Novitiate is a year intended to help a friar continue to deepen his spiritual life, grow in his Capuchin identity, and further discern his particular vocation. The environment allows the novices to prepare for the profession of simple vows (poverty, chastity, and obedience) at the end of the novitiate year. At investiture, the novices receive their habit and cord—signs of their consecration and witnesses of their poverty.