Aspirancy
The Aspirancy is a twelve-month time of discernment which includes time spent living inside the enclosure with the community. As she discerns her vocation to the Dominican Order and to our community, the aspirant learns about St. Dominic, the Dominican charism, and the observances of monastic life. The opportunity to live these observances for four to six weeks with the community will enable her to test her vocation to this way of life. After this, she may apply to enter our community as a postulant.
Postulancy 
The Postulancy begins with the entrance of a candidate into the community, and lasts for one year. During this period, the candidate learns about the Dominican and monastic traditions, and gradually comes to experience the goal and means of our contemplative life. This time of discernment is a preparation for the reception of the habit of the Order.
Novitiate
During the two years of Novitiate, the novice comes to know more intimately her call from God, and also her Dominican vocation. She experiences the way of life of our Order, and is formed in mind and heart in the Dominican spirit. Her studies include Scripture, Latin and the theology of the vows.
Basic Requirements for Candidates
- Are you between 18-30 years old?
- Do you have good physical and psychological health?
- Do you have a college degree or 2 or more years of work experience? These are not absolutely required, but can be very helpful to the candidate.
- Are you single (never married)?
- Do you have a love of God and desire for union with Him?
- Do you feel you have an ability to flourish in community life?
FAQs
How can I discern my vocation?
Ask the Lord in prayer what His plans are for your life. His desire is for your happiness, and He will show you the way to this. These time-tested means are very helpful in deepening your relationship with the Lord Jesus and in discerning what He is asking you:
- Daily Mass
- Daily meditation on the Scriptures
- Sacramental Confession at least once a month
- Monthly spiritual direction
- Prayer at regular times each day
- Spiritual reading
- Other spiritual exercises, such as Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction, Rosary
- Consider enrolling in the Angelic Warfare Confraternity for chastity or the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary
Would I be able to live with the community before I enter?
Yes. After a candidate has made some visits to the monastery, she can request to make an aspirancy — a 4 – 6 week stay inside the enclosure. Aspirancies may be made throughout the year.
Is there an entrance date for postulants?
The starting date of the postulancy is either 7 October (Our Lady of the Rosary) or 8 May (Patronage of Our Lady over the Order).
What if I am past your age limit?
Continue to pray and ask the Lord how you may best serve Him. There are monasteries which receive late vocations, and there are many other forms of consecrated life. If you are drawn to the Dominican charism, you may want to discern a vocation to one of the Dominican Lay Fraternities.
Prayer to Know My Vocation:
Lord, my God and my loving Father, you have made me to know you, to love you, to serve you, and thereby to find and to fulfill my deepest longings. I know that you are in all things, and that every path can lead me to you.
But of them all, there is one especially by which you want me to come to you. Since I will do what you want of me, I pray you, send your Holy Spirit to me: into my mind, to show me what you want of me; into my heart, to give me the determination to do it, and to do it with all my love, with all my mind, and with all of my strength right to the end. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.