novice; novitiate
A novice is one who having been regularly admitted into a religious order, and already confirmed in higher vocation by a certain period of probation as a postulant, is prepared by a series of exercises and tests for the religious profession; this period is known as the novitiate.
The institution of a time of trial to prepare the religious candidate for his future career is a very ancient one dating from at least the 5th century.
No specific length of time for the novitiate is required by canon law; hence it varies with different orders.
New Catholic Dictionary
