Consecrated Life and Religious Orders Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical context, and vows related to consecrated life and religious communities.

Charism

A gift of the Holy Spirit given to the community and founder to live out.

Religious Associate

Men and women who formally associate with a religious community and their spirituality.

Dedicated Widow

A man or woman who has lost their spouse but has consecrated the rest of their lives to God through a vow of perpetual chastity and dedication to serving the church.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

One of the two people to make mention of consecrated virginity in their writing in the early church.

Lay Associate

Someone who is part of an organization of members of the lay faithful who feel called to live the evangelical counsels of a particular order in their own daily lives.

Sister/Nun Formation Steps

The sequential order of steps a woman completing formation to become a religious sister or nun undergoes: Postulancy, novitiate, temporary profession, and perpetual profession.

Consecrated Virgin

A single woman called to renounce an earthly marriage in order to devote herself more wholeheartedly to God through a spousal relationship with Christ under a vow or promise of perpetual chastity.

Counter Reformation

A movement of internal reform within the church during the later 16th and 17th centuries as a response to the Protestant Reformation to correct and preach church teaching.

Evangelical Counsels

The core vows of Poverty, Chastity, and obedience.

Religious Life

A state of life recognized by the church in which a person publicly possesses vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Monasticism

Living in seclusion from the world under the vows of the evangelical counsels while living under a fixed rule.

Religious Communities

A group of men or women religious who are joined by a common charism.

Mendicant

Derived from a Latin root meaning "to beg," describing members of religious orders who rely on charity for their support.

Eremitic

The life of a hermit, characterized by self-denial and solitude.