Holy Orders

Religious vocations to the priesthood or to the consecrated religious life are gifts from our Heavenly Father by which He calls a man or a woman to follow His Son, Jesus, in a unique way. There is a special office of those who are set aside to sanctify, bless, teach and guide the Church and thus continue the role of the Apostles in making Christ present throughout the ages.

 “Holy Orders is the Sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time. Thus it is the Sacrament of apostolic ministry.  It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate.”  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1536.

To be “Consecrated” means to be set apart for a special purpose. It refers to a state to which men and women take public vows to the Evangelical Counsels (poverty, chastity, and obedience), ordinarily within the context of a religious community (such as a monastery, convent, or friary). By taking these vows, religious men and women strive to follow the counsels of Jesus in a more perfect way.