Postulant

A postulant (from the Latin postulare, to ask) was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a monastery or a convent, both before actual admission and for the length of time preceding their admission into the novitiate. It is also used to describe the ecclesiastical status of a person who has discerned a call to the priesthood and received parish and diocesan endorsement. The candidate retains postulant status throughout seminary, until ordination to the transitional diaconate takes place. The term is most common in the Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church; the Eastern Orthodox Churches tend to avoid Latin terminology.