Contacts
Contacts are young men who desire to get to know the Brothers and how we live. The program for Contacts gives the young men an opportunity to attend activities with the Brothers such as faith sharing, teaching apostolates, and community gatherings. This program is conducted while the young person is still finishing his studies or is employed in his job, and does not require the young person to live with the Brothers yet.
Aspirants
Aspirants are young men who consider the life of the Brothers as one of his many options in life. The Aspirancy program gives the young man an opportunity to be mentored by a De La Salle Brother who walks with him in his discernment journey while still continuing his exposure to the Brothers through community activities, exposure to the Lasallian Mission, and shared prayer life.
Discerners
Discerners are Aspirants who are eligible to enter the Postulancy program. In this stage, the young person is accompanied more closely by his Brother-Mentor and together they discern God’s call to take the young man’s journey to the Lasallian Formation Center.
Postulants
Postulants are men who have decided to enter the first formal stage of formation in the Brotherhood. This stage provides the young man the opportunity to seriously discern God’s call by living in the Lasallian Formation Center, while being guided by a Formator, and being initiated into the teaching ministry in one of our La Salle schools. Structures are in place to introduce the young person to the rhythm of religious life: prayer, study, mission, and community.
Novices
Novices are the newest Brothers in the congregation. This marks the beginning of the young person’s life as a religious Brother. In this formation stage, the young person is initiated into the Brotherhood and is clothed with the religious habit, and is given the Brothers’ Rule, and the Lasallian Rosary. He will undergo various courses about the Church, the Consecrated Life, the life and writings of St. John Baptist de La Salle, and the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and its foundational documents. Novice Brothers are formed within the Novitiate, guided by a Director of Novices, and are guided through an intense process of formation and preparation for the profession of religious vows.
First Profession of Vows
After a year in the Novitiate, if it is perceived that God is calling the young person to be a De La Salle Brother, the young man will have his first profession of vows, which will be valid for one year. He will be sent to the Scholasticate and will undergo teacher training and further studies about religious life and the Institute, in preparation for active ministry.
Annual Profession of Vows
After two years in the Scholasticate, the young Brother will be sent for active ministry to any of the seven countries in the District. At the end of each year, he will apply for his renewal of religious vows.
Perpetual Profession of Vows
After five to eight years in annual vows, and after reflection on the past years in active ministry, the Brother may freely apply for his perpetual profession of vows. At this point, the Brother freely gives himself and the rest of his life to Christ and promises to live his religious vows in accordance with the Rule of the Brothers of the Christian Schools: promising to live the rest of his life in association with his Brothers for the educational service of the poor through education, to live in stability in the Institute, to live in obedience to God, the Superior, and the Body of the Institute, to live a simple life in sensitivity to the plight of the poor, and to live a chaste and celibate life, that is life- and love-giving to all.
