of Malta American Association

Year of Preparation Formation Program

Module 1 – The Year of Preparation Script

M1S1: [M1S1 = Module one, slide one] Title Page

Module 1

Module 1 presents a discussion on the Year of Preparation. When you complete this module, you should have a clearer idea of what to expect during the coming year, leading up to your Investiture. A brief review of the application process and the admissions review is also included.

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M1S2: Agenda

The first part of the module reviews the rules and regulations of the Order regarding the Year of Preparation. This should give you a clearer idea, not only of the actions you must take during the year and the expectations for your participation, but also provide you with a better understanding of what being a member of the Order of Malta really means.

The second part of the module will give you a clear explanation of the admissions process in the American Association, the requirements for admission to the Order, the application and the financial responsibilities of membership.

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The Regulations and Commentary were promulgated by the and approved by the Sovereign Council in 2011. This important document (which is available on the Association’s website in the Year of Preparation section) provides a helpful interpretation of important segments of the Order’s Constitution and Code (also available on the Association’s website in the Year of Preparation section).

While the Constitution and Code should be read by every candidate during their Year of Preparation, the Regulations and Commentary can be a reference for years to come.

The Year of Preparation is clearly defined as a requirement in the Code of the Order:

2. THE PREPARATORY YEAR Code art. 109

The reception of (and) … must be preceded by a preparatory period of one year during which the candidate becomes acquainted with the history of the Order and participates in its works and programs.

The Associations are required to provide a program that gives the candidates an introduction into the Order, its charism and regulations, as well as provide opportunities for candidates to participate in the spiritual activities and hands-on work of the Order. The Code clearly states that these are required activities (exceptions can be provided only by the Grand Master or the Sovereign Council).

The American Association provides for the educational piece of the requirement through a series of narrated PowerPoint modules including the one you are participating in right now. Generally, these modules should be completed in the first six to nine months of the Year of Preparation.

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M1S4:

The Regulations require that a candidate have two sponsors who are Knights or Dames. In the American Association, this requirement is met through your one sponsor and the Area Chair who also signs your application. Both the initial sponsor and the Area Chair have the responsibility to shepherd each candidate through the year-long process of preparation and the application process. The Regulations require that they continue their supportive role through the early years of membership, once the candidate is approved and invested.

Each Association, and each Area within the American Association, has its own unique method of accomplishing the requirements of supporting candidates in their year of preparation. You, as the candidate, have the right and the responsibility to seek your sponsors’ assistance in clarifying any of your responsibilities, providing support and encouragement to you and participating with you in many of the activities during your year of preparation.

A successful year of preparation involves a partnership between the candidate and the two sponsors. That partnership will evolve over time – in many cases, the result is a lifetime of friendship and opportunity to grow together in the spiritual life of the Order and to share in the camaraderie that is one of the outcomes of working side by side with other Knights and Dames in serving the sick and the poor and in giving witness to the faith.

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M1S5:

In module 5 on Works and Ministries, there will be a clear explanation of the importance of hands-on work in service to the sick and the poor for Knights and Dames. In your year of preparation, you should have multiple opportunities to be involved in working along with other Knights and Dames in serving the sick and the poor.

You may have already been involved in such activities. In many cases, that is how a or identified you as a potential candidate for membership in the Order of Malta. The early Christians were identified by the famous phrase, “See how they love one another.” The same could be said for the Knights and Dames who show their love for Jesus through their service to the least of His brothers and sisters, the poor and the sick.

If you are already involved in hands-on work that is part of the Area’s regular works and ministries activities, then you can probably continue to work in that same activity. It might be good for you to get involved in some other activity in your sponsors’ Area to give you a broader perspective on the kinds of activities in which members are participating.

In some cases, Areas will have a planned set of specific activities in which you are expected to participate. You should discuss this early in your Year of Preparation so that you can arrange your schedule, working with your sponsor and the Area Chair to ensure you meet any Area-specific requirements. Early discussions will help to avoid any last-minute surprises.

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M1S6:

Page three of the application will need to be completed at the end of your Year of Preparation. On this page, you will provide a description of your activities during your Year of Preparation.

You should meet with your sponsor and Area Chair to develop a plan for completing the activities required for page three. Then, when it is time to submit page three, it will be easy for you to identify and explain the various activities in which you participated during your Year of Preparation. You should review your plan regularly to keep on target.

As you become more involved in different activities with members of the Order, you should take the opportunity to speak to other Knights and Dames to help you gain insight into the normal flow of activities as well as the reasons why members have chosen to join the Order.

Your sponsor should provide you with a calendar of events for the Area. Some Areas are particularly active while some Areas, because of geographic size or limited numbers of members, may have fewer planned activities. The Association website has a calendar of major Association events. Each Area should also have a similar Calendar – many have theirs posted on the Association website as well.

Many members participate in events in several Areas, particularly those who live or work in proximity to another Area (such as NYC, Long Island, Westchester, and New Jersey). Some members are engaged in one Area for some part of the year and in another Area during another part of the Year (e.g., ‘snowbirds’ who live in the North or mid-West but spend several months of the winter in a warmer climate such as Florida.)

A key work of the Order in which the Association participates every year is the Pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. This is one of the principal works of the Order and is addressed in Module 5 as well as in a separate module (Module 6) devoted to the pilgrimage. The Regulations state that candidates should attend the pilgrimage during their Year of Preparation, if possible, or within the first three years of membership. You should discuss with your sponsor whether you should pursue such an opportunity during your Year of Preparation; if you cannot participate during your Year of Preparation, you should note that the Order considers it important enough to state that you should participate within the first three years of membership if you cannot go during your Year of Preparation.

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M1S7

The Year of Preparation is a time of discernment. By its nature, it is also a time of prayer and reflection. The Regulations and Commentary offer the following:

• The strong recommendation to the candidate to participate in a spiritual retreat to discern his/her vocation to join the Order.

The Association and the Areas offer several retreats each year. The dates of the Association retreats should appear on the Association calendar on the website as soon as they are determined.

Prayer is an important part in the life of a member of the Order of Malta. Most Areas offer multiple opportunities during the year to participate in the celebration of the Mass. Generally, Area Masses will be celebrated on the feasts of the patrons of the Order – Our Lady of Philermo (September 8th); Saint John the Baptist (June 24th) as well as on the World Day of the Sick (February 11th – the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes). Many Areas also have Mass on each First Friday of the month, celebrated by the Area Chaplain. You should speak to your sponsor and your Area Chair about what is available in their Area.

The Order provides a reading list, stating that the candidate must make him or herself familiar with the main texts of the Church regarding the Lay Apostolate: • the Catechism of the Catholic Church • Second Vatican Council’s Constitution Lumen Gentium; • Second Vatican Council’s Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem; • Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Christifidelis Laici; • Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical Letters Deus Caritas Est113 and Caritas in Veritate.

Links to these texts are available through the Year of Preparation area on the Association’s website.

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M1S8

There certainly is a lot you should be doing during your Year of Preparation. It is intended to be a full year of discernment. Here is the list of the complete set of modules that you will be covering during this series of Formation Modules:

1) The Year of Preparation – the current module provides an overview of the admissions process 2) What is the Order of Malta? 3) The Daily Prayer of the Order 4) The History of the Order of Malta 5) Works and Ministries 6) The Lourdes Pilgrimage 7) Third, Second and First Class 8) The American Association

As you complete each module, you should take the time to discuss its content with your sponsors. Ask questions; seek explanations about anything you are not sure. When you talk about the material you reviewed, it will serve to help you remember it; your sponsors may be able to offer insights from their own experiences. Among the advantages of making the modules available for self-study is the ability to set the time at the candidate’s convenience. The availability of the modules on the website also gives you the opportunity to go back and review any material you wish.

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M1S9

The application process may seem daunting at first but if you process it in pieces on a timely basis, it should not be too difficult. You should always feel comfortable seeking the help and advice of your sponsors when you are working through the process. The staff in the New York office can also be of assistance. Contact information for the New York office is on the Association’s website.

A current set of instructions and the current year’s application are available in the Year of Preparation section of the website. It might be helpful for you to have a copy of the instructions and the application available as you review this section.

Before you submit any part of the application, you should be aware that once you are approved for consideration by the American Association, your application will be sent to the Sovereign Council in Rome for their review and final decision on your candidacy. Your application and the required accompanying documents will represent you in front of the American Association’s Admission Committee, the Board of Councillors and the Sovereign Council.

Here are some key dates in the Admissions Process:

SUMMARY OF SUBMISSION DATES

August 31: Submission of pages 1 2, 2A, 4, Authorization and Disclosure for Background Check, Baptismal Certificate and Marriage Certificate (if applicable).

April 1: Year of Investiture: Submission of signed Pledge to Grand Master and page 3.

April 30: Passage Fee Due.

The August 31 date for the submission of the bulk of the application and other required supporting documents is in the year to the expected year of admission. The submission by August 31 effectively begins the Year of Preparation. The New York office will track the submission of the application and the supporting documents. Questions and assistance can be directed to your sponsor or to the New York office.

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Page 4 of the application, the Pastor’s Recommendation, is used by the Principal Chaplain or his delegate (the Assistant Principal Chaplain) to obtain the clearance from the Ordinary of the candidate’s diocese. Generally (although not always), the candidate will not be personally known to the Ordinary (the bishop/archbishop or cardinal) of the candidate’s diocese, but the bishop will know the pastor and will use the pastor’s recommendation as the basis for his recommendation. Because it is a multi-step process to obtain the Ordinary’s approval, it is important to get the pastor’s recommendation to the New York office as soon as possible.

Page 2A of the application does not get sent to Rome – it is included in the application because it is important that the candidate know the financial requirements for membership in order to make a fully informed decision. Candidates who do not study or recall the financial page are often surprised when the time of the Investiture approaches and they are asked to pay certain fees. It is also important to note that an annual contribution is part of the commitment a candidate makes when joining the Order. That being said, members (and candidates) who are having difficulty meeting their financial commitments to the Association can contact the Executive Director to request an accommodation. The Executive Director is authorized by the Board of Councillors to review and approve individual financial arrangements should they be warranted.

Certain fees and a portion of the annual contribution are sent directly to Rome. The passage fee, due in April of the year of investiture, is sent to Rome and is used by the Grand Magistry to support its operations around the world. Each year, each Association pays Rome an amount of euros that is determined by the central governing body to support the costs of running the Order.

The Admissions Committee cannot complete its review and cannot recommend approval to the Board of Councillors of any application that is incomplete or if the candidate had not submitted the passage fee.

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M1S10:

The Admissions process begins with the Year of Preparation. As the Year of Preparation is coming to an end and the candidate and his sponsor have ensured all the documents required in the Admissions process are completed and submitted to the New York office, the Admissions Committee is preparing to meet to review all of the completed applications.

The Committee reviews each application to see that all the required documentation is completed. They review the credentials of the candidate, particularly page three of the application, completed by the candidate and reviewed and approved by the sponsor and the Area Chair. This page outlines the activities completed and engaged in by the candidate. The three signatures on the page ensure that accuracy of the information provided. Where necessary, the Committee may refer an application back to the candidate or the sponsor for clarification or completeness.

When all the information and documents are provided and the Committee’s review is complete, the Committee will recommend to the Board of Councillors its opinion on the fitness of each candidate. If approved by the Board, the completed applications are sent to the Sovereign Council with the Board’s recommendations of approval. The Grand Magistry (the office in Rome) will screen the application to ensure it is complete; they may also ask questions of the Association’s Admissions Committee if anything is unclear.

After passing the initial screening, the applications are submitted to the Sovereign Council for review at its next meeting. Once the Sovereign Council, under the leadership of the Grand Master, completes its review, a decision is made on each application.

Applications are generally reviewed at the Sovereign Council’s June meeting. The Association is notified after the meeting is complete regarding the status of each of the Association’s applications. When the Association is notified of the Sovereign Council’s decision, the candidate is notified of that decision shortly afterwards.

The timing could vary, based on the Sovereign Council’s calendar in any given year.

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M1S11:

Sponsors and Area Chairs have important responsibilities in the Year of Preparation and in the entire Admissions process. The following is a list of their responsibilities to you and to the Order:

Important Considerations for Sponsors & Area Chairs • Sponsors must: - Have personal knowledge of the candidate; - Be in a position to affirm that the individual meets the Orders’ membership; criteria and supports the Catholic Church’s positions on matters of faith and morals - Be assured, to the best of the their knowledge, that the candidate is an active and practicing Catholic in good standing; - Be comfortable that the proposed candidate is involved in or is ready to become involved in hands-on works and ministries that serve the sick and the poor and/or defend the Faith.

• The Area Chair’s signature on the application indicates that they believe the proposed candidate is qualified for membership in the Order. As such, Area Chairs’ should have a personal knowledge of a candidate before approving and submitting an application to the Admissions Committee. If the Area Chair does not know the proposed, he or she must get to know him or her; the fact that the Sponsor knows the candidate is not sufficient.

• Both the Sponsor and the Area Chair should ensure the candidate knows that they are preparing to become a member of a to which he or she will be required to make a commitment. Ours is not a social or philanthropic association. The focus of all the activities is intended to help individual members grow spiritually while working to defend the faith and care for the sick and poor. The candidate should be made aware of the hands-on nature of the Order’s works and ministries early on in the application process.

• The Sponsor and/or the Area Chair should assist the candidate in completing the required forms and be prepared to answer any questions the proposed may have or refer them to someone who may do so. Care should be taken in completing pages two and three of the application to ensure all pertinent information is supplied. This information is critical to the Admissions Committee. The application should be complete, accurate and specific. Additionally, the importance of submitting the required documents (baptismal certificate, marriage certificate, letter of approval from the pastor, etc.) should be emphasized.

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• The Sponsor should ensure the candidate knows the full financial obligations of membership: passage fee, robes/capes and decorations, investiture, dinner, annual contribution. Also, it is important that the proposed is aware of the costs associated with the Lourdes Pilgrimage and other activities of the Order/Association that may involve additional requests for financial support (e.g. response to crisis such as Katrina, Tsunami, Bushfires). Many Areas also have activities that require contributions and some may have annual Area contribution requirements.

• The Admissions Committee will not submit incomplete applications to the Board of Councilors for approval. Incomplete applications will be held for later review when all required information has been submitted. In some cases, that will require deferring the process until the next year.

• Both the Sponsor and the Area Chair should be prepared to answer Admissions Committee questions regarding any candidate they propose.

The primary responsibility of the Sponsor and the Area Chair is to identify good candidates (you) who can consider joining the Order of Malta and to shepherd them through the process in the Year of Preparation. Their help and guidance should make your Year of Preparation a time focused on your preparation to join the Order of Malta and not become bogged down in other distractions.

You have an important role in the process. It is not necessarily an easy process to join a religious lay order of the Church. Your Sponsor and Area Chair should help to reduce the administrative burden by providing you the support you need and access to other resources when necessary to complete the process in a smooth and timely fashion.

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M1S12:

In the Year of Preparation section on the American Association’s website (www.orderofmaltaamerican.org), you will find a number of resources that may be helpful to you in the Admissions process:

I. The complete set of eight modules in this series as described in an earlier slide;

II. Videos (or links to videos) recommended for your review: 1) Lourdes video(s) 2) Investiture Mass video 3) Italian Association Rescue Video 4) Malteser International Video 5) Holy Family Hospital Video 6) Video on the First Class, The Heart of the Order 7) What is the Order of Malta? An American Association Video

III. Assembled required/recommended readings to be housed in YOP Room: 1) Regulations and Commentary (actual PDF) 2) Constitution and Code of the Order (actual PDF) 3) Chaplains’ education essays (link) 4) The Catechism of the Catholic Church (link to book on Vatican website) 5) 2nd Vatican Council’s Constitution, “Lumen Gentium” (link to document on Vatican website) 6) 2nd Vatican Council’s Decree, “Apostolicam Actuositatem” (link to document on Vatican website) 7) John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation, “Christifidelis Laici” (link to document on Vatican web) 8) Benedict XVI’s Encyclical Letters, “Deus Caritas Est” and “Caritas in Veritate” (links to Vatican website) 9) The Order’s “Journals of Spirituality” (actual PDFs where available or links) 10) The Bible (link to the Vatican website, New American Bible) 11) A Prayer Book

IV. Other resource material 1) the application for admission and the instructions for completing it. 2) links to the list of current Board members and Area Chairs.

This is the start of one of the most important years of your life. The prayers of the Association’s Board of Councillors and your sponsors follow you throughout this Year of Preparation. While a future module will discuss the Daily Prayer of the

14 Order in more detail, it is fitting that you end this module as you will pray every day, the Daily Prayer of the Order of Malta:

Lord Jesus, thou hast seen fit to enlist me for thy service among the Knights and Dames of Saint John of Jerusalem. I humbly entreat thee through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin of Philermo, of Saint John the Baptist, Blessed Gerard and all the Saints and blessed of our Order, to keep me faithful to the traditions of our Order. Be it mine to practice and defend the Catholic, the Apostolic, the Roman faith against the enemies of religion; be it mine to practice charity towards my neighbors, especially the poor and the sick. Give me the strength I need to carry out this my resolve, forgetful of myself, learning ever from the Holy Gospel a spirit of deep and generous Christian devotion, striving ever to promote God’s glory, the world’s peace, and all that may benefit the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Amen.

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