Youth community training

in Holiness

LIFE
CONSECRATED
 INTRODUCTION

Apostolic Exhortation post-synodal;

The synod was convened to deepen the meaning further.

and the perspectives of consecrated life for the millennium;

The theme of the synod was "Consecrated life and its mission in
Church is in the world

The exhortation comes to present the fruits of the synod;

The consecrated life is placed at the heart of the Church,

as a decisive element for your mission, given that
expresses the intimate nature of the Christian vocation
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE
CONSECRATED
Monastic Life in the East and the West:

Specific and radical lifestyle model that renounces life

in the world searching for God.
"The monasteries have been and continue to be, at the heart of the
Church is of the world, an eloquent sign of communion, a
welcoming place for those who seek God and the
things of the spirit, schools of faith and true centers of
study, dialogue, and culture for the building of life
eclesial e também, da cidade terrena, à espera da
Celeste
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE
CONSECRATED
Order of the Virgins:

"Ancient order of women who enter into a bond"

particular with the Church, constituting an image
special eschatological of the Celestial Spouse.

The hermits:

Homeless women connected to ancient orders or new ones

institutes, that witness through separation
interior and exterior of the world, a life in the desert with
fasting and prayer, seeking the supreme vocation which is to be
always with the Lord.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE
CONSECRATED
The widows:

People, who, by means of a vow of perpetual chastity,

considers your condition to dedicate yourselves to prayer and
at the service of the Church.

Institutes dedicated entirely to contemplation:

"People who, with their life and mission, imitate Christ in"
prayer on the mountain. They carry out acts in solitude and silence.
prayers that guide your life and activity towards
contemplation of God.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE
CONSECRATED
Apostolic religious life:

People who, renouncing the world, dedicated themselves to

God for a multifaceted service: Regular canons,
Mendicant orders, regular clergy, and congregations
male and female religious.
A splendid testimony of the gifts bestowed by
God to the founders who, open to the action of
Holy Spirit, they knew how to interpret the signs of
time and respond, clearly, to the demands
that were appearing successively. Following the steps,
many other people searched, with the word and the
action, to embody the Gospel in one's own existence, to
to present to your contemporaries the living presence of
Jesus, the Consecrated One par excellence and the Apostle of the Father.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE
CONSECRATED
Secular institutes:

New expressions of consecrated life that live the

consecration to God in the world, wishing to correspond to the
new needs that the Church finds today in
fulfillment of your mission in the world.

Apostolic life societies:

People who expressly take on the advice

Evangelicals, however, the peculiarity of their consecration
distinguish them from religious Institutes and Institutes
secular
"This way of life, over the last few centuries, has produced
so many fruits of holiness and of apostolate, especially in
field of charity and in the missionary dissemination of the Gospel.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE
CONSECRATED
New expressions of consecrated life:

After the Second Vatican Council, new ways of living appeared.

consecrated life. Some Institutes are similar to those that already
they exist, but they were born from new spiritual stimuli.
These new forms of consecrated life, which come to join the
antigas, testemunham a constante atração que a doação total ao
Lord, the ideal of the apostolic community, the gifts of foundation
they continue to exert influence even over the current generation, and they are a sign
also of the complementarity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But the
The Spirit does not contradict itself in innovation. This is proven by the fact that the
new forms of consecrated life did not replace the old ones.
In such a wide variety of forms, it was possible to preserve the
unit of background thanks to the always identical calling that follows,
in the pursuit of perfect charity, Jesus virgin, poor and obedient.
This calling, as it is found in all forms already
existing, as required in those that are proposed as
novas.
 PURPOSE OF THE EXHORTATION
APOSTOLIC

Expose the results of the 'suggestive confrontation' of the Synod

who made precious contributions during the intense
assembly works, also address to the
religious communities and consecrated people with the
hope that "After reading it, everyone was
satisfied with the encouragement that he brought them
15,31). And also, to bring the hope of us rejoicing
with the gift that God gave to the Church: lives
consecrated.
 CHRISTOLOGICAL-TRINITARIAN SOURCES
OF CONSECRATED LIFE

The icon of the transfigured Christ

The evangelical foundation of different lives

dedicated should be sought in the special relationship that
Jesus had with his disciples: 'inviting them not only
to welcome the Kingdom of God into their lives, but also to
they will put their own existence at the service of this cause,
leaving everything and mimicking more closely your way of
life.
 CHRISTOLOGICAL-TRINITARIAN SOURCES
OF THE CONSECRATED LIFE

He was transfigured before them

'It is good for us to be here!' (Mt 17:4). These words

they manifest the Christocentric tension of all Christian life,
but also expresses, with particular eloquence, the
totalizing character that constitutes deep dynamism
from vocation to consecrated life: 'How good it is to be
with you, dedicating ourselves to You, concentrating our
existence exclusively in You! Indeed, whoever received
the grace of this special communion of love with Christ,
you feel somewhat overwhelmed by his brilliance: He is
the most beautiful among the sons of men' (Psalms 45:3)
 CHRISTOLOGICAL-TRINITARIAN SOURCES
OF CONSECRATED LIFE

This is my beloved Son: listen to Him!

The devoted avid is entrusted with the mission to indicate the

Son of God made man as the eschatological goal
where everything tends, the splendor before which
any other light pales in comparison to the infinite beauty, the only one
what can completely satisfy the heart of man. It is that
in consecrated life it is not just about following Christ
with all my heart, loving Him more than father or mother,
more than the son or daughter' (cf. Mt 10:37), as it is
request to every disciple, but it is about living and
express this even with an adherence to Christ.
 IN PRAISE OF THE TRINITY

To the Father: the initiative of God

The meaning of the vocation to consecrated life lies in the initiative

total of the Father (cf. John 15:16 - 'You did not choose Me,
It was I who chose you and destined you to bear fruit.
requires those who choose a response of full dedication
and exclusive. The experience of this free love of God is so
intimate and strong that the person feels they must respond with the
unconditional dedication of your life, consecrating everything,
present and future, in your hands. 'The identity of the person
consecrated can be understood from the entirety of its
offer, comparable to an authentic holocaust (Saint Thomas)
 IN PRAISE OF THE TRINITY

In spirit: consecrated by the Holy Spirit

The Spirit, far from distancing itself from the history of men
people whom the Father called, place them in the service of the brothers,
according to the specific modalities of your state of life, and
it directs them to carry out specific tasks, of
according to the needs of the Church and the world, through the
charisms specific to the various Institutes. Hence the appearance of
multiple forms of consecrated life, through which the
Igreja é‘embelezadacom a variedade dos dons dos seus filhos,
(...) like a bride adorned for her husband’(Ap21,2)), and remains
enriched with all means to fulfill its mission in the
world.
 IN PRAISE OF THE TRINITY

The evangelical counsels, gift of the Trinity

The primary task of the consecrated life is to make visible the

wonders that God performs in the fragile humanity of
called people. More than with words, they
they witness these wonders with language
eloquent of a transfigured existence, capable of
arouse the admiration of the world.
 IN PRAISE OF THE TRINITY

In the councils, the reflection of the trinitarian life

"A consecrated person is called to deepen"

continuously the gift of evangelical counsels
(poverty, chastity, and obedience) with an ever-increasing love
but more sincere and strong in its trinitarian dimension: love
Christ, who calls to his intimacy; to the Holy Spirit,
that predisposes the spirit to embrace its inspirations;
to the Father, the first origin and supreme end of life
consecrated.
A devoted life constitutes a living memory of the way of
to exist and act of Jesus.
 FROM EASTER TO THE GREETING
DEFINITIVE
Witnesses of Christ in the world

"Missionary work is inscribed in the heart of all"

form of consecrated life. The missionary duty of people
consecrated has to do first with themselves, and
fulfill it by opening your heart to the action of the Spirit of
Christ. Your testimony helps the whole Church to remember
first and foremost is God's free service,
tornado possible by the grace of Christ, communicated to the believer
by the gift of the Spirit. Also, your lifestyle must reflect
to make transparent the ideal they profess, proposing themselves as a sign
I live for God and like persuasive preaching, even though many
silent times, of the Gospel.
 FROM EASTER TO COMPLIANCE
DEFINITIVE
Witnesses of Christ in the world

The Institutes that, already from the origin or by provision

their constitutions do not provide for a specific habit,
take care of the clothing of your members
correspond in dignity and simplicity to the nature of
revocation
 GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT OF
HOLINESS
Transfigured existence: the vocation to holiness

All the children of the Church, called by the Father to 'listen'

Christ, they cannot help but feel a deep demand to
conversion of holiness. But, as emphasized in the Synod,
this requirement calls into question, first of all, life
consecrated. In fact, the vocation received by people
dedicated to seeking above all the Kingdom of God
it is, first of all, a calling to full conversion,
renouncing themselves to live completely for the Lord,
so that God may be everything to everyone. Called to
to contemplate and witness the transfigured face of Christ,
the consecrated are also called to an existence
transfigured.
 GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT OF
HOLINESS
Loyalty to the charisma

The charisma of each Institute will drive the person

consecrated to be all of God, to speak with God or about
God in all situations.

Prayer and asceticism: the spiritual battle

The path that leads to holiness involves, therefore,

adoption of spiritual combat.
 THE CONSECRATED LIFE,
SIGN OF COMMUNION IN THE CHURCH
PERMANENT VALUES
The function of authority

Consecrated Christmas, the role of Superiors and Superiors,

the same locations have always had great importance both for
the spiritual life wants for the mission. It's not easy, in
environments strongly marked by individualism, doing
understand and accept the role that authority plays
for the benefit of all. But the importance must be confirmed.
this task, which proves necessary precisely for
to consolidate brotherly communion and not make obedience in vain
professed. If authority must be, first of all,
fraternal and spiritual and, therefore, those who are of it
coated must know how to associate, through dialogue, the brothers and the
sisters to the decision-making process, it is worth remembering that it is up to
to the authority the final word, as it is their duty to act afterwards
respect the decisions made
 PERMANENT VALUES

In the image of the apostolic community

I therefore urge those who are consecrated

to cultivate with zeal fraternal life, following the example
of the first Christians of Jerusalem, who were diligent
in the teaching of the Apostles, in prayer
common, in the participation of the Eucharist, in the sharing of
With material and spiritual goods, the entire Church expects a lot.
of the testimony of wealthy communities of joy and
Holy Spirit
 Continuity in the Work of the Spirit:
Loyalty in Novelty

As Enclosed Nuns
The Religious Brothers
Mixed Institutes
New Forms of Evangelical Life
 New Forms of Evangelical Life

New Foundations - Characteristics:

Originality: "groups composed of men and women, of

clergy and laypeople, of married and single, who follow a style
particular of life, inspired sometimes in one form or another
traditional or adapted to the demands of current society

General trend: "intense aspiration for community life, to

poverty and prayer;

Apostolic film meets the new requests

evangelization
 New Forms of Evangelical Life

New Foundations - Characteristics:

It is necessary to proceed to the discernment of the charisms

Church. 'Bishop examine the testimony of life and the orthodoxy of
founders of these communities, their
spirituality, the ecclesial sensitivity manifested in
performance of your mission, the training methods and the ways
of incorporation into the community; assess any potential with caution
weak points, patiently waiting for the proof of the fruits, to
to be able to recognize the authenticity of charisma.

These new evangelical life associations are not a

alternative to the previous institutions, which continue to
occupy the distinguished place that tradition has granted them. Also the
new forms are a gift of the Spirit, so that the Church may follow the
Your Lord, in a perpetual impulse of generosity, pays attention to the
God's appeals that are revealed through the signs of the times.
 Looking to the Future

Difficulties and perspectives:

Crisis of vocations, risk of closure of institutes due to

The current affliction does not negate your merits or the fruits
(...)”;

The problem of the reorganization of the works is more placed.

(...) safeguard the sense of the charisma, promote life
brotherly, be attentive to the needs of the Church
universal as particular, to be concerned with what the world
transcend, respond generously with audacity

"Institutes in themselves do not have the prerogative of

"perennity"; "The various difficulties, born from the decrease of
people and initiatives, should in no way lose the
confidence in the evangelical form consecrated life
 Looking to the Future

Difficulties and perspectives:

(...) the new situations of poverty will need to be faced

with the serenity of someone who knows that each one is asked
not so much the success as especially the commitment of
fidelity. What must absolutely be avoided is the
true defeat of consecrated life, who is not in the
numerical decline, but in the waning of adherence
spiritual to the Lord the own vocation issuance;
 Looking to the Future

New Ardor of Vocational Pastoral

The primary task of all consecrated men and women is

bravely, by word and example, the ideal of the
following of Christ, afterwards supporting the answer to the
impulses of the Spirit in the hearts of the called

"In the excitement of the first encounter with Christ, it should"

Obviously, the patient's effort will follow that.
daily correspondence that turns vocation into a story of
friendship with the Lord;

Vocational pastoral make use of appropriate means, such as the

spiritual guidance, to nourish that response of love
people to the Lord(...)
 Training

The Duty of Initial Training

Training - decisive importance;

Central objective: preparation of the person for total consecration of oneself

same to God in the following of Christ, in the service of the mission;

“Sim”:“responsabilidadeinalienávelde cadachamado”;

Being formed is to generously travel the path of formation,

embracing with faith the mediations that the Lord offers to the Church

The training should, therefore, reach deeply into the very person.
in such a way that each of your attitudes or gestures, both in the
important moments like in the ordinary circumstances of life,
may reveal your total happiness belonging to God.
 Training

The Duty of Initial Training

The sacred life consists in the configuration with the

Lord Jesus, and with your total offering, for this above all is
that should guide the training. It is an itinerary of
progressive assimilation of Christ's feelings with
the Father

Seesta is the purpose of consecrated life, the method that prepares

for her it must assume and manifest the characteristic of
totality. It should be the training of the whole person, in various
aspects of your individuality, both in behaviors and
in intentions. Exactly because it tends towards transformation of
whole person, it is clear that the duty of education never
finish
 Training

The Duty of Initial Training

The training will encompass all areas of Christian life and

of consecrated life. Thus, a preparation must be anticipated
human, cultural, spiritual pastoral, putting all the
care because it may favor the harmonious integration of
various aspects

(...) one must set aside a period of sufficient time

broad
 Training

The Task of Trainers

God the Father, through the continuous gift of Christ and the Spirit, is the creator by
excellence of those who consecrate themselves to it; (...) it serves as a mediation
human

Being a trainer is to be a participant in the 'action of the Father who, through the
Spirit, plasma in the hearts of young people the feelings of
Son

An essential instrument of training is personal colloquium(...) how

tradition of irreplaceable and proven effectiveness;

For tasks as delicate as these, it is truly important to

preparation of suitable deformers, which, in their service, ensure
a great harmony as the path of the whole Church;
 Formation

A Community and Apostolic Formation

The privileged place of formation is the community;

In this, there is space for the initiation to difficulty and joy of

to live together. Then each one learns to live in brotherhood
with the one God placed by your side, accepting their
positive characteristics along with their differences and
limitations. In particular, learns to share gifts
received for the construction of all (...)

Community life should show, starting from the initial training, the
intrinsic missionary dimension of consecration

(...) prayer is the soul of the apostolate, but (...) the apostolate
revives and stimulates prayer;
 Training

Continuing Education

The initial training must, therefore, be consolidated with the

permanent training, creating in the individual the availability
to allow oneself to be formed each day of one's life

Nobody can exempt themselves from applying to their own

human and religious growth; just as no one can
to boast about oneself, managing one's own life with self-
sufficiency. No phase of life can be considered
so safe and fervent that it excludes convenience of
specific care to ensure perseverance in
fidelity, just as there is no age that can be reached to see
the maturation of the person is accomplished.
 Dedicated to the Mission

The consecrated are called to follow Christ 'more closely' and

sent to the world to imitate his example and continue his
mission. "In your vocation, there is a duty to dedicate yourselves
totally to the mission;

"The mission is essential for each institute"; "before being

characterized by external works, is defined by making present the
Christ Himself in the world, through personal testimony. This
it is the challenge, the primary task of consecrated life! The more one
let it conform with Christ, the more it makes Him present in
mundo e operante para a salvação doshomens”;
 Consecrated for the Mission

Furthermore, religious life participates in the mission of Christ by

another peculiar element that is characteristic of it: fraternal life in
community for the mission. Therefore, religious life will be both
the more apostolic (...), the more fraternal its form will be
community of existence, the more ardent the your
commitment to the specific mission of the Institute.

It is necessary to trust in God as if everything depended on Him and, to

at the same time, commit generously as if everything
it depended on us
 Love Until the End

Washing the feet, Jesus reveals the depth of God's love

by man: in him, God Himself puts Himself at the service of men!
But at the same time reveals the meaning of the Christian life and, as
greater reason, life consecrated to God, which is a life of self-giving love,
of concrete and generous service;

Who loves God, loves their neighbor, for they recognize them as
brother. Soon, you cannot remain indifferent to the realization that
Many do not know Christ. "The consecrated people have the
duty to make Jesus present, even among non-Christians
Cristocaste, poor, obedient, praying emissary;
 Love Until the End

The contribution of consecrated life to evangelization

it consists, first of all, in the testimony of a life
totally surrendered to God and to the brothers, in imitation of
Savior who made Himself a servant, for the love of man (...). The people
consecrated, in their consecration and total donation, make visible
the loving and saving presence of Christ, the consecrated one of
Father, sent emission.

Even those institutes that emerge (...) are invited to open-

to the mission alongside non-Christians (...). Despite the
understandable difficulties that some of them may face,
It's good that everyone remembers that, just like it's by giving
faith that strengthens her, so also the mission reinforces life
consecrated (...)
 Love Until the End

[Announcing Christ] implies serious personal preparation, gifts

mature discernment, faithful adherence to the criteria
indispensable doctrinal orthodoxy, authenticity and
ecclesial communion

New evangelization, like the evangelization of always, will be

eficaz sesouber proclamar sobre os tetos aquilo que antes viveu
in intimacy with the Lord
 Love Until the End

The Preference for the Poor and the Promotion of Justice

At the beginning of his ministry, in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus proclaims that
The Spirit has anointed him to bring good news to the poor,
announce freedom to the captives, restore sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed and proclaim a year of grace, Lord (cf. Lk.
4, 16-19)

The Church takes on this mission, paying special attention to those who are
they find themselves in a situation of greater weakness and, consequently, of
greater need. 'Poor', in its various senses of poverty, are the
oppressed, marginalized, the elderly, the sick, the children
all those who are considered and treated as 'last' in the
society;

It behaves according to the charisma of each Institute.

specific, adoption of a lifestyle, both personal and
community, humble and austere
 Love Until the End

Supported by the experience of this testimony [humility and

austerity], the consecrated people will be able, in the appropriate ways
to your choice of life and remaining free with respect to
political ideologies, denounce the injustices that are
perpetrated against so many sons and daughters of God, and to commit oneself to
promotion of justice in the social environment where they operate

Many Institutes were created for specific work with the poor
But, even when such purpose has not been
determining, the attention and concern for the indigent, expressed
through prayer, welcome and hospitality, always
naturally accompanied the various forms of consecrated life
(...)”;

Saint Vincent de Paul: 'when one has to leave prayer to go'

to assist a poor person in need, in reality the
prayer is not interrupted, because one leaves God to go be
with God.
 Prophetic Testimony

"It belongs to the prophetic nature of consecrated life to "}

dedication to heroism

(...) prophethood is inherent to consecrated life as such.

due to the radicalism of following Christ and the consequent
dedication to the mission that characterizes it

The true prophecy comes from God, from friendship with Him, from
listen diligently to His Word in the various circumstances of
history. The prophet feels the passion for burning in his heart.
holiness of God and, after having received the word in the dialogue
from prayer, proclaim with life, with lips and with gestures,
acting as a spokesperson for God against evil and sin;
 Prophetic Testimony

The prophetic testimony requires constant and passionate seeking.

by the will of God, a generous ecclesial communion and
essential, the practice of spiritual discernment, love
for the truth. The aforementioned testimony is also expressed through
announced that it is contrary to divine will (...)

Urge a vigorous prophetic testimony. "Such testimony

will focus, first of all, on the assertion of the primacy of
God and of future goods(...) and imitation of chaste Christ,
poor and obedient(...)

An intimate persuasive force of the prophecy comes to him with coherence

between the announcement and life

The consecrated people will be faithful to their mission in the Church and in
world, if they are able to constantly see themselves
proper in the light of the Word of God.
 Prophetic Testimony

The Great Challenges of Consecrated Life: poverty, chastity,

obedience

(...) far from constituting a impoverishment of authentically values

humans, reveals itself more as a transfiguration of the same.
Evangelical councils should not be considered as a
negation of the values inherent to sexuality, to the legitimate desire of
enjoy material goods and decide autonomously about oneself
own. These inclinations, while grounded in nature, are good
in themselves; but the human creature, weakened as it is by the
original sin, runs the risk of exercising in a transgressive way.

The profession of chastity, poverty, and obedience becomes a

admonition not to underestimate the wounds caused by sin
original, and, while affirming the value of the created goods, relativizes them by the
simple fact of pointing to God as the absolute good. In this way, those
who follow the evangelical counsels, while seeking to
holiness for themselves, propose, so to speak, a 'therapy
spiritual' for humanity, because they refuse the idolatry of the
creature and somehow make the living God visible.
 Prophetic Testimony

The Challenge of Consecrated Chastity

JPII talks about a 'hedonistic culture that separates sexuality from

any objective moral norm, often reducing it to the level
of an object of fun and consumption, favoring, with the complicity of
means of social communication, a kind of idolatry of instinct.

The response of the consecrated life is, above all, in joyful practice.
of perfect chastity as a testimony to the strength of God's love in
fragility of the human condition;

It is necessary for consecrated life to present examples to today's world.

of a chastity lived by men and women who demonstrate
balance, self-control, spirit of initiative, maturity
psychological and affective

Consecrated chastity presents itself thus as an experience of

joys of freedom
 Prophetic Testimony

The Challenge of Poverty

JPII speaks of a 'materialism eager for wealth, without any

attention to the demands and sufferings of the weaker ones, nor
consideration for the proper balance of natural resources;

The response of consecrated life is the promotion of solidarity.

charity;

“Destemodo, às pessoas consagradas é pedido um renovado e

vigorous evangelical testimony of self-denial and sobriety,
in a fraternal lifestyle inspired by criteria of
simplicityandhospitality, as an example even for
how many remain indifferent to the needs of
next.
 Prophetic Testimony
The Challenge of Freedom in Obedience

There is only a contradiction between obedience and freedom when this concept
"comes from those conceptions of freedom that subtract this"
fundamental human prerogative in its constitutive relationship with the
Truth with moral norm

(...) who does not see the monstrous consequences of injustice and even of
violence, generated in the lives of individuals and peoples by the distorted use
of freedom?

The obedience of consecrated life expresses the mystery of obedience of

Son to the Father. "The behavior of the Son reveals the mystery of the
human freedom, as a path of obedience to the will of
Father, it is the ministry of obedience, as a path of progression.
conquest of true freedom;

Those who obey have the guarantee of being truly on a mission in

following the Lord, and not swayed by personal desires or
own aspirations.
 Prophetic Testimony

A Determined Commitment to Spiritual Life

Listening to the Word of God: Lectio Divina (individual and

community);

In Communion with Christ: Liturgy of the Hours, Celebration

Eucharistic, Spiritual Direction, Sacrament of
Reconciliação,Terço;

I urge, finally, all consecrated persons, according to the

own traditions, renewing their union daily
spiritual with the Virgin Mary, going over the mysteries with her
of the Son, particularly through the prayer of the rosary
 To youth

Grandparents, young people, I say: if you feel the call of the Lord,
do not refuse it! Enter, instead, courageously into the
great currents of holiness, that were initiated
by saints and distinguished saints in the following of Christ.
Cultivate the typical aspirations of your age, but adhere
promptly to God's project concerning you, if He
invites to seek holiness in the consecrated life.
Admire all of God's works in the world, but know
to fix our gaze on those realities that will never have
sunset