The Religious Life

The Tradition of Religious Life in the Catholic Church

Origins of Religious Life
Religious life, which is basically a tradition of turning one's back on the
sinfulness of the world and pursuing a life of Christian perfection, started
as a tradition in the Catholic Church beginning from St. Anthony of the Desert.
St. Anthony was famous for his 20 year retreat from the world which provided for
him the opportunity of a high degree of sanctity that attracted followers and
started the tradition of religious life we have today.

St. Anthony of the Desert or as he is also called St. Anthony Abbot, was an
eremite - meaning one who lives in total solitude. After St. Anthony's example
of retreating from the world's sinfulness and starting the tradition of religious
life, his followers became cenobitic - meaning those who also live in the same
tradition of St. Anthony but who gather together as a community.

Soon, as these groups of men and women who are living the tradition of religious
life became more stable in their structure of living, monasteries were built to
house them and to provide a stable locus for their religious celebrations and
works. Famous among these first monasteries of religious life were the monks
of Mt. Carmel, the Augustinians and the Benedictines. In these communities of
religious life, there is often a founder that sooner or later becomes the head
or superior general of the monastery (termed abbot or abbess in their time).
St. Augustine of Hippo was the one who started a religious life for his followers
called the Augustinians. And St. Benedict of Nursia was the one who started a
rule of religious life for his brethren who were called Benedictines.

The Vows of Religious Life
Because of the retreat from the sinfulness of the world, those who opt to live a
religious life follow a regimen of living that corrects the use of money, sex,
and power in the world. Whereas the world uses these three realities not
according to the Gospel and to God's will, those who lead a religious life are
able to lead a religious life that makes money, sex, and power relative to God's
will and not the absolute idols whereby the world makes of them. Thus, the vows
of poverty, chastity and obedience are ideals by which those in religious life
are able to perfect their Christian living. Instead of excessive desire for
money, the choice of poverty makes them like Christ. Instead of excessive
desire for sex and pleasure, the choice of chastity makes them imitate the
chastity and celibacy of Christ. And instead of the desire for power, domination
and exploitation, the choice of obedience gives them the opportunity to follow
Christ in His option to do God's will.

Many of those who entered religious life as it slowly evolved from St. Anthony
of the Desert's example into the much institutionalized forms it has become today
were able to live very holy lives and are able to lead the world in acts of
Christian heroism, excellence and a sanctity that is truly remarkable. Perhaps,
because the option to follow Christ in the tradition of religious life is so
radical, then the results and the fruit of that radical choice is also a radical
holiness that is par excellence and truly makes the Christian life very credible
to non-Catholics and to non-Christians.

After St. Anthony of the Desert, Religious Life Evolved
From the eremetic example of St. Anthony, to the cenobitic example of the monks
like the Augustinians, Benedictines and the monks of Mt. Carmel, religious life
has evolved from a purely contemplative lifestyle of much prayer, fasting and
sacrifice to one of going out to the world to preach the gospel and to do much
active works of apostolate and mission. So after the monastic tradition,
religious life has evolved into the religious orders like the Franciscans, the
Dominicans, and the Jesuits. Although these orders of religious life still
valued prayer and contemplation very much, they also added to their structured
living a life of active work and apostolate. For the Franciscans, they took
to preaching to the poor and simple people. For the Dominicans, they did the
same and also established schools for this purpose. The same is true with the
Jesuits who not only established schools but also a lot of universities of
high learning in Europe.

The tradition of religious life the Franciscans, Augustinians, and the Jesuits
lived still carried elements of monastic life in their structured living. Soon, a
new crop of religious life tradition will evolve and shed slowly away this
monastic element in the tradition of religious life. These soon evolved into
the congregations. Congregations are men and women who also live poverty,
chastity and obedience like the previous generation but their life is much
simpler compared to the monastic-influenced orders and the vows they take are
not solemn but only simple (solemn vows are more serious vows and have to do
with total relinquishment of one's inheritance; in simple vows, the religious
can have his or her inheritance managed by a brother, sister or relative.)
Aside from this structural differences, there is a marked difference also in
the way congregations work in the Church. They are much more active than the
orders of religious life. They are more oriented towards the transformation of
the world and are much more involved in the way things are in the world. An
example of these new crop of congregations in the religious life are the
Redemptorists, the Blessed Sacrament Congregation, the Missionaries of the
Sacred Heart, the Passionists, the Salesians, the Pauline family of Congregations,
and so many more. Perhaps, religious life has reached the greatest number of
religious institutes in religious life through the founding of so many
congregations. Much of the work of these congregations of religious life are
in: schools, universities, missions, hospitals, orphanages and to the many
disadvantaged or the much challenged in life.

Religious Life is a Gift to the Church
Religious life is a gift to the Church because it witnesses to the world a life
of extreme and radical following of Christ in poverty, chastity and obedience.
Not many though enter religious life as the diocesan life of clerical life seems
to be more popular in the life of the Church. But it is in the witness of those
who choose a life conformed so much to Christ that they become so credible in
their teaching and preaching to the people. This is due to an intense, regular
and well-structured prayer life.

Religious life has gone through many changes in the history of the Church. As
of now it is increasing in vocations in Asia, Africa, Oceania and South America.
All these despite the waning of vocations in Northern America and Europe. This
is what one author told about the reality of religious life in his book the
"The Third Church". In this book, he explains that the Catholic Church has for
the most part of her history, been confined mostly to the areas of Europe and
North America. However, now, with the influence of the Second Vatican Teaching
the Church is only now beginning to be a world Church: including Asia, Africa,
Oceania, and South America. And so, despite the waning of vocations to religious
life in the West, in the abovementioned continents, religious life is very much
on the rise.

Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
January 17, 2005

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