How long does it take to become a member of the monastic community?
Men come for a candidacy of three months. During that time, they live in the monastery and obtain more experience of our way of life before becoming a novice. After that, a person begins the novitiate, which lasts a year and a day. A novice is an individual who is a member of the community and is in the process of formation in becoming a monk. At the end of that year, the novices become junior monks by making vows for three years. Although a person may extend the time of temporary vows, junior monks often make solemn vows at the end of three years and so become full-fledged monks of the monastery.
