Caesarius von Heisterbach zu Füßen des heiligen Benedikt

In the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, a novice master or master of novices, lat. ''Magister noviciorum'', is a member of a

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

who is responsible for the training and government of the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in that institute. In religious institutes for women, the novice mistress, lat. ''Magistra noviciorum'', is the equivalent. The direction of the novices is reserved solely to the master of novices, under the authority of the major superiors. The master of novices must be a member of the institute; he must have taken perpetual vows and be legally appointed. The novice master is often assisted by a zelator (second or deputy novice master). The novice master's duty is to see that the time devoted to the period of the novitiate be passed in

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, and the development of character through a study of the life of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and the saints, church history, the vows and the constitution of the institute. Within the time of this probation, he must make reports about each novice to his superior regarding these matters. For this purpose, he is to be free from all other duties and offices. Prior to the admission to the

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian k ...

and later before simple and perpetual vows, the master of novices is asked for his assessment. The

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

does not contain a separate chapter on the master of novices. In addition to general monastic maturity, the gift of winning souls is mentioned as a special qualification for the monk who takes care of the novices. A source of 1827 states that the novice master "should be a completely reliable, purely moral and true religious, who is able to familiarize the novices theoretically and practically with the purpose of the order and with the spirit of the statutes".Ferdinand Maaß: ''Lockerung und Aufhebung des Josephinismus, 1820-1850'', Herold, Wien, 1961

References

External links

New Catholic Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Master Of Novices Christian religious occupations Catholic theology and doctrine