Become A Member

Become a Spiritan

Becoming a Spiritan is not merely about joining a religious order; it is about answering a specific, compelling call to the frontiers. The Congregation of the Holy Spirit, founded by Claude Poullart des Places in Paris in 1703, was born from a radical vision: to form missionaries for the most abandoned, not through prestige or power, but through humility, shared life, and a profound trust in the Holy Spirit. For a Spiritan, the journey is deeply personal, yet it is always oriented towards others. It begins with a restlessness a sense that faith cannot be passive. This restlessness is the invitation to leave the familiar, to step beyond the comfortable boundaries of culture, language, and even conventional ministry, to stand with those on the margins.

 

The path to becoming a Spiritan is a gradual immersion into the charism, typically involving several stages: inquiry, pre-novitiate, the novitiate (a focused year of spiritual formation), and ongoing studies and integration. Throughout this journey, a man is shaped by essential pillars of the Spiritan life. First, Spiritan spirituality is deeply Eucharistic. The center of their life is not activism, but contemplation. A Spiritan learns to find his strength in adoration spending time in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, drawing from that source the courage and love needed for mission. It is in the chapel that the missionary receives his orders. Second, a Spiritan does not go it alone. The community is his foundation. From the first days of formation, he learns to live in a multicultural, fraternal community. This is often the first “mission” learning to forgive, to bear with others’ imperfections, and to build a family out of men from diverse backgrounds. This fraternity is meant to be a sign of the unity the Holy Spirit brings to a divided world.

 

Service to the poor and abandoned is the non-negotiable compass of the Spiritan life. This is the missio ad gentes the mission to those who are forgotten. Historically, this led Spiritans to the shores of Africa, the islands of the Caribbean, and the indigenous communities of the Americas. Today, it means going wherever people are most abandoned: refugee camps, inner cities, remote rural areas, and university campuses where young people are searching for meaning. A Spiritans heart must be attuned to the “peripheries.” Furthermore, because the congregation is named after the Holy Spirit, a Spiritan strives to be a man of discernment. He learns to trust that the Spirit goes before him, preparing the way. This requires flexibility and courage. A Spiritan must be willing to be sent anywhere, to do any work that serves the mission, trusting that the Spirit will provide the words, the strength, and the perseverance.

 

Like most religious, Spiritans take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. But in the Spiritan tradition, these vows are not just personal asceticisms; they are tools for mission. Poverty is freedom from the burden of possessions, allowing one to live simply alongside the poor. Chastity is a freedom to love all of God’s people without exclusivity, pouring one’s heart fully into the community and the mission. Obedience is not blind submission, but a deep listening to God’s will as discerned through one’s superiors and community, enabling a life of availability to be sent where the need is greatest.

 

To become a Spiritan is to accept a life of movement. It means being willing to learn new languages, to adapt to unfamiliar cultures, and to face the discomfort of being a stranger. It is a life marked by joy, because the work is a response to a deep call. Yet, it is also a life marked by the cross the reality of failure, persecution, or the simple, daily sacrifice of being far from one’s homeland and family. Ultimately, becoming a Spiritan is saying yes to being a “man for others” in the most radical sense. It is a commitment to live on the edge, to build bridges across cultures, and to proclaim that God’s love is not reserved for a few, but is offered to everyone, especially those who have been told they are nobody. As their founder often reminded them, their only ambition is to be “good priests and good missionaries,” completely abandoned to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is a path of adventure, of deep faith, and of finding one’s life by giving it away on the frontiers of the world.