PART I: ¹THE ADMISSION TO PROBATION #

CHAPTER 1: ²THE PERSON WHO ADMITS #

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1. ³ The authority to admit to probation¹ will belong to those whom the superior general of the Society thinks fit, and to the extent he thinks good. In communicating this authority he will look to what is conducive to the greater service to God our Lord.

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2. ¹When someone who seems suitable for our Institute offers himself to a person who lacks such authority to admit him, he may send this applicant to one who has it See C-140 or write to him and inform him about the applicant’s qualifications²and then act as directed by him in our Lord, should the latter be able to settle the matter from a distance See C-141.

[140] #

A. ¹If a good applicant of this kind cannot easily be sent to the one who has the authority, anyone may, while the one possessing authority is being informed, receive the applicant provisionally as a guest in his house if he judges this to be necessary or highly opportune, until be receives a reply to the report which he sent.²Then he will act according to the order which will be given him.

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B. ¹Those who can admit while absent are: ordinarily, the provincial superiors; extraordinarily, any commissaries of the general or the same provincial.²But the more ordinary practice will be to communicate to the rectors of colleges and the local superiors authority to receive into their house or college² those present whom they judge suitable.

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3. ¹It is highly important for the divine service to make a proper selection of those who are admitted and to take care to know their abilities and vocation well.²Therefore if the one who has the aforementioned authority does not do all that himself, he should have, among those who reside more permanently in the same place as himself, someone to aid him in getting to know, conversing with, and examining those who come.³This helper should possess discretion and skill in dealing with persons so different in temperament and disposition, so that things may be carried out with greater clarity and satisfaction on both sides for the divine glory.

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4. ¹Both the one who has the authority to admit and his helper ought to know the Society well and be zealous for its good functioning, so that no other consideration will be able to deter him from what he judges in our Lord to be more suitable for his divine service in this Society.²Therefore he should be very moderate in his desire to admit See C-144. Furthermore,³so that he may be more free from disordered affection where occasion for it might exist (as in the case of relatives or friends), anyone in whom this danger is in any way feared ought not to perform the function of examiner.

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C. ¹Just as care should be taken to cooperate with the divine motion and vocation, endeavoring to secure in the Society an increase of workers for the holy vineyard of Christ our Lord,²so also much thought should be given so as to admit only those who possess the qualifications required for this Institute, for the divine glory.

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5. ¹Whoever has this charge ought to keep in writing whatever pertains to it See C-146 so that he may better and more precisely carry out what is sought in this matter for the divine service.

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D. ¹In every place where someone has the authority to admit, there ought to be a complete text of the Examen in the languages which are ordinarily found necessary, such as the vernacular of the place of residence and Latin.²The Examen is proposed to the one who seeks admission before he enters the house to live in common with the others. The impediments which necessarily bar admission are proposed even before entrance into the first probation.³There will likewise be in writing another Examen containing the matter which is to be proposed every six months during the two years of probation;⁴also another, very short, which those can use who deal with applicants, so that both sides may know what should be known before reception into the first probation,⁵They should likewise have the office of the examiner in writing and see that its prescriptions are carried out.

CHAPTER 2: ¹THE CANDIDATES WHO SHOULD BE ADMITTED #

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1. ²To speak in general of those who should be admitted, the greater the number of natural and infused gifts someone has from God our Lord which are useful for what the Society aims at in his divine service,³and the more assurance the Society has about these gifts, the more suitable will the candidate be to be admitted.

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2. ¹To speak in particular of those who are admitted to become coadjutors in temporal or external matters³ (under the presupposition that they should not be more numerous than is necessary to aid the Society in occupations which the other members could not fulfill without detriment to the greater service of God See C-149),²they ought to be men of good conscience, peaceful, docile, lovers of virtue and perfection, inclined to devotion,³edifying for those inside and outside the house, content with the lot of Martha in the Society, well-disposed towards its Institute, and eager to help it for the glory of God our Lord See C-150.

[149] #

A. ¹Such are ordinarily, in large houses, the occupations of a cook, steward, buyer, doorkeeper, infirmarian, launderer, gardener, and alms gatherer (in a place where the members live on alms); and there could be others of this kind.²But depending on the more or fewer members in the houses or colleges and the greater or lesser distraction entailed in the tasks, it might or might not be necessary to assign persons to them full-time.³Consequently this matter should be left to the discretion of the one in charge of the others.⁴But he should be told to keep in mind the purpose for which such members are accepted into this Society, that is, the need to relieve those who are laboring in the Lord’s vineyard, or who are studying to labor in it later, so that they may apply themselves to pursuits which bring greater service to God our Lord.

[150] #

B. ¹If an applicant is perceived to have such a disposition that he is unlikely in the long run to remain satisfied while serving in external matters, because an inclination for study or the priesthood can be observed in him, ² it would not be wise to admit him to become a temporal coadjutor⁴ if he does not appear to have the ability to advance as far as would be necessary.

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3. ¹In regard to their exterior these candidates ought to have a good appearance, health, and age as well as the strength for the bodily tasks which occur in the Society.²They should also have or give hope of having some good ability to help the Society.

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4. ¹In view of the end of our Institute and our manner of proceeding, we are convinced in our Lord that to admit persons who are very difficult or unserviceable to the congregation is not conducive to his greater service and praise, even though their admission would be useful to themselves.

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5. ¹Those who are admitted to serve in spiritual matters should have the following qualifications, because of what a ministry of this kind requires for the help of souls.

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6. ¹In regard to the intellect, they should have sound doctrine, or ability to acquire it, and in respect to practical matters, discretion or evidence of the good judgment which is necessary to acquire it.

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7. ¹In regard to the memory, they should have aptitude to learn and faithfully retain what has been learned.

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8. ¹In regard to the will, they should be desirous of all virtue and spiritual perfection, peaceful, constant, and resolute in whatever enterprise of the divine service they undertake, and zealous for the salvation of souls.²For that reason they should also have an affection toward our Institute, which is directly ordered to help and dispose souls to gain their ultimate end from the hand of God our Creator and Lord.

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9. ¹In regard to the exterior, a pleasing manner of speech, so necessary for communications with one’s fellowmen, is desirable.

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10. ¹They should have a good appearance, by which those with whom they deal are usually more edified.

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11. ¹They should have the health and strength by which they can sustain the labors of our Institute.

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¹ They should be of an age⁵ suitable for what has been stated, that is, more than fourteen years for admission to probation and more than twenty-five years for profession.⁶

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13. ¹The extrinsic gifts of nobility, wealth, reputation, and the like, just as they do not suffice if those others are lacking, so they are not necessary when the others are present.²But to the extent that they aid toward edification, they render more fit to be admitted those who would be fit without them because they have the other qualifications mentioned above.³The more an applicant is distinguished for those qualifications, the more suitable will he be for this Society unto the glory of God our Lord,⁴and the less he is distinguished by them, the less suitable See C-162.⁵But the measure to be observed in all things will be taught by holy unction of the Divine Wisdom to those who are charged with this matter, undertaken for his greater service and praise.

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C.¹To be completely suitable for the Society an applicant ought to have everything that has been mentioned. However, if someone lacks one or another of those qualifications, such as bodily strength, or the age for the profession, or something similar,²and if it is judged in the Lord that this lack is compensated for by his other qualities and that, when everything is taken into account, his admission would be a service to God our Lord and conducive to the end of the Society,³a dispensation may be granted him by the superior general or by the other superiors to the extent that he has communicated his authority to them.

CHAPTER 3: ¹THE IMPEDIMENTS TO ADMISSION #

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1. ²Although the charity and zeal for souls practiced by this Society in accord with the end of its Institute embraces persons of every kind to serve them and help them in the Lord of all to attain to beatitude,³nevertheless, when there is a question of incorporating persons into the same Society, that charity and zeal ought to embrace only those who are judged useful for the end it seeks (as has been said).

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2. ¹Among the impediments to admission, some exclude it completely,⁷ for compelling reasons which move us in our Lord.

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3. ¹ Such impediments are: to have separated oneself for a time from the bosom of the Holy Church, by denying the faith in the midst of infidels, or by falling into errors against the faith and having been condemned because of them by a public sentence See C-166, or by withdrawing as a schismatic from the unity of the Church See C-167.⁸

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A. ¹Even though one has not been condemned by a public sentence, if his error has been public and he has been highly suspect and there is fear that proceedings may be instituted against him, he ought not to be admitted. But this judgment will be left to the superior general.

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B. ¹With respect to schism, if someone was born in a schismatical region, so that the schism was not simply an individual sin committed by the person himself but a general sin, he would not be understood to be excluded from the Society for this cause (and the same holds true of one born in a heretical region).²Rather, what is envisaged is a person who is under infamy and excommunication after having contemned the authority and vigilance of our holy mother the Church, so that the heresy or schism is the person’s individual sin, not the general sin of the nation or country.

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4. ¹Another impediment is: to have been a homicide See C-169⁹ or infamous See C-170 because of enormous sins.¹⁰

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C. ¹In regard to a homicide no declaration is added, just as none is given about the remaining impediments.²But when there is doubt as to whether he is a homicide or not, the decision will be left to the judgment of the generals, who in such doubts will not be lenient.³If someone has deliberately ordered the committing of homicide and the effect followed, he too would be regarded as a homicide, even though he did not perpetrate the deed by his own hand.

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D. ¹Infamy because of enormous sins is understood to be an impediment in the place where the sinner was declared infamous.²If he should, when far from that place, give such signs of repentance that they reestablish confidence in him, he could be admitted in our Lord.³Which sins of this kind are enormous and which are not will be left to the judgment of the superior general.

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5. ¹Another impediment is: to have received the habit See C-172 of a religious institute, or to have been a hermit with the garb of a monk.¹¹

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E. ¹Not only if he has made profession, but even if he has worn the habit a single day, such a one cannot be admitted, for the reasons touched on in the Examen See C-30. However, this should be understood of taking the habit with the intention of becoming a religious, not through any other accidental reason.

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6. ¹{Another impediment is to be bound by the bond of matrimony¹²or of legal servitude} See C-174.¹³

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F. ¹In case this bond should be dissolved by the consent of the master or the wife, with observance of the other circumstances which are customarily observed in accord with the sound teaching and practice of the Holy Church, this impediment would cease to exist.

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7. ¹Another impediment is to be mentally ill, with the result that the judgment becomes obscured and unsound, or to have a notable disposition toward such illness,¹⁴ as is treated more at length in the Examen See C-176.

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G. ¹In regard to all these impediments it is expedient that neither the superior general nor the whole Society should be able to dispense, since it is universally good that no dispensation be granted from them.²However, should one of these impediments be found in a person who has such other qualifications as to give certitude that the Society could be much helped by him in the service of God our Lord,³and should the person himself petition the supreme pontiff or his nuncio or chief penitentiary¹⁵ for permission, notwithstanding the Constitutions, to be received into the Society, its superior general not being opposed,⁴then the superior general may give his consent, so long as the door would not be opened to large numbers or to anyone, as has been stated, without exceptional qualities.

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8. ¹There are other impediments, none of which by itself See C-178 bars admission to the Society, but which nevertheless render the applicant less suitable; and the defect could be so serious that God would not be served by receiving one who has it.

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H. ¹Each of the impediments of this second category could of itself suffice to bar admission.²But since there might be other compensating excellent qualities such that it would appear in our Lord that one of these defects ought to be tolerated,³the discernment of this case is left to the discretion of the one who has the authority to admit. It will also belong to him to make a dispensation in such cases, subject to the judgment of the superior, who ought to be informed of any difficulty that might arise and whose opinion should be followed.

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9. ¹These impediments are of the following kind. In regard to the interior, passions which seem uncontrollable, or sinful habits of which there is no hope of much emendation.

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10. ¹An intention that is not as right as it ought to be for entrance into a religious institute but is mixed with human designs.

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11. ¹Inconstancy or notable listlessness, so that the applicant seems unlikely to amount to much.

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12. ¹Indiscreet devotions which lead some to fall into illusions and errors of importance.

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13. ¹A lack of learning or of intellectual ability or of memory to acquire it, or of facility in speech to explain it, in candidates who manifest an intention or desire to progress farther than temporal coadjutors customarily do.

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14. ¹A lack of judgment or a notable obstinacy in one’s personal opinions, which is very troublesome in any congregation.

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15. ¹In regard to the exterior, a lack of bodily integrity, illnesses and weakness, or notable ugliness See C-186. Age too tender, or too advanced See C-187.¹⁶ Debts¹⁷ or civil obligations See C-188.

[186] #

I. ¹It is to be noticed that persons who have notable disfigurements or defects such as humpbacks and other deformities, whether they be natural or accidental, such as those from wounds and the like, are not suitable for this Society.²For these defects are hindrances for the priesthood¹⁸and do not help toward the edification of the neighbors with whom, according to our Institute, it is necessary to deal.³An exception may be made where, as was stated above, there are outstanding virtues and gifts of God such that bodily defects of this kind would be expected to increase rather than decrease edification.

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K. ¹As to the age requirement of fourteen years for admission to probation and twenty-five for profession,¹⁹in particular cases where for special reasons it is judged conducive to the intended end of God’s greater service that this age be anticipated, the superior general will be able to dispense after thought and consideration.²Similarly, in cases of excessive age he will consider whether bearing with this detriment is expedient for the common good or not.

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L. ¹In regard to debts, great care should be taken that there be no occasion of scandal or disquiet; even more so in civil obligations where the law intervenes, over and above considerations of edification.

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16. ¹The more one suffers from any these defects, the less suited he is to serve God our Lord in this Society for the aid of souls.²Furthermore, the one charged with admissions should be vigilant that charity for an individual does not impair the charity for all, which should always be preferred as being of greater moment for the glory and honor of Christ the Lord.

CHAPTER 4: ¹THE MANNER OF DEALING WITH THOSE ADMITTED #

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1. ²We are strongly convinced in our Lord that it is of great importance for the service of his Divine and Supreme Majesty through this least Society that those received in it not only be tested for a long time before incorporation into it³but also be well known before they are admitted to the probation which is made by living in common with those of the house.⁴Hence, it is good that next to where we live in common there be quarters See C-191 where those being admitted may stay as guests for twelve to twenty days, or longer if it seems good to the superior,⁵so that during this time they may be more fully informed about the Society and the Society may become better acquainted with them in our Lord.²⁰

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A. ¹Where there cannot be a different house of first probation next to our own, some separation should be procured within the house²so that those being received will have less occasion to converse with persons other than those appointed by the superior.

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2. ¹Admission to this house, called the house of the first probation, may be given more quickly to applicants who clearly appear to be fit to serve God our Lord in this Society.²On the other hand, those who are clearly seen to be unsuitable may, with the assistance of advice and whatever other means charity may dictate so that they may serve God our Lord elsewhere, be dismissed right away.

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3. ¹Sometimes the clarity needed on the Society’s side may still be lacking even after the candidate has expressed his desire, been tactfully questioned about the first category of impediments, and had the substance of our Institute and the trials and difficulties entailed in it explained to him.²If this should happen, even though the applicant manifests an efficacious determination to enter the Society to live and die in it (and in general no one lacking such a determination should be admitted to the first probation See C-194), the final reply and decision should be put off for a time See C-195,³during which the case can be considered and commended to God our Lord and appropriate means can be employed to get to know the applicant and also to test his steadfastness See C-196.⁴But the extent of this postponement and investigation should be left to the prudent consideration of the one having authority to admit; and he should always keep in view the greater service of God.

[194] #

B. ¹If for valid reasons a candidate not yet entirely resolved to serve God our Lord in this Society is admitted into the house, he should be received as a guest and not for the first or the second probation.²But the one in charge should not easily permit this for more than three days, nor without permission from the superior general or at least from the provincial.³This permission should be granted less readily where there are novices present than where there are not.

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C. ¹This temporary postponement of the final reply and decision, and the investigation in order to know the applicant better, should ordinarily be observed.²But in particular cases (for example, when unusual qualifications are present and also a danger that such persons would be turned away or much disturbed by the postponement), the appropriate investigations could be made more summarily³and the applicants admitted into the house of the first probation or, after being examined, sent to other places of the Society.

[196] #

D. ¹The means which can be used to come to know the applicant are the summary examen which inquires about impediments of the first category, as well as the second category treated in chapter 3, such as lack of health or bodily integrity and civil obligations or debts.²It will be similarly helpful if, besides the examiner, some additional persons from among those designated by the superior deal and associate with the applicant.³Further, when his name and those who know him have been learned, information about him can be gathered from outside the house, if no one inside it knows him sufficiently.⁴It will also help to have him go to confession in our church for some time²¹ before he enters the house.⁵When the doubt persists, to have him make spiritual exercises will aid not a little toward gaining the clarity needed in his regard for the glory of God our Lord.

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4. ¹After the decision has been made in our Lord that it is proper to admit such an applicant to probation, he may enter, dressed as he customarily was or in the manner in which each one finds more devotion, unless the superior thinks otherwise. He should be placed as a guest in the aforementioned house or separate quarters,²and on the second day he should be told how he should conduct himself in that place, and especially that (unless the superior for urgent reasons thinks otherwise) he should not deal either by word of mouth or by writing with others from outside or inside the house, except for certain persons who will be assigned to him by the superior.³The purpose is that he may with greater freedom deliberate with himself and with God our Lord about his vocation and intention to serve his Divine and Supreme Majesty in this Society.

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5. ¹When two or three days have passed after he entered the probation, he will begin to be examined more in detail according to the method explained amid the functions of the examiner.²The text of the Examen should be left with him that he may consider it more slowly in private.³Subsequently he will carefully read the bulls, Constitutions, and rules which must be observed in the Society and the house he enters See C-199.⁴ Those who have studied should deliver a lecture on each branch of learning they have studied, in the presence of persons appointed by the superior, so as to give an idea of their capacities as to learning and manner of presentation.²²

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E. ¹For those who do not understand the bulls in Latin, an explanation of their substance would suffice, and likewise of the substance of the Constitutions and rules.²That is, each candidate should be shown those of them which he himself needs to observe.³A summary of them can be made and left (as also the Examen) with each candidate for him to consider more slowly in private.

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6. ¹During this time of the first probation the candidates will also manifest their consciences to the superior or the one he assigns, unless this is postponed through the superior’s decision.²They will make a general confession (if they have not done this previously){to the one appointed for them} . ^{23 3}In a book provided for this purpose, they write down and sign with their own hand what they have brought to the house See C-201, and also their agreement to observe everything that has been proposed to them.⁴Then, having concluded their reconciliation and received the most holy Sacrament, they will enter the house of common living and association where the second probation is made during a longer time.

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F. ¹If they do not know how to write, someone else will write in their presence and in their name.

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7. ¹What has been said about those newly entering will be observed in large part also with regard to those who come from studies or from other places of the Society,{who have not been admitted to profession or as formed coadjutors},²⁴and who have not been thoroughly examined elsewhere See C-203.²In this way, the greater the clarity employed in each instance, the more stable each candidate will be in his vocation³and the better the Society will be able to discern whether it is expedient for him to remain in it for the greater glory and praise of God our Lord.

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G. ¹Except for postponing admission to the first probation, which cannot be done with those who have already been in other houses of the Society, almost everything else holds true also of them.²However, the better known and the more settled they are, the less necessary are the measures for knowing and assuring those admitted to probation.