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The Year of Consecrated Life Slide 2 Events for the Year of Consecrated Life (from the USCCB) February 8, 2015: Religious Open House. Events will be coordinated to also celebrate the World Meeting of Families to take place in Philadelphia and will include tours, open houses, receptions, family activities, and presentations on the history of religious communities at convents, abbeys, monasteries and religious houses Summer 2015: Day of Mission and Service with Religious. Events will include joining religious in their apostolates or special service projects, such as assisting the elderly, ministering to the poor and homeless, and caring for the less fortunate. September 13, 2015: Day of Prayer with Religious. Events will include vespers, rosary or holy hours in convents, monasteries, religious houses, parishes and churches. Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 What is the Consecrated Life? Slide 6 All baptized Christians are consecrated (made holy) by the Sacraments and by their reception, though unworthy, of Gods freely given grace. That is the most important consecration that any Christian can receive, to be initiated into Gods Church Slide 7 CCC 915 the profession of the evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity, and obedience), within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God. What is Consecrated Life? Slide 8 CCC 915 Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. The perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God. Theres another part to CCC 915 Slide 9 Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) #915: Slide 10 CCC 916 The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a more intimate consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christs faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come. Lets read on Slide 11 The life consecrated through the profession of the evangelical counsels is 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 honor, 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. Canon 573 Slide 12 USCCB Segment 3 Minutes Slide 13 Forms of Consecrated Life Religious Life Contemplative Active Hermits Consecrated Virgins Secular Institutes Slide 14 CCC 932: - Follow and imitate Christ more nearly - Manifest more clearly his self- emptying - Encourage their brethren by their example, as those who are on this "narrower" path As Consecrated Slide 15 Discernment Portraits of the Call Slide 16 Vita Consecrata Video Series Video One Video Two Video Eight Slide 17 The Church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful 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. Hermits bear witness to the impermanence of the world and the fact that we must always remember: that the most important goal in life is to be with the Lord. Vita Consecrata (7) Eremitic Life (Hermit) Slide 18 A hermit is recognized in the law as 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. What all have in common is a commitment, under vow to their bishop, to live poorly, chastely, and obediently a life of prayer within the silence of solitude. Eremitic Life Slide 19 - The call to a life as a Consecrated Virgin is distinct from other forms of consecrated life in that it is entered by virtue of the Prayer of Consecration rather than by vows or promises. Characterized by a spousal spirituality with Christ, the consecrated virgin lives individually under the direction of the diocesan bishop, dedicates her prayer to the mission of the Church and the people of God, wears a ring of consecration, and earns her own living. Consecrated Virgins and Widows Slide 20 Vita Consecrata (7) Consecrated Virgins embody the image of the Heavenly Bride and of the life that is to come. Consecrated widows and widowers serve as a sign of the Kingdom of God, devoting themselves to prayer and service of the Church. Slide 21