NOVICE
146
NOVICE
novice to alionntc or retain his property is provided
for by their const itvitions. Generally speaking, the
novice is bound, before taking his vows, to declare
how he wishes his property to be administered, and
the income expended. According to the Regulations
of 1901, he may, even after making his vows, be au-
thorized by the superior-general to modify these dis-
positions. The renunciation of property, though not
made null and void, is forbidden to the novice. The
Holy See does not approve that any obligation should
be imposed upon the novice to give even the income of
his property to his order; he remains free to apply it to
any reasonable purjiose. Solemn profession vacates
all ecclesiastical benefices of which the novice was pos-
sessed ; the perpetual vows of congregations go\erned
by simple vows vacate residential benefices; that is to
say, benefices w'hich require residence are vacated by
the simple profession, which prepares the way for sol-
emn profession, or by the temporary vows which
precede perpetual vows.
III. Exercises. — Except in the case of some special privilege of the religious order (as with the Society of Jesus) or some unavoidable obstacle, the novice should wear a religious habit, though not necessarily the special habit of novices. It is the duty of the novice, under the guidance of the novice-master, to form himself spiritually, to learn the rules and cus- toms of his order, and to try himself in the difficulties of the rehgious hfe. The rule ordinarily prescribes that at the outset of his religious career he shall pass some days in spiritual exercises, and make a general confession of the sins of his whole life. By the Con- stitution "Cum ad regularem" of 19 March, 1603, renewed under Urban VllI in the Decree "Sacra Con- gregatio" of 1624, Clement VIIl laid down, for novi- tiates approved by the Holy See, some very wise rules in which he directed that there should be a certain amount of recreation, both in the house and out of doors; and he insisted on the separation of the novices from older religious. For a long time, studies, prop- erly so called, were forbidden, at least during the first year of novitiate; but a recent decree dated 27 August, 1910, while maintaining the principle that one year of the novitiate should be devoted especially to the formation of the religious character, recommends certain studies to exercise the mental faculties of the novices, and enable their superiors to form an opinion of their talents and capacities without involv- ing any excessive application, such as the study of the mother-tongue, Latin and Greek, repetition of work previously done, reading the works of the Fathers, etc., in short, studies appropriate to the purpose of the order. Novices, therefore, are bound to give up one hour regularly to private study on all days except feast-days, and also to receive lessons limited to one hour each, not oftener than three times a week. The manner in which the novices apply themselves to these studies is to be taken into account when the question arises of their being admitted to profession (see the decree annotated in Vermeersch, "Periodica de religio.sis et missionariis", vol. V, 1910, n. 442, pp. 19.5, 197). According to the practice of the older orders the novice receives a religious name, differing from his baptismal name.
IV. DrR.\Tiox. — For all religious orders, the Council of Trent prescribes a full year in the novitiate, under penalty of nullity of profession. In those orders which have a distinctive habit, the novitiate commences with the a.ssumption of the habit ; in those which have no habit, it commences from the time when the novice is received into the house lawfully assigned for the purpose by competent authority. This year must be continuous without interruption. It is interrupted whenever the bond between the order and the novice is broken by voluntary departure or legal dismissal; and also when, independently of the wish of either superior or novice, the latter is compelled to live for
any considerable time in the world. A dismissal la
considered to take effec^t when once the novice has
cnisscil till' Ihreshold of the house; in case of a volun-
tary <lei)arture, a novice who has left the house, but
has kept his religious habit and who returns after one
or two days' absence, is considered as having given
way to a temporary desire for change, not sufficient to
cause him to lose the benefit of the time already spent
in the novitiate. An interruption makes it necessary
that the novitiate should begin afresh as if nothing
had previously been done, and it differs in this respect
from suspension, which is, so to speak, an interval be-
tween two effective periods of novitiate. The time
which passes during the suspension does not count,
only the time passed before the suspension being added
to that which follows. The novitiate is suspended
when a novice is withdrawn for a certain time from
the superior's direction, but without changing his con-
dition. This would happen in the case of a temporary
mental aberration, or an expulsion for some reason
shown afterwards to be unfounded, and therefore an-
nulled. It is generally held that if a novice quits his
order after having finished his novitiate, and is sub-
secjuently readmitted, he has not to begin his novitiate
afresh, unless it appears that there has been some
serious change in his dispositions. The law of the
Council of Trent does not strictly apply to congrega-
tions governed by simple vows, but the constitutions
of these congregations ordinarily require a year of
novitiate at least, and the "Norma'" (Regulations) of
1901 make a complete and continuous year of the novi-
tiate one of the conditions of a valid profession.
The practice of the Holy See has been of late years to interpret this continuity much more strictly than was formerly the case. Some persons consider that one whole day passed outside the novitiate, even for some good reason, and with the permission of superior, is sufficient to render ineffective the whole of the previous probation, but this is too rigorous an interpretation of the rule. To avoid all danger of offending against canon law, superiors will do wisely not to grant permission to pass the night out of the novitiate, except for a very good reason and for a very short time. By the Constitutions of Clement VIII, "Regularis disciplinae" of 12 March, 1596, and of Innocent XII, " Sancti.ssimus " of 20 June, 1699, the novitiate house must be approved by the Holy See, and the novitiate cannot be validly passed elsewhere. These directions refer to Italy and the adjacent isl- ands, and do not apply to all religious orders. Never- theless some authors consider them to be of universal application. The rules of congregations governed by simple vows approved by the Holy See ordinarily re- serve to the Holy See the approbation of the novitiate house. Pius IX, in an Encyclical letter of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars dated 22 April, 18.51, required that in all novitiates there should be a common life; pocket-money and the separate use of chattels of whatever kind (peculium) was forbid- den. One part of the novitiate house should be re- served for the novices, and strictly separated from the rest of the dwelling. The novitiate cannot validly be commenced except in the house lawfully set apart for the purpose. Some authors strictly require that the novices shall never be lodged elsewhere; but, al- though in the orders whose nOvitiate is bound to be approved by the Holy See, residence in this house is rigorously insisted upon, it does not seem possible that a few days' absence should lessen the value of the probation.
V. Hi.sTORY. — The institution of a time of proba- tion, in order to prepare the candidate who has al- ready been admitted to the religious life for his profes- sion, goes back to very ancient times. According to Mgr Ladeuze (Le c^nobitisme Pachomien, p 282), in spite of the testimony of the MS. life of St. Paohomius (MS. 381, "Patrologia", IV, Paris), the novitiate
