Novice Guardian or Novice Master or Novice Mistress

Director of the process of discernment and formation that leads to the incorporation of new members in a religious order or community. The title refers to the novice guardian's responsibility for training the novices in the novitiate of the religious order or community. The novice guardian also may handle inquiries from prospective members and direct the training of postulants before they enter the novitiate. The novice guardian is seen to be a role model for those who will become members of the religious order or community. The novice guardian represents the superior in the process of discernment and formation for novices and is accountable to the superior. The novice guardian should be mature, thoroughly acquainted with the rule, constitutions, and customs of the community, gifted with spiritual experience and discernment, and knowledgeable in the theology of the spiritual life.