Duration of the Novitiate 175A valid novitiate must last twelve months and be completed in the novitiate community, in such a manner that a novice would not be absent from the group and the novitiate house for more than three months, whether in a continuous or intermittent manner. An absence exceeding fifteen days must be made up. An absence from the novitiate house that exceeds three months, with due regard to the exceptions in C 174, makes the novitiate invalid. CIC, cann. 648 § 1; 649 § 1 Other Conditions for Validity of the Novitiate 176 For the validity of the novitiate, in addition to the conditions listed in C 172-175, it is also required that the candidate: 1) has completed the seventeenth year of age before the beginning of the novitiate; 2) be free from the impediments established by universal law (cf. CIC, can. 643 § 1). Before the candidates are admitted to the novitiate, they must present the testimonies required by law. CIC, can. 643 § 1; CM 55-57 Appointment of the Master and His Associate 177The Novice Master and his associate are appointed by the Major Superior with the consent of his Council. The term of office of the Novice Master and his associate is specified in the Directory. (D 127-128) CM 604 Qualities of the Master 178The formation of novices is to be directed by a Master, who is to be a priest and a perpetually professed religious, conspicuous for his learning, prudence, charity, piety and religious observance, so that he is able to teach the novices by word and example the way of perfection and transmit to them the charism of the Congregation. (D 129-131) CIC, can. 651 § 1; CM 601 Formation 139
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