1. Initial Contact

Interested individuals usually engage in written correspondence for some time, then come for one or more visits before requesting a period of residency in one of our communities.

2. Candidacy

After a period of residency, an individual may request the status of a candidate. Candidacy is a time after residency when young men, having become acquainted with the community, enter into a formal discernment process in order to know the community and its charism better and see whether there is a fit with oneself. It is also a time for the community to see if the individual is capable of Assumptionist religious life. Candidacy is a flexible period of time and its length depends on the needs of each individual. During this time individuals engage in studies or apostolic work or a combination of both depending on individual circumstances. Candidates usually pay room and board at this time.

3. Postulancy

After a period of mutual getting to know each other, a candidate may request postulancy, a  formal year of preparation for novitiate during which he will intensify his life of prayer, his commitment to the common life, and his knowledge of the Congregation.

He will engage in a balanced schedule of prayer, community commitments, study, apostolic involvement, and spiritual direction.

Postulancy usually lasts one year. Candidates who are financially capable are requested to pay room and board during this time.

Psychological testing is also an element of postulancy, assumed at the expense of the community.

4. Novitiate

The novitiate is a formal canonical year of formation during which an individual prepares for his first vows within the Congregation. Therefore, it is an intense year of "transformation into Jesus Christ" (to use Fr. d'Alzon's words), of intense discernment and spiritual direction, of living the evangelical counsels, of completing embracing the common life, of experiencing exterior and interior detachment, and of taking ownership of Fr. d'Alzon's spirit and his passion for the Kingdom of God as well as of the life, charism, and apostolic project of the Congregation.

Currently, the novitiate for the North American Province is located in Manila, the Philippines, where novices live in an international community composed of Americans, Filipinos, Mexicans, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Chinese, depending on the year.

5. Post-Novitiate

This period is meant to prepare the newly professed brother, through the common life fully shared, for his definitive commitment before God and within the Congregation. This stage should allow the professed brother to complete his knowledge of Fr. d'Alzon, of St. Augustine, and of the Assumption. It is a period of gradual assimilation into the life of the Province, of the Congregation, and of the Assumption family, into the charism and the mission of the Assumption.

If a professed brother has also discerned, with the accord of the Congregation, that he is called to priesthood, he would normally begin his theological studies. Currently Assumptionist students pursue their seminary training in Boston either at St. John's Seminary or Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

The period of temporary vows lasts from three to six years.

6. International Experience

Because we are an international congregation and often live in communities with Assumptionists from around the world and because we encourage personnel exchanges between provinces, all young Assumptionists in formation are required to spend a significant period of time abroad, working or studying. Learning at least one foreign language is highly encouraged.