Novitiate
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The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian novice monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order
A novice is at the left. The habit of a novice often differs from that of the full professed sisters.
Tonsure
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Tonsure is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word tonsura and referred to a specif
Novitiate
…spent as a novice is typically two to three years. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the novitiate is officially set at three years before one may be tonsured a monk or nun, though this requirement may be waived. The novitiate is in any case a time both for the novice to get to know the community and the…
Celtic stone head from ancient Bohemia (150–50 BC), possibly depicting the form of the later Celtic Christian tonsure
St Bartholomew (by Carlo Crivelli, 1473, in the Ascoli Piceno Cathedral)
Clerical tonsure (note the scissors in the bishop's hands) of an Orthodox man in conjunction with ordination to minor orders.
A baby's first haircut, which is often a head shave, is a common rite of passage in Hinduism.