“Today we realize that the charism of a religious Congregation is not confined to its professed members but is shared by laypeople, single and married, who feel drawn by the same vision.” Duquesne University

When you are alive in the Holy Spirit, you may feel called to serve. Accepting God’s invitation to put your life and energy into our shared missions is a joyful and serious commitment.

Listening for the direction of the Holy Spirit takes time and prayer. If you find you are called to serve as a Lay Spiritan, please begin the application process by contacting us at the information below.

As you work through each stage of the application process, listen to your heart, consult with your family and parish priest, and pray for guidance.

The Lay Spiritan membership is open to all Catholics (over age 21) who have completed a prescribed probation period and a two year formation program  (see below).

The Lay Spiritan community created a two-year Lay Spiritan formation program in consultation with their designated priest member. The formation program consists of the following elements:

• Monthly meetings that include
  • Prayer
  • Reflection the writings of Spiritan founders, Spiritan documents, articles and other important resources
  • Small group and large group discussion on the readings/presentations
  • Discernment of ministries
  • Sharing of one’s life journey at this point in time
• An annual retreat
• Invitations to participate in Spiritan activities that are important to the life of the U.S. Province.
• Celebration of feast days and Pentecost with members of the province.

The formation program is revised for every new cohort and designed to meet the needs of the incoming group.

Process for acceptance into the formation program

1. Laity who inquire about the Lay Spiritan formation program or those who are invited to explore the LS community, are encouraged to attend monthly formation meetings for 6 – 12 months as an unofficial member of the formation group.

• The purpose of this time of exploration is for the potential candidate to understand more about Lay Spiritans and to discover if he/she thinks this is a good fit for them.
• This also gives the Lay Spiritan formation director an opportunity to get to know the potential candidate and their readiness for the process.

2. If the candidate believes the Lay Spiritan program is a good fit for their spirituality and call to ministry, then the potential candidate will do the following:

• Complete a formal written application
• Write a letter of introduction to the LSA formation director and the Provincial

3. The provincial discusses the candidate’s readiness for formation with the LSA formation director

• If accepted, the Provincial presents the applicant’s request to the Provincial Council.
• If the Provincial Council accepts the applicant, the provincial will send an acceptance letter to the applicant.
• If the applicant is not accepted, the Provincial will write a letter indicated this decision to the applicant.

Process for becoming a Lay Spiritan 

After successfully completing a minimum of a 2-year formation program, attending all sessions and completing all the other requirements, the Lay Spiritan candidate presents a letter of request to the Provincial. In this letter of request the candidate includes the following:

• Describe how they have grown spirituality through the formation program
• Describe how they are living Lay Spiritan spirituality
• Describe their apostolic ministry

Period of Commitment

The initial commitment is for a period of three years, as is a second and third commitment. After each period of three years, the applicant will follow the same procedure, writing the above described letter to the provincial and the formation director.

• After six years the person will make one more three-year commitment for a total of nine years.
• After nine years, the candidate may apply for the permanent Lay Spiritan Associate status.

Choosing Lay Spiritan Ministries

Lay Spiritans in formation discern a ministry that fits the Charism of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit such as service to the poorest of the poor and to people where are workers are reluctant to serve.  Suggestions include…

• Seriously consider your role in existing Spiritan ministries.
• Look at the feasibility of developing an outreach//ministry appropriate to your skills and abilities.
• Consider engaging jointly with other Spiritans and Lay Spiritan Associates in new collaborative ministries.