When the middle of August came, it was time, once again, to gather our Pre-Novices to St. Eliseus Priory, the Pre-Novitiate House in Harrison, NJ. Five students returned for their second year in the house: Joseph Vinh Quang Nguyen, Dominic Hung Duc Nguyen, Dominic Vinh Tan Nguyen, Pe-ter Tung Nguyen Hoang Mai, and Oscar Forero. Joining them for the first time were two new arri-vals from Vietnam: Francis Khoa Van Nguyen and Paul Hung Van Tran. Together with Br. Robert Bathe and myself, we formed a Carmelite Community eager to begin a new year of prayer and growth.

 The two weeks before the beginning of school were spent in cleaning the house and preparing it for the community. Also, the students met to discuss what had happened to them during the summer.

 Each of them had gone to a special ministry in one of our houses, where he witnessed more of the Carmelite life and ministry. Each of them had a tale to tell. There was also time to show off the Statue of Liberty to the ones who had just arrived, a picnic to celebrate Labor Day, and a last-minute opportunity to enjoy the Jersey Shore before the beginning of school.

School opened at Seton Hall University on Wednesday, September 3, and was a most challeng-ing time for all of them. This was the first time that six of the students had ever gone to Seton Hall, so course selections and registrations were quite complicated. There was also the struggle of finding buildings on an unfamiliar campus. These, of course, are all things that were worked out over time.

Now the Pre-Novices have settled into the life of having Morning Prayer and Mass at 6:15 AM, followed by breakfast and departure for school, which they can usually reach in 20 minutes or so. In the evening they gather at 5:00 PM for the Office of Readings, Meditation and Evening Prayer. Dinner together is usually a friendly place of laughter and sharing. In the course of the month there is time in the evenings for praying the Rosary together, as well as holding Eucha-ristic Adoration and Lectio Divina. Of course, evenings are also filled with time to study and do homework.

Once a month, the students attend a weekend conference on the religious life sponsored by the Religious Formation Conference. Also, once a month, a facilitator comes in to help them talk about their life together and how it is progressing. In the coming weeks, each pre-novice will determine some form of ministry that he will take up as part of his formation. Finally, just this year we made a conscious decision to set aside the last Friday evening of each month as a time for the community to do some fun thing together. Bowling seems to be a popular choice, and I'm sure that the students will have many hours of sheer delight watching me trying to bowl.

We are looking forward to a year of prayer, studies, and inner growth surrounded by the joy of living in community.

Paul A.M. Denault, O.Carm.