Brothers Lazarus renewed his simple vows in the presence of the abbot and two witnesses on Oct. 6. Thus he began his second year in the juniorate, also known as the monasticate.
After a six-month postulancy and two years in the novitiate, Trappist monks and nuns become juniors through temporary vows of stability, obedience and conversationem morem (fidelity to the monastic way of life).
As defined by the Order’s Constitutions, juniors undertake these obligations for a three-year period, or three periods of one year, before taking solemn, lifelong vows. At Gethsemani, brothers usually do the latter and renew them annually.
