Consecrated life

Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it "is characterized by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in a stable state of life recognized by the Church".^[2]

The Code of Canon Law defines it as "a stable form of living by which the 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 been dedicated by a new and special title to his honour, to the building up of the Church, and to the salvation of the world, they strive for the perfection of charity in the service of the kingdom of God and, having been made an outstanding sign in the Church, foretell the heavenly glory."^[3]

Description

What makes the consecrated life a more exacting way of Christian living is the public

Consecrated persons are not necessarily part of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, unless they are also ordained clergy.^[4]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church comments: "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 practising 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. Thus the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved them."^[5]

Consecrated life may be lived either in institutes, societies, or individually. While those living it are either clergy or laypersons, the state of consecrated life is neither clerical nor lay by nature.^[6]

Types

Institutes of consecrated life

Institutes of consecrated life are either religious institutes or secular institutes.

• Religious institutes are societies in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vows, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common.^[7]
• Secular institutes, are those "in which the Christian faithful, living in the world, strive for the perfection of charity and work for the
  sanctification of the world especially from within".^[8]

Societies of apostolic life are dedicated to pursuit of an apostolic purpose, such as educational or missionary work. They "resemble institutes of consecrated life"^[9] but are distinct from them. The members do not take religious vows, but live in common, striving for perfection through observing the "constitutions" of the society to which they belong. Some societies of apostolic life, but not all of them, define in their constitutions "bonds" of a certain permanence whereby their members embrace the evangelical counsels.^[10] The Code of Canon Law gives for societies of apostolic life regulations much less detailed than for institutes of consecrated life, in many instances simply referring to the constitutions of the individual societies.^[11] Although societies of apostolic life may in externals resemble religious life, a major distinction is that they are not themselves consecrated and their state of life does not change (i.e. they remain secular clerics or laypersons).

Examples of societies of apostolic life are the

Besides institutes of consecrated life, the Catholic Church recognizes:

• the
  diocesan hermit "one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, in the hands of the diocesan bishop, and observes his or her own plan of life under his direction".^[13] "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."^[14]
• betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church."^[15]
  These virgins are, as well as hermits, one of oldest forms of consecrated life.
• Consecrated widows seek a live a life of simplicity and humility.[16] Pope John Paul II's post-synodal apostolic exhortation Vita consecrata of 25 March 1996 said: "Again being practised today is the consecration of widows, known since apostolic times (cf. 1 Tim 5:5, 9–10; 1 Cor 7:8). These women, 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."^[17] Although the Latin Church has no specific liturgical rite for the consecration of widows, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches envisages individual eastern Churches choosing to have consecrated widows.^[18]
• The Code of Canon Law^[19] and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches^[20] express that any approval of new forms of consecrated life is reserved only to the Apostolic See.

History

Each major development in religious life, particularly in the Latin West, can be seen as a response of the very devout to a particular crisis in the Church of their day.

Eremitic life

When Constantine the Great was legalizing Christianity in the Roman Empire in the early 4th century, and the Christian faith became the favoured religion, it lost the self-sacrificing character that had profoundly marked it in the age of Roman persecution. In response to the loss of martyrdom for the sake of the Kingdom of God, some of the very devout men and women left the cities for the testings of the life in the desert that was meant to lead the individual back into a more intimate relationship with God, just like the wandering of the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sin. The Greek word for desert, eremos, gave this form of religious living the name eremitic (or eremitical) life, and the person leading it the name hermit. Anthony the Great and other early leaders provided guidance to less experienced hermits, and there were soon a large number of Christian hermits, particularly in the desert of Egypt and in parts of Syria.

Though the eremitic life would eventually be overshadowed by the far more numerous vocations to the cenobitic life, it did survive. The Middle Ages saw the emergence of a variant of the hermit, the

In modern times, in the Roman Catholic Church the Code of Canon Law 1983 recognises hermits who - without being members of a religious institute - publicly profess the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond in the hands of their respective diocesan bishop, as Christian faithful that live the consecrated life (cf. canon 603, see also below).

Religious orders

Monastic orders

The eremitic life was apparently healthy for some, but led to imbalance in others. Pachomius the Great, a near-contemporary of Anthony the Great, recognized that some monks needed the guidance and rhythm of a community (cenobium). He is generally credited with founding, in Egypt, the first community of monks, thus launching cenobitic monasticism.

Basil of Caesarea in the East in the 4th century, and Benedict of Nursia in the West in the 6th century, authored the most influential "rules" for religious living in their areas of the Christian world ("rule" in this sense refers to a collection of precepts, compiled as guidelines for how to follow the spiritual life). They organized a common life with a daily schedule of prayer, work, spiritual reading and rest.

Almost all monasteries in the

Historically, monastic life was by its nature lay, but canonical life was essentially clerical.

Mendicant orders

Around the 13th century during the rise of the medieval towns and cities the

Until the 16th century recognition was granted only to institutes with solemn vows. By the constitution Inter cetera of 20 January 1521,

Secular institutes have their modern beginnings in 18th century France. During the French Revolution, the government attempted to

• Christian monasticism
• Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
• Enclosed religious orders
• Institute of consecrated life
• List of some religious institutes (Catholic)
• Monasticism
• Religious institute (Catholic)
• Vocational Discernment in the Catholic Church

References

Further reading

• Section on the Consecrated Life in The Code of Canon Law, 1983 (archived 18 April 2016)
• Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata of Pope John Paul II, 25 March 1996
• Catechism of the Catholic Church – "The Consecrated Life"