Overview of Different Spiritualities & Forms of Consecrated Life Donuts & Doctrine February 15 & April 26, 2015 Prayer for the Year of Consecrated Life O God, throughout the ages you have called women and men to pursue lives of perfect charity through the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. During this Year of Consecrated Life, we give you thanks for these courageous witnesses of Faith and models of inspiration. Their pursuit of holy lives teaches us to make a more perfect offering of ourselves to you. Continue to enrich your Church by calling forth sons and daughters who, having found the pearl of great price, treasure the Kingdom of Heaven above all things. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Chronology of Some of the More Commonly Known Religious Orders • Benedictines—St. Benedict of • Jesuits—St. Ignatius of Loyola Nursia (529) (1540) • Carthusians—St. Bruno (1084) • Visitation Sisters—St. Jane Francis • Cistercians—Various monks de Chantal (1610) (1098) • Vincentians—St. Vincent de Paul • Norbertines—St. Norbert (1120) (1625) • Carmelites—Unknown • Sisters of Saint Joseph—Six women (late 1100s ) (1650) • Franciscans—St. Francis of Assisi • Trappists ( branch of Cistercians)— (1209) Unknown (1664) • Pauline Father—Bl. Eusebius of • Passionists—St. Paul of the Cross Esztergom (1215) (1725) • Dominicans—St. Dominic (1216) • Redemptorists—St. Alphonsus • Augustinians—Various (1243) Liguori (1732) • Ursulines—St. Angela Merici • Salesians—St. John Bosco (1873) (1535) • Missionaries of Charity—Bl. Mother Teresa (1950) Where Did They Start? Country of Original Foundation Italy France Palestine Hungary Spain India Benedictines Carthusians Carmelites Pauline Jesuits Missionaries Fathers of Charity Franciscans Cistercians Augustinians Norbertines Ursulines Dominicans Passionists Visitation Sisters Redemptorists Sisters of St. Joseph Salesians Trappists Types of Religious Institutions • Canons Regular — Clerical state & sings the liturgy of the hours in choir & may run parish-life apostolates, lives in community • Monastic –Live in seclusion from the world and lives asceticism – Eremitical (solitary) – Cenobitical (lived in community) • Mendicant—Depend directly on charity for their livelihood, live and pray in common, may have a more active apostolate • Clerics Regular—Made up of priests who are also vowed religious and who usually have a more active apostolate *Some “families” of a particular order may have more than one type of institution within their ranks. Type of Religious Institution Canons Monastic Mendicant Clerics Regular Orders Orders Regular Norbertines Benedictines Dominicans Jesuits Cistercians Franciscans Fathers of Mercy Trappists Augustinians Salesians Carthusians Carmelites Passionists Pauline Fathers Missionaries of Redemptorists Charity Ursulines Sisters of Saint Joseph Visitation Sisters Vincentians Process of Approval of a New Order • Permission from proper department in the Roman Curia (e.g. the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life) • Approval of the Ordinary (usually the bishop) of the diocese of origin—ecclesiastical institution of diocesan right • “Decretum laudis”—“Decree of Praise”—ecclesiastical institution of pontifical right • Final approval of the constitutions What Is a Charism? • A specific way of living out authentic, Christian spirituality • Catechism #2684 • Way of life approved by the Church, that if followed will guide the person living that life to saintly perfection What’s a Charism? • A charism is a gift from God to the Church for the world. • With regard to a Religious Order, the term refers to the gift which God gives to an individual or group to inspire the founding of a new religious family within the Church. • This gift is handed down through the centuries and enriched by all who are called to live it. • The charism of each religious family is the particular way in which its members are called to follow Christ. • Since all Christians follow Christ, the charisms will have many elements in common, but the way in which these elements are emphasized gives each religious group its unique feel. • All religious families have been asked by the Church to rediscover their original founding charism and make it come alive in each culture and in every age. Large Group Discussion • From your own experience, what would you identify as the MAJOR charism of the communities listed previously? • How is that charism connected to the apostolate in which that community engages? What’s in the Constitutions? • With Benedict, the concept of Rule developed into a particular way of life that held the promise of continuity into the distant future. Yet the continuity was more psychological than juridical. • Constitutions spell out the purpose of the religious institute • It includes the types of apostolates the institute will focus on, in keeping with that purpose • Objectively and juridically, the constitutions of a religious community are the basic principles on which the community is to operate: • Rules are the directives for implementing these principles; • Customs are generally the quasi-prescriptive norms that differ from region to region (or province to province) within a single large community. Taken from Fr. Hardon’s American Religious Life in Historical Perspective Steps in Formation Process • Aspirancy • Postulancy • Novitiate • Temporal Vows • Perpetual Vows Secular Institutes in the USA Institute For Founded Purpose Apostolic Oblates Women 1947 Apostolic holiness Apostolic Sodales Priests 1992 Priestly holiness & brotherhood Caritas Christi Women 1937 Contemplative apostolic laywomen Catechists of the Heart of Women 1940 Religious instruction Jesus Company of St. Paul Priests, men, & 1920 Sanctification of professional women work Crusaders of St. Mary Men 1960 Formation of young people Don Bosco Volunteers Women 1978 A variety of apostolates Family of Mary of the Women 1976 Help people protect their faith Visitation Father Kolbe Missionaries Women 1954 Evangelization, veneration of of the Immaculata Mary Handmaids of Divine Women 1951 To promote riches, graces, vital Mercy life stream of Divine Mercy Secular Institutes in the USA Institute For Founded Purpose Institute of the Heart of Priests 1791 Diocesan priestly life Jesus Institute of the Heart of Men 1791 Consecrate to God through Jesus evangelical vows, prayer, and fraternal discernment accountability Institute of the Heart of Women 1791 Live Gospel radically Jesus Jesus Caritas Fraternity Women 1952 In the tradition of Charles de Foucauld Lay Missionaries of the Men 1980 Promise to live the spirit of the Passion Passion of our Lord Lay Missionaries of the Women 1980 Transform the world Passion Madonna della Strada Women 1936 Christianize secular world Mission of Our Lady of Women 1948 Love the rejected Bethany Secular Institutes in the USA Institute For Founded Purpose Missionaries of the Women 1919 Witness Gospel values Kingship of Christ Missionaries of the Men 1928 Reign of Christ Kingship of Christ Notre-Dame de Vie Women, men & 1932 Primacy of spiritual in world priests (spirit of Carmel) Oblate Missionaries of Women 1952 Live charity of Christ Mary Immaculate Opus Spiritus Sancti Priests, deacons 1950 For a new Pentecost Pius X Men 1940 Serves particular apostolate of institute Schoenstatt Fathers Priests 1988 To promote Schoenstatt Schoenstatt Sisters of Women 1926 Marian, renewal of society Mary DeSales Secular Institute Women 1964 Personal sanctification, parish apostolates Secular Institutes in the USA Institute For Founded Purpose Servite Secular Institute Women 1947 Contemplation and service Servitium Christi Women 1952 Live mystery of Eucharist Voluntas Dei Institute Priests, men, 1958 Serve the Church everywhere married couples Information taken from: www.secularinstitutes.org Examples of Societies of Apostolic Life • Apostles of the Interior Life • Paulist Fathers • Bethlehem Mission Society • PIME Missisonaries • Companions of the Cross • Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter • Congregation of Jesus and • Priestly Fraternity of the Mary - The Eudists Missionaries of St.Charles • Daughters of Charity of St. Borromeo Vincent de Paul • Sisters of Social Service • Glenmary Home Missioners • Society of Our Lady of the • Institute of Christ the King Most Holy Trinity Sovereign Priest • Society of Saint-Sulpice • Institute of the Good • Society of the Catholic Shepherd Apostolate • Maryknoll • Sodalitium Christianae Vitae • Missionaries of the Precious • Missionary Society of St. Blood Thomas the Apostle • Oratory of Saint Phillip Neri Consecrated Virgins Central elements of consecrated virginity From the Code of Canon Law: • The virgin is consecrated to God by the diocesan Bishop according to a rite approved by the church. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 922-924] • She is betrothed mystically to Christ and dedicated to the service of the church. • She enters a public state of consecrated life in the Church. • She lives her life individually, under the direction of the diocesan Bishop. Information taken from: consecratedvirgins.org Consecrated Virgins Central elements of consecrated virginity From the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity: • The consecrated virgin is constituted a sacred person in the Church. [Introduction, No. 1] • No particular service or spirituality is imposed; the consecrated virgin's time is spent in works of penance and of mercy, in apostolic