51 Religious Life

Screen capture of UK Religious Life list of religious orders 

Religious life is an invitation to live life to its fullest with total commitment to God, as a member of a religious community. A person who is called to religious life becomes a nun (female) or a monk (male). They take three vows: poverty, obedience and celibacy. This means that they live simply, they are obedient to the rule of their order and the will of God and they do not marry. In this way, they are free to give themselves completely in service of the Church and to do this wherever they are called to be. For some, this may mean travelling to other parts of the world to serve and share the Gospel with those in need. For others, it may be serving in parishes, hospitals, schools and communities in this country. Some religious sisters (nuns) and brothers (monks) enter enclosed orders which means they spend most of their time just with their religious community and they serve the Church in prayer.

Screenshot from UK Religious Life website

CCC 931 Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the person who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intimately to God's service and to the good of the Church. By this state of life consecrated to God, the Church manifests Christ and shows us how the Holy Spirit acts so wonderfully in her. And so the first mission of those who profess the evangelical counsels is to live out their consecration. Moreover, "since members of institutes of consecrated life dedicate themselves through their consecration to the service of the Church they are obliged in a special manner to engage in missionary work, in accord with the character of the institute."

During the novena for vocations the Cathedral Parish blog had a number of posts about religious sisters who have had a connection with the Lancaster Diocese and the Cathedral and St Thomas More's parish in particular.  In the next few days we'll include some links to religious sisters in the Lancaster Diocese.