Pre-Novitiate
On Saturday the 6th of August, three young men from different parts of the south joined Fr. John Pitzer our Vocation Director for ten days just outside Memphis TN at the diocesan retreat center for our pre-novitiate. These candidates spent time getting to know one another before they left for San Francisco and a year of novitiate with the Western Province novices. Brian Kirk from Austin, TX, Carl Paustian from Houston, TX, and Steffano Montano from Miami FL, also spent time in prayer, talking about the four pillars of Dominican life, and had the opportunity to hear several Dominicans speak to them on varying subjects that will be important to them as their formation unfolds before them.
These young men have been discerning God's call in their life for a while and now embark on a new journey of taking the discernment a step further and actually living the life. They will be at the novitiate in San Francisco for a year before heading to St. Louis and the House of Studies. It will be year filled with challenges, but also many blessings as they learn in a more intimate way about Dominican life. On Thursday the 1st of September they will receive the habit and their year of novitiate will have begun.
