Holy Angels church and the house of the Pre-Novitiate Attached to the parish of the Holy Angeles there is also the pre-novitiate of the American Province of the Oblates of May Immaculate. That was the main purpose of my visit to Buffalo. In the Catholic Church all candidates to the priesthood are obliged to complete two years of Philosophy and four years of Theology. The way it is done depends on the diocese or the local Province. In the United States the Oblates ask the candidates to obtain a degree in Philosophy before the Novitiate which is the formal and intense year of introduction to living the life of vows of Chastity, poverty and obedience. As the novitiate is a very serious program it demands certain maturity in faith but also in human aspect of the candidate. Good intentions aren’t enough, the young man must have a solid human foundation. That’s why in some formation houses (places where future priests and brothers are trained) it has been decided that the Philosophy studies will be moved to the time before the Novitiate so that after two years the candidates can be more mature as Christians and men to enter the Novitiate. Although technically the participants of the pre-novitiate program aren’t members of the Oblate Congregation but they live in a community that is part of the Oblate Community. Their timetable isn’t as strict as in the Novitiate and later but they live in a religious boarding house under the supervision of Oblate Formators. When I was doing my training for the priesthood we didn’t have such system. After a couple of weeks of a trial we began out Novitiate and after the Novitiate we did Philosophy and then Theology. I guess our superiors believed that such a catholic country like Poland gives enough preparation and maturity to the young people.
At the moment there are six young men in Buffalo studying Philosophy and preparing themselves for the Novitiate. These candidates for the Oblate priesthood take their classes in Philosophy and Religious Studies at D'Youville and Canisius Colleges during this phase of their seminary training. Although their spiritual training isn’t as full-on as it is in the Novitiate and at Theology but they still live together as a community, they attend Mass every day and pray privately and communally. They also learn to be responsible for others by looking after the property. They clean it themselves, they also are involved in cooking and other ordinary, daily activities. Apart from that they also can experience some pastoral work like teaching catechism, visiting the sick, running youth group. It is important part of their initial training as it is hard to imagine that a person who declares that he loves Jesus doesn’t want to take it out to others. There were a couple of men who started the training a couple of months ago. However I could see some positive and encouraging signs like focus, determination, humility, readiness to work etc. Without these qualities it is impossible to take seriously the call to the priesthood.
At the moment there are six young men in Buffalo studying Philosophy and preparing themselves for the Novitiate. These candidates for the Oblate priesthood take their classes in Philosophy and Religious Studies at D'Youville and Canisius Colleges during this phase of their seminary training. Although their spiritual training isn’t as full-on as it is in the Novitiate and at Theology but they still live together as a community, they attend Mass every day and pray privately and communally. They also learn to be responsible for others by looking after the property. They clean it themselves, they also are involved in cooking and other ordinary, daily activities. Apart from that they also can experience some pastoral work like teaching catechism, visiting the sick, running youth group. It is important part of their initial training as it is hard to imagine that a person who declares that he loves Jesus doesn’t want to take it out to others. There were a couple of men who started the training a couple of months ago. However I could see some positive and encouraging signs like focus, determination, humility, readiness to work etc. Without these qualities it is impossible to take seriously the call to the priesthood.
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