Stages of Formation

There are six stages in the journey to becoming a Crosier. We walk with you every step of the way so you are not alone!

STAGE

1 Initial Contact

During this first stage, you begin the process of discerning your call to become a Crosier priest or brother. A Crosier vocation director will be in touch with you either to arrange a time to meet or to provide some other way to communicate to help you and the Crosiers get mutually acquainted. The Contact stage has no definite time period, but usually includes attendance at Crosier activities, which can include joining the Crosier community for our daily prayer and Mass or dinner, retreats, special celebrations, or specific discernment opportunities such as a formal live-in period for a weekend or longer. If necessary, we can help with travel costs for those coming from a long distance. These visits allow you to experience Crosier life and ministry firsthand. The Crosiers will remember you in their daily prayers as you discern God’s call.

STAGE

2 Postulant

When you wish to begin the transition to live as a Crosier, you become a Postulant. A Postulant does not make any formal commitment and remains financially independent from the Crosier Community. Postulancy involves a more formal application process and a period of living in a Crosier communal setting for at least two or more months. The goal of Postulancy is to discern for yourself God’s call to Crosier Religious Life and to prepare for full entrance into Crosier life.

STAGE

3 Novice

Novice means “beginner.” The state of being a novice is referred to as the “novitiate.” During novitiate, you formally enter the community, receive the Crosier habit and become a brother. During this time, you study the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, Crosier spirituality, the Rule of Augustine, and you spend time in prayer and reflection—learning more about Crosier community life from the inside. Novitiate typically lasts one year but can be extended if necessary.

STAGE

4 Professed in Initial Formation

At the end of novitiate, you profess vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience for three years. After three years you may renew your temporary vows for three more years or profess life-long vows, which are called perpetual or solemn. During the time of temporary vows, you prepare for ministry as a brother or priest. This involves formal education and supervised ministry.

STAGE

5 Solemn Professed

The call to follow Christ in the Order of the Holy Cross is a gift of God. A Crosier who is ready to profess solemn, life-long vows is conscious of and convinced that Crosier life is Christ-centered and prophetic. He is drawn to the Cross of Christ as source of truth and life. The solemnly professed Crosier courageously embraces the radical character of consecrated life, obeying the Spirit’s call to actualize, ever-new with his brothers, the historic mission of the Order in today’s Church and world.

STAGE

6 Priests and Brothers

We need men to study theology and receive training in pastoral skills to be ordained as priests. We also need men who to be formed in lay ministry skills and professional fields as brothers. Together, as priests and brothers, Crosiers offer their gifts in service to the Order and to the Church.