In my last two columns I’ve looked at the sacramental vocations of matrimony and holy orders. While these two vocations are fundamental to the life of the Church (there can be no Church without priests and families!), they are by no means the only ways to serve God and pursue holiness.
Since the beginning of the Christian era, there have always been those who sought holiness by turning away from worldly concerns to devote themselves more fully to prayer and the service of God. This is the origin of the various monastic orders and religious communities that exist today.
When we speak of religious vocations, we need to understand what “religious” means in this context. In common parlance, a religious person prays, goes to church and believes in God. So it may seem odd to hear Catholics speak of “secular (diocesan) priests” and “religious priests.” Shouldn’t all priests be religious? In the common sense, certainly yes! But a “religious priest” is one who belongs to a religious order, such as the Franciscans or Benedictines.
The word “religion” comes from the Latin “religare,” which means “to bind.” Those who enter a religious vocation bind themselves to a certain community or rule of life as a means to attain spiritual perfection. The word “monastic,” from which we get “monk,” comes from the Greek term “monachos anachoretes,” which referred to a person who lived separately from the rest of society. In a Christian context, this rejection of society was not an end in itself, but a means to grow closer to God.
Speaking in very broad terms, Christian monasticism can be categorized either as hermetic or cenobitic. Hermetic monks, also called hermits or anchorites, largely live alone, while cenobitic monks live in community, following a common rule of life that involves a regular schedule of prayer and work. The most famous hermit is probably St. Anthony of the Desert, known as the Father of Monasticism, and the most famous monastic rule is probably the Rule of St. Benedict, written by the holy abbot over 1,500 years ago to give order to the monastic community he established.
In his Rule, St. Benedict identifies two other types of monks: sarabites, who follow no rule, and gyrovagues, who wander from place to place. He doesn’t think highly of either.
Obedience and stability are fundamental aspects of religious life. While monastic life may seem harsh, I once heard a monk explain it this way: “People think I must be very strong to be a monk, but the opposite is true. I am very weak. I am too weak to live a holy life in the world with all its temptations. I would fail. The monastery provides me with a structured life that is ordered toward holiness, supported by a community of people dedicated to that life. I need that. So to me, life in the monastery is easy. It’s life in the world that is too hard.”
In addition to monastic orders, there are also apostolic religious orders. The word “apostle” means “one who is sent.” Religious brothers and sisters in apostolic orders live among the world like a leven, alone or in small communities. Missionary or preaching orders are usually apostolic.
Finally, there is the vocation of consecrated single life. This is more than the state of being single. Being single simply means one is not married. It is an anticipatory state. It remains open to the possibility of being married, pursuing holy orders or entering a religious vocation. The Catechism points out that single persons “are especially close to Jesus’ heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church” (CCC 1658).
Consecrated single people are those who make a permanent commitment to live a celibate life in order to be more free to serve the Lord, not as a member of a religious community but as a single person in the world. Such consecrated single people serve God in many and varied ways, both in the Church and in secular society, as spiritual mothers and fathers. Their particular vocation can involve them in almost any kind of work, but their spousal relationship is with God, and their lives give witness to the primacy and sufficiency of that relationship.
The common thread tying together all of these vocations – marriage, holy orders, religious and consecrated life – is commitment. One enters into these vocations with a binding promise of fidelity: to their spouse, to their bishop or to their religious superiors. Thus all vocations are, in a sense, “religious” (that is, binding) vocations, including the universal call to holiness. We promise fidelity to God at our baptism (or our parents promise for us). But paradoxically, these vocational bonds are liberating. They restrict us the way lines on a highway restrict us: By limiting our direction, they keep us from driving into a ditch and help us reach our destination safely. And that’s the ultimate point of any vocation: It’s the narrow road we travel through life as we make our journey to God.
Deacon Matthew Newsome is the Catholic campus minister at Western Carolina University and the regional faith formation coordinator for the Smoky Mountain Vicariate.