NOVICE, the appellation given to persons of either sex who are living in a monastery, in a state of probation previous to becoming pro fessed members of a monastic order. Persons who apply to enter the noviciate state, on being admitted by the superior of the monastery, promise obedience during the time of their stay, and are bound to conform to the discipline of the house, but they make no permanent vows, and may leave, if they find that the monastic life does not suit them. The period of the noviciate must not be less than one year, and the person who enters as a novice must have attained the age of puberty. Richard, in the Bibliotheque SaerCe,' article Novice,' describes the qualities required according to the canons of the Council of Trent for the admission of a novice : they are health, morality, voluntary disposition for a monastic life, intellectual capacity, &c. No married person can be admitted unless by the consent of both parties ; no person who is incumbered with debts, or whose assistance is neces sary for the support of his parents, is admissible. Widowers and widows may be admitted as novices, unless their labour is required for the support of their children. After the termination of the year of probation, the novice, if he (or she) persists in his vocation, and his conduct and capacity have proved satisfactory, may be admitted into the order by taking the solemn vows which are binding for life. Ducange, in his Glossarium,' article Novitius,' quotes the 34th canon of the Council of Aquisgrana, A.D. 817, in which superiors of
monasteries are cautioned against admitting novices with too great facility, and without a full examination of their disposition, morals, and mental and bodily qualifications. But in after-ages, as the number of monasteries was multiplied beyond measure, prudential restrictions were disregarded, and every means were resorted to in order to induce young people to enter the monastic profession, and parents often forced their children into it against their will. The misery and guilt which resulted from this practice are well known, but few perhaps have exhibited them in so vivid and fearful a light as the Italian writer, Manzoni, in his Promessi Sposi,' in the episode of Gertrude.' It wax in order to guard against such abuses and their fatal results. that the Council of Trent, session 25, call. 17, prescribed that female novices, after the expiration of their noviciate, should leave the walls of the monastery and return to their friends, and be carefully examined by the bishop of the diocese, or by his vicar by him delegated, in order to ascertain that they were under no constraint or deception, that they were fully aware of the duties and privations of the monastic life, and that they voluntarily chose to enter it. These humane precautions, - however, have been evaded in many instances ; and it may be doubted whether a very young person should be allowed to bind himself for life by irrevocable vows.