Friar Journey

THE JOURNEY: HOW DOES ONE BECOME A FRIAR?

Ernest Bedard

Sam Fuller

Arlen Harris

James Donegan

Anyone who would become a Capuchin friar must be

· A baptized, practicing Catholic man

· Single, and without dependent children

· Between 18 and 40 years old

· With a high school or G.E.D. diploma

· In good physical and mental health

· and free of debt (except for college loans)

Beyond these above, he must have a deep desire to serve God and want to live the Gospel in the spirit of Francis of Assisi, and be able to live the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

The JOURNEY has three stages:

1. Postulancy: a year of discernment for men who feel that they are being called to serve God as friars. “Feel that they are being called” because it’s difficult to be certain without having first experienced Capuchin life first hand, which is what the postulancy year allows a young man to do.

Novitiate: After completing a year of postulancy, if a man believes God may be calling him to the order, then he applies to the next step:

1. Novitiate: It’s a very structured one-year period of seclusion and intense prayer, in which the novice enters more deeply into the process of discernment. During this time, he will receive his brown Capuchin habit.

2. Post-Novitiate: After the year of novitiate, he will be invited to take temporary vows of one year, as he continues his discernment about moving on for studies to be a priest, or other training as a lay brother in the community.