Consecrated life
Encyclopedia
The consecrated life in the Christian
tradition, especially the Roman Catholic Church
, but also the Anglican Church
and to some extent other Christian denominations, is, as the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law states: "a stable form of living by which faithful, following Christ
more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit
, are totally dedicated to God
who is loved most of all, so that, having dedicated themselves to His honour, the upbuilding of the Church and the salvation
of the world by a new and special title, they strive for the perfection of charity
in service to the Kingdom of God
and, having become an outstanding sign in the Church, they may foretell the heaven
ly glory
"
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
of 11 October 1992 (§§ 918, 920–921) comments on some of the above mentioned norms for the Consecrated Life as follows:
When reading the comment in §920 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church it must be remembered that no one living as a hermit is forced to seek the Church's recognition. But if a hermit feels called
to be recognised by the Catholic Church "as one dedicated to God in a consecrated life", with all the consequences this has, then it is an indispensable requirement of The Code of Canon Law 1983 (which is normative and thus binding, whereas the purpose of the Catechism is merely to make the "deposit of Christian doctrine more accessible" to the Christian faithful and other interested persons) that "he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels…" (cf. canon 603 §2). That is to say, by professing the three evangelical counsels only in private, or by professing them not at all, a hermit is not a member of the consecrated life. This has important implications, for example that – contrary to a hermit recognised by the Church – someone who lives the life of a hermit but who does not make the prescribed public profession of the three evangelical counsels remains free to marry, and if he/she wishes to seek dispensation
from his/her vows no papal indult
is required.
For the Catechism's comments on the Consecrated Virgins see §§922–924.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
tradition, especially the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, but also the Anglican Church
Anglican religious order
Anglican religious orders are communities of laity and/or clergy in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule of life. The members of religious orders take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and lead a common life of work and prayer...
and to some extent other Christian denominations, is, as the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law states: "a stable form of living by which faithful, following Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
, are totally dedicated to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
who is loved most of all, so that, having dedicated themselves to His honour, the upbuilding of the Church and the salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
of the world by a new and special title, they strive for the perfection of charity
Charity (virtue)
In Christian theology charity, or love , means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others.The term should not be confused with the more restricted modern use of the word charity to mean benevolent giving.- Caritas: altruistic love :...
in service to the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
and, having become an outstanding sign in the Church, they may foretell the heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
ly glory
Glory (religion)
Glory is used to denote the manifestation of God's presence in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. God's glory is often associated with visible displays of light, e.g. thunderbolts, fire, brightness....
"
Institutes of consecrated life
The Roman Catholic Church distinguishes between Institutes of Consecrated Life, in which members take vows, and Societies of Apostolic Life, in which members live in common without vows. There are three main types of Institutes of Consecrated Life: Religious Institutes, Secular Institutes and Congregations- Religious Institutes are societies "in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vowsReligious vowsReligious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices and views.In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by...
either perpetual or temporary, which are to be renewed when they have lapsed, and live a life in common as brothers or sisters" in order to "bring to perfection their full gift as a sacrificeSacrificeSacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...
to God by which their whole existence becomes a continuous worshipWorshipWorship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
of God in love".
- Secular InstituteSecular instituteIn the Roman Catholic Church, a secular institute is an organization of individuals who are consecrated persons – professing the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience – while living in the world, unlike members of a religious order who live in community. It is one of the...
s, are "institutes of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctificationSanctificationSanctity is an ancient concept widespread among religions, a property of a thing or person sacred or set apart within the religion, from totem poles through temple vessels to days of the week, to a human believer who achieves this state. Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity,...
of the world especially from within".
- A Congregation is a type of Religious Institute in which members take simple vows. A Religious Institute in the more formal sense, will have at least some members who take solemn vows.
Other forms of consecrated life
Besides Institutes of Consecrated Life, the Catholic Church recognizes- the Eremitic LifeHermitA hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
, also known as the Anchoritic LifeAnchoriteAnchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...
"by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance". Catholic Church law recognizes a hermit as "...one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counselsEvangelical counselsThe three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are chastity, poverty , and obedience . As Jesus of Nazareth stated in the Canonical gospels , they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect"...
, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, in the hands of the diocesan bishopDiocesan bishopA diocesan bishop — in general — is a bishop in charge of a diocese. These are to be distinguished from suffragan bishops, assistant bishops, coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, metropolitans, and primates....
, and observes his or her own plan of life under his direction".
- The Order of VirginsConsecrated virginIn the Catholic Church a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been conscrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity in the service of God. Consecrated virgins are to spend their time in works of penance and mercy, in apostolic activity and in prayer, according to their state of life and...
who "committed to the holy plan of following Jesus more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are betrothed mystically to Jesus, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church".
- Consecrated Widows/Widowers (cf. 1 Tim 5:5, 9–10; 1 Cor 7:8) who "through a vow of perpetual chastity as a sign of the Kingdom of God, consecrate their state of life in order to devote themselves to prayer and the service of the Church" (cf. "Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata of the Holy Father John Paul II on the Consecrated Life and its Mission in the Church and in the World", Rome, 25 March 1996, §7.3). – Canon 571 of the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches (CCEO) specifically allows consecrated widows/widowers.
- Code of Canon Law, 1983, also makes a provision for the Apostolic SeeApostolic SeeIn Christianity, an apostolic see is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus.Out of the many such sees, five acquired special importance in Chalcedonian Christianity and became classified as the Pentarchy in Eastern Orthodox Christianity...
approving new forms of consecrated life (cf. canon 605). – The parallel canon in the CCEO is canon 571.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic...
of 11 October 1992 (§§ 918, 920–921) comments on some of the above mentioned norms for the Consecrated Life as follows:
§918 From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels. They led lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became hermits or founded religious families. These the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved. (Footnote 458: PC 1.)
The eremitic life
§920 Without always professing the three evangelical counselsEvangelical counselsThe three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are chastity, poverty , and obedience . As Jesus of Nazareth stated in the Canonical gospels , they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect"...
publicly, hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance." (Footnote 460: CIC, can. 603 §1).
§921 They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.
When reading the comment in §920 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church it must be remembered that no one living as a hermit is forced to seek the Church's recognition. But if a hermit feels called
Vocation
A vocation , is a term for an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity.-Senses:...
to be recognised by the Catholic Church "as one dedicated to God in a consecrated life", with all the consequences this has, then it is an indispensable requirement of The Code of Canon Law 1983 (which is normative and thus binding, whereas the purpose of the Catechism is merely to make the "deposit of Christian doctrine more accessible" to the Christian faithful and other interested persons) that "he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels…" (cf. canon 603 §2). That is to say, by professing the three evangelical counsels only in private, or by professing them not at all, a hermit is not a member of the consecrated life. This has important implications, for example that – contrary to a hermit recognised by the Church – someone who lives the life of a hermit but who does not make the prescribed public profession of the three evangelical counsels remains free to marry, and if he/she wishes to seek dispensation
Dispensation (Catholic Church)
In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, a dispensation is the suspension by competent authority of general rules of law in particular cases...
from his/her vows no papal indult
Indult
An indult in Catholic canon law is a permission, or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case, for example, members of the consecrated life seeking to...
is required.
For the Catechism's comments on the Consecrated Virgins see §§922–924.