Jesuits In Their Own Words

The Formation of a Jesuit Brother

posted by: jcad on Tuesday, March 13, 2007

If you are considering the life and vocation of a Jesuit brother, you are in for a treat. The possibilities for ministry are endless, and the formation of a brother varies depending on your background, gifts and desires. The key to being formed as a Jesuit is to be open-minded and to allow one’s preconceived ideas of religious life to change.

Novitiate Life: The First Stage

The first formal step in formation is the same for both Jesuit brothers and scholastics. All novice brothers will spend two years in a Jesuit novitiate program. Each novitiate program may vary, but the experiences are basically the same. The primary focus of each Jesuit novice is to develop a prayer life based on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Another main component of the novitiate is to learn to integrate the one’s daily experiences into one’s prayer.

One of the major experiences of the novitiate is making the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This is a very personal and powerful experience, made with the novitiate class during the first year novitiate. It will become one’s anchor through this life.

Each novice will take a variety of classes in theology, the Constitutions of the Society and on the history of the Society of Jesus. Also, all novices will be engaged in vow discussion groups. This will help them to begin the journey of understanding what it means to live a poor, chaste and obedient life.

There are various experiments that all novices make throughout the two years. These “sent-out” experiments or experiences may involve any of the following: living and working among the poor, working in a hospital or with the infirmed, working within an established Jesuit apostolic ministry, or working in a third world country.

At the end of this two-year period of testing, the brother novice will vow himself to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience and will be missioned as a vowed Jesuit into the next stage of formation.

Life after the Novitiate – First Studies

The life of a brother after the two-year novitiate program will vary by province and according to his previous educational and life experiences. Also, a brother’s experiences from the novitiate will have an impact on where he will be missioned.

Most provinces will ask the brother to move into one of the First Studies programs with the scholastics. However, the courses and the degree program the brother takes may vary. All of this will be determined with the formation director and provincial, with the provincial having the final say, since it is the role of the provincial to determine where all Jesuits are missioned to study and work.

If a brother engages in studies at one of the First Studies programs, he will do so for a period of one to three years that may end with a degree. This period of studies will focus on theology or on areas in which the brother had some educational background.

Life after First Studies - Regency

Once First Studies are completed, a brother will be sent into active ministry. The brother’s previous experiences, and his experiences during the novitiate and First Studies, in conjunction with the needs of the province, will all play a role in determining to which active ministry the brother will be missioned. This stage of formation can last from two to three years or longer. Depending on many factors, the brother may even stay in active ministry until tertianship.

Regency will actively challenge a brother to integrate his prayer, work and community life. Community life at this stage is different than in a Jesuit “house of studies.” The ministry of the various Jesuits within an active community may vary, but it is a time to support each other and share with one another the struggles and fruits that each Jesuit experiences while actively working. The active ministry a brother does at this stage of formation may move the brother to consider other possible areas of studies that would be helpful in future ministry opportunities. Also, this period of formation may help the brother discover other gifts he possesses which need developing through studies. Once this period of formation has ended, the brother may ask or be asked to study theology (if this was not the brother’s area of focus during First Studies).

Life after a Period of Active Ministry – Theology Studies

If further studies are not asked of the brother, then the next stage of formation will consist of tertianship, which will be discussed later. This stage of formation for many brothers will consist of theology studies. The brother, in dialogue with his formation director and provincial, will talk about whether he should pursue a degree in theology and if so, which degree program. (If theology studies were the main focus of First Studies, then a different area of studies may be pursued here.) The brother may be asked to study at a Jesuit theology program, where the brother’s peers (scholastics) within the Society are engaged in theology studies. Once theology studies are complete, the brother will once again go back into active ministry until he is called to tertianship.

Tertianship

Normally, after the brother has completed all of his studies and within a period of about three years of engagement in active studies once again, the brother will be called to tertianship. The stage of tertianship is a period of reflection on one’s years since the novitiate. The brother will again make the Spiritual Exercise, with other Jesuits at this same stage of Jesuit life, and will once again study the history of the Society of Jesus and the Constitutions of the Society. Also, the brother will be sent out on experiments. This period of formation helps the brother and all Jesuits prepare to take final vows and thus end their formal formation within the Society.

Life After Tertianship

After tertianship, the brother will be engaged in full time ministry. Some years after tertianship, the brother will take final vows and continue living the wonderful life and vocation that God has chosen for him. Nothing else could bring as much happiness to a brother’s earthly life.