postulancy, a seminarian or brother becomes a novice. Novice comes from a Greek word which means “beginner.” During the two-year novitiate the novice is trained, according to Church law, in the practice of virtue and the principles of the spiritual life. The novitiate is thus an indispensible foundation for the future studies and works of an aspirant to the priesthood or brotherhood.

Steps in the Religious Life

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Postulancy

The Postulants learn the basic principles of Gregorian Chant and liturgical music.

Reading at Table

The members learn how to cook and to keep the kitchen clean.

Work

Spiritual Reading in the Chapel

Novitiate

By receiving the cassock, a postulant enters the novitate. During the two-year novitiate a seminarian spends the majority of his time in prayer, work, silence, and recollection in order to lay the foundation for his spiritual life. During the ceremony, the seminarian receives a black cassock and white collar.

Reception of the Cassock

Receiving the Constitutions of our Congregation

The novices study the Constitutions of the Congregation. These written rules regulate the day-to-day life and government of the community. Fidelity to the Constitutions will ensure the holiness of the religious and the continuation of the Congregation.

The Habit of the Congregation which the Novice Receives

Taking a New Name

In the Congregation of St. Pius V, the brothers choose a new name by which they will be known after receiving the cassock. This has been a long-standing practice in numerous religious orders and congregations.

By receiving a new name, the brothers are given another patron saint and intercessor in Heaven to assist them in the spiritual life and in all their duties.

Profession of Vows

Upon completing the two years of novitiate, a novice is admitted to his first profession of vows. Through the vows of obedience, chastity and stability, a religious binds himself to the Congregation for the duration of his vows. The Congregation, for its part, is bound to provide for its members both spiritually and temporally. After professing his vows, the seminarian signs his name, followed by C.S.P.V, which stands for Congregatio Sancti Pii Quinti, the name of our Congregation in Latin.

Formula of Profession

Final Profession

Before clerics receive the subdiaconate in our Congregation, they must make final profession of the vows of obedience, chastity, and stability. Brothers make this final profession after six years of temporary vows. By making perpetual vows, a member binds himself for life to the service of the Congregation. While the celebrant holds the Blessed Sacrament before those taking final vows, they read the formula of profession and then receive Holy Communion.