1.
 Contact the Director of Monastic Formation, Sister Dorothy Stoner. Telephone 814-899-0614 ext. 2511 or email formation@mtstbenedict.org.
2.
 Study the materials Sister Dorothy sends you. This website is also a good source of information.
3.
 After reading the materials, contact Sister Dorothy who will explain the application process to you and discuss a possible weekend visit to the monastery.
4.
 Once the evaluation process is completed and your application accepted, you may move to the monastery and become an observer.
5.
 Upon completion of the observer period, you discern your calling with the formation team and together decide if you shall ask to become a postulant. If you are accepted into the postulancy, you will choose a mentor to accompany you through the formation process. During a ceremony the community will welcome you as a postulant.
6.
 During the postulancy, you and the community will discern whether you are called to proceed to the novitiate.
7.
 As the novitiate year comes to an end, you and the community once again discern whether you are ready for the next step. First monastic profession begins a three or more year period called the scholasticate.
8.
 The scholasticate is the final step in initial monastic formation. Toward the end of the three to six years you spend as a scholastic, you will participate in the Benedictine Sisters Workshop and Retreat program, sponsored by the American Benedictine Formation Conference. Women from around the country participate in this pre-final profession program and discernment process. Finally, once again in mutual discernment, you and the community will decide if you are ready to make perpetual monastic profession.