Cathal BarryIn the Church, the consecrated life is seen as a special sign of the mystery of redemption, writes Cathal Barry
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.
They led lives dedicated to God, each in their 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, the Decree on the adaption and renewal of religious life, Perfectae Caritatis, says.
The eremitic life
Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly, Canon Law states that 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”.
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.
Consecrated virgins
The Catechism points out that from apostolic times, Christian virgins, called by the Lord to cling only to him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided with the Church’s approval to live in a state of virginity “for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven”.
The Church teaches that the order of virgins “establishes the woman living in the world (or the nun) in prayer, penance, service of her brethren, and apostolic activity, according to the state of life and spiritual gifts given to her”.
Religious life
Religious life, according to the Church, is distinguished from other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical character, public profession of the evangelical counsels, fraternal life led in common, and witness given to the union of Christ with the Church.
Religious life “derives from the mystery of the Church,” the Catechism says. “It is a gift she has received from her Lord, a gift she offers as a stable way of life to the faithful called by God to profess the counsels. Religious life in its various forms is called to signify the very charity of God in the language of our time.”
Secular institutes
A secular institute, according to Canon Law, is an institute of consecrated life 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”.
The members of these institutes share in the Church’s task of evangelisation, as they commit themselves to the evangelical counsels by sacred bonds and observe among themselves the communion and fellowship appropriate to their particular secular way of life.
Societies of apostolic life
Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are “societies of apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular apostolic purpose of their society, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the perfection of charity through the observance of the constitutions”.
Consecration and mission
In the Church, the consecrated life is seen as a special sign of the mystery of redemption. To follow and imitate Christ, according to the Catechism, “more nearly and to manifest more clearly his self-emptying is to be more deeply present to one’s contemporaries, in the heart of Christ”.
“Whether their witness is public, as in the religious state, or less public, or even secret, Christ’s coming remains for all those consecrated,” the Catechism says.