The different forms of consecrated life enrich communities in varied ways, writes Aron Hegarty
Every year religious orders, congregations and societies around the world gather to give thanks for their calling to serve the Gospel in a consecrated way of living life.
This occasion comes in the form of World Day for Consecrated Life, which is celebrated in the Church on Sunday, February 2 and in parishes over the weekend of February 1-2.
In Ireland this year’s event was marked with a Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Foxrock.
Following the weekend celebrations, The Irish Catholic spoke to two Irish-based religious congregations – the Presentation Sisters and Dominican Order – to learn more about consecrated life, vocations and the way of living that is at the heart of the Church.
Sr Bernadette Flanagan PBVM says she believes that more people are becoming interested in consecrated life as they look to follow in the footsteps of Venerable Nano Nagle.
“The number of enquiries [from those seeking a consecrated life] has gone up since the 300th anniversary of Nano Nagle in 2018 and the numbers involved have also increased,” she said.
Cork-born Nano Nagle (1718-1784), known as the ‘Lady with the Lantern’, founded the Presentation Sisters in 1775 and was a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland.
She is considered one of Ireland’s most extraordinary women and was declared venerable in Church in October 2013.
Legacy
Sr Flanagan describes Venerable Nagle as “a woman for our time” and says that “her vision speaks volume even today”.
“Nagle’s legacy has made consecrated life more and more attractive because of the attention Nano Nagle Place – which receives 60-70,000 visitors a year – gets.”
She added: “Many people believe in living the Gospel in a practical way to those in need, as ‘Mother Nano’ did, which is attractive today.”
Fr Colm Mannion OP, Vocations Director of the Irish Dominicans, says he and his order welcomes in those who choose to devote themselves to a consecrated life.
“We see giving oneself to God as our whole way of life with a view to preaching fully St Dominic’s message of knowing truth and passing it on to others.
“We have been blessed in recent years with vocations and dedicated young people who are committed and passionate about their faith and are willing to consecrate themselves,” he told The Irish Catholic.
He added: “We believe in dedicating our lives to study scripture, culture and consecrated living, all with the view to evangelise.”
Since the early Church, there have always been faithful people drawn by the Holy Spirt to follow Jesus Christ with greater freedom; seeking to imitate him by committing themselves to a consecrated way of life.
Consecrated means ‘set apart’ and those living a consecrated lifestyle are thought to be set apart from others by Our Lord.
A consecrated life is defined as a “state of life in the Church lived by believers who wish to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way”.
According to the Code of Canon Law, it is “a stable form of living” wherein the faithful are “totally dedicated to God”.
People have different ways of making the Gospel visible in society. They focus on a particular aspect of the Gospel”
The Code of Canon Law also states that institutes of consecrated life can be either religious or secular.
Forms and expressions of consecrated life vary, depending on the religious community. Examples of consecrated life include monasticism, societies of apostolic life, religious life, secular institutes, consecrated virgins and hermits.
In other words, persons commit themselves to giving everything (poverty) and doing anything (obedience) in God’s service, as a loving response to His love for them (chastity).
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, forms of consecrated life include evangelical counsels, eremitic life, consecrated virgins and widows, religious life, secular institutes and societies of apostolic life.
Sr Flanagan says consecrated life comes in many shapes and forms depending on what element of the Gospel is pursued by that person.
“Right from the beginning of the Church, people have emphasised different elements of the Gospel and had different visions of how to live the Gospel.
“People have different ways of making the Gospel visible in society. They focus on a particular aspect of the Gospel and live it very complicity to what Jesus Christ asked his followers to do.”
In 1997 Pope John Paul II established a day of prayer for those in consecrated life. This celebration attaches itself to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2 each year.
The feast, also known as Candlemas Day, commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple where candles are blessed to symbolise Christ as the Light of the World.
Devotion
Those living consecrated lives are called to reflect the light of Christ to all people with the celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life the following Sunday marking their devotion to the Church.
One religious order in Ireland promoting vocations is the Dominican Order, also known as the Order of Preachers, which was founded by Spanish priest St Dominic Guzman in 1216.
Members of the order are referred to as Dominicans and generally carry the letters OP (meaning the Order of Preachers) after their names.
The order, whose base in Ireland is located at Tallaght in Dublin, believes in four pillars of society – preaching, prayer, study and community – and its mission is to preach “truth for the salvation of souls”.
Fr Mannion, who hails from Birr in Co. Offaly, says the order’s main purpose is sharing the Gospel and word of Jesus Christ.
“The key word is preaching,” he said. “We are preachers; we spread the truth of the Gospel and the word of Jesus to bring people into a deeper love with Him.
“As preachers our mission is to defend the faith and help people understand the love God has for each person. We engage in parish missions, retreats and help young people in the Church to evangelise.
“Our role is to meet with those who have a desire for truth and evangelisation. For the those who are committed to learning the truths of Faith and passing it on to others.”
According its website, the Dominican vocation to preach leads members of the order into many varied ministries.
“The Dominican vocation to save souls,” it reads, “leads members of the order to engage with people beyond formal preaching, at a ministerial level, through the sacraments of the Church.”
The site goes on to say that Irish Dominicans fulfil this obligation in “diverse ways”. These include preaching through the pulpit, through mission and retreats, media, in parishes and chaplaincies to name a few.
Fr Mannion says the Dominicans offer vocation programmes to those who are considering living in consecration.
“We hold a number of events such as weekend retreats, which give opportunities for people who are thinking about a consecrated life within our community. They can come into our retreat and experience the life in a Dominican community and find out more about our vocation programmes.”
The Presentation Sisters hold true to the founding charism to help the poor and the needy throughout the world.
Historically, the sisters focused on creating and staffing schools – many of which are still in operation – that would educate young people.
Today the sisters, who’s Irish base is at Warrenmount in Dublin, are located in 25 countries with more than 2,000 sisters pursuing work in education and relief of the poor on every continent.
People are now starting their journey in their mid to late 20s, which is different to before as people used to start it when they were younger”
According to Sr Flanagan, the sisters provide people those in need with “faith support” and are involved in chaplaincies, universities, prisons and hospitals.
She says the sisters’ work has always been tailored to the needs of the society in which they are operating in.
“The call to live the Gospel is related to where society is at.
“Our vision is that of Jesus Christ: let the children come to me. Wherever we are, we aim to meet the needs of the Gospel in that particular society.”
Sr Flanagan says the sisters host induction events for those interested in living a consecrated life and describes how the concept of vocation has changed in modern times.
“We have an annual open day for enquiries about vocations which is on March 21 this year,” she said.
“Usually what happens is six to eight persons gather; we’ll have prayer, video presentations of our sisters worldwide, there will be a service opportunity then share stories of people working with the us followed by Mass.
Backgrounds
On those commencing consecrated life, she said: “People are now starting their journey in their mid to late 20s, which is different to before as people used to start it when they were younger – in their early 20s.
“What is also different now is you have persons from multicultural backgrounds in the community, who are coming to us from all over the world and wanting to experience consecrated life.”
For consecrated persons, the circumstances always change but the mission remains key: to bring Jesus Christ and the light of the Gospel to a world crying out for healing.