What is Religious Life?

Last updated on: March 25, 2016 at 5:28 pm by Father Pablo Migone

What is Religious Life? 2016-03-25T17:28:31-05:00 Father Pablo Migone

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Pope Francis has declared that from November 30th, 2014 until February 2nd, 2016 the universal Church will celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. Our diocese has already joined in this celebration through a Mass celebrated by Bishop Hartmayer at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah last February 2nd where several dozen consecrated men and women (mostly religious sisters) who currently work in our diocese were recognized for their service. He is also meeting with most of the eighty religious sisters who live and work in our diocese by sharing a meal with them by deanery and having a conversation.

Consecrated life is a unique vocation where a person consecrates himself or herself entirely to Christ in order to enter into an intimate relationship with Him. Those in consecrated life profess and live out the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These three are proposed by Christ in the Gospels through his preaching and living, so every baptized Christian is called to live these to an extent, but those in consecrated life make a public statement or vow stating they desire to live these out in greater perfection. For those in consecrated life, living out the evangelical counsels allows them to more closely imitate Christ who was poor in spirit, chaste in heart and obedient to the will of his Father.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes various forms of consecrated life in the life of the Church. The first is eremitic life where an individual devotes his or her life through a strict separation from the world, living in silence and solitude in order to enter into deep prayer and penance. Hermits offer the Church great wisdom and their prayers strengthen her mission. A second type of consecrated life includes consecrated virgins and widows. From the first days of Christianity virgins and widows have been consecrated to God by their bishops in order to become a sign of the Church’s love for Jesus Christ and to serve the Church through prayer and apostolic activity.

A third type of consecrated life, which is also the most common, is religious life comprised of those who take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and live in a religious community. These men and women strive to unite themselves to Christ through the profession of the evangelical counsels and community life. Present already in the early Church, religious communities have served the Church courageously throughout the centuries by spreading the faith and building new communities of faith. Our diocese of Savannah is an excellent example of this reality where hundreds of men and women religious throughout our history have built up our diocesan parishes and institutions. Finally members of Secular Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life live deep within the world sharing the Gospel through evangelization and specific apostolates.

May this Year of Consecrated Life raise awareness of the many men and women who faithfully serve Christ by living out the evangelical counsels and through their service of others. May it also increase gratitude for the many consecrated men and women who have played a role in our lives, leading us closer to Christ by their teaching and example .

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