3 months

Women who present themselves as Candidates will be encouraged to live the life of our community for a period of time, so that they and the community may discern through prayer and consultation their call to religious life. During this early time of formation, they will be encouraged to respond wholeheartedly to God's call so they may surrender themselves entirely to the Will of the Father, in imitation of Christ. Our entrance date for Candidates is September 8th each year.

1 year

During this year, the Postulant will continue to grow in her knowledge of the life, history, and Constitutions of the Community. She will also receive classes in Scripture, Catechism, Prayer, Church History, Mariology, and the Consecrated Life. When it is seen that the Postulant is ready to move forward, she will express her desire and request admission to the Novitiate.

2 years

The sister spends these 2 years of novitiate seeking to grow in desire to dedicate herself more fully to Christ, by studying the beauty, gift, and obligations in professing the three vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and by entering more deeply into a life of self-forgetful charity to her neighbor in imitation of Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother Mary. The first year will be contemplative, dedicated to prayer and study, while the second will be an apostolic year, allowing the novice to experience and participate in the work and mission of the Community.

5 years

The time spent in temporary profession is known as the Juniorate. The Junior Professed gradually participate more fully in the apostolate of the Community, continue with spiritual formation under a professed sister and, if the Community feels it necessary for the needs of the apostolate, the professed may be sent for higher studies. Temporary Vows are renewed each year for five years and when the Community sees the sister has reached sufficient religious maturity and is desirous of making a permanent commitment of her life to Christ as His spouse, after formally requesting admission, the sister will make her Perpetual Profession of vows as a Sister of Our Lady Immaculate.

Perpetual

With the profession of Final or Perpetual Vows, a sister has answered a Divine call from God to dedicate her entire life to Him alone and to serve Him in her brothers and sisters as an expression of her love. After having professed Final Vows, the sisters continue in their spiritual, doctrinal, and practical formation throughout their lives as a means of ongoing formation.