World Day for Consecrated Life, February 2
World Day for Consecrated Life, February 2
In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II instituted a day for women and men in consecrated life. This global celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd. This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world. So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples.
The celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life is transferred to the following Sunday in order to highlight the gift of consecrated persons for the whole Church.
There are several ways to celebrate World Day for Consecrated Life. Invite sisters, brothers, and priests to publicly renew their vows at Mass, send cards of support to newer entrants, ask to visit a mother house to meet and pray with sisters, brothers, and priests, invite a vocation director to visit your classroom, Board meeting, or faith group to learn more about consecrated life. Send flowers, make a donation to a religious community, or invite someone to discern their vocation to consecrated life!
Letter from Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for World Day of Consecrated Life, 2023.
Spark a conversation about religious life using the Abundant Hope prayer cards, Abundant Hope handout, and Abundant Hope video series of newer entrants and senior professed members talking about their lived experiences of intergenerational and intercultural vowed communal life. There are 76 videos of sisters, brothers, and priests sharing abundant hope on the NRVC YouTube Channel. On World Day for Consecrated Life, gather together to talk about unwavering hope, invite others to celebrate, and record your own short videos to post on your social media sites to join this global celebration!
VISION Vocation Network articles on Religious Life
VISION Vocation Digital Guides
Consecrated Life through the lens of Fratelli Tutti video
Ideas for families and parishes to celebrate WDCL video
Fundamentals from call to charism to community living video
What you might not know about religious life three minute video
Finding joy in religious life three minute video
Religious Life is...three minute video
Selected quotes from Christus Vivit!
USCCB Resources
Sample renewal formula from the Diocese of Brooklyn:
Eternal and Loving God, trusting in your faithful love,
I, _____________, renew my vows to live my life
following Jesus Christ in chastity, poverty, and obedience.
I commit myself anew to serve the Church
in the ministries entrusted to my Religious Congregation.
Grant me the grace, Lord Jesus,
through the intercession of Our Lady
and the prayers and support of my sisters and brothers in Christ
to live these vows faithfully. Amen.
Sample renewal formula from the Diocese of Ogdensburg:
O my God, I ____________, renew my vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, hoping with your Divine Grace to observe them faithfully.” Amen.
Sample renewal formula from the Archdiocese of Chicago:
Trusting in God’s love and fidelity,
I ____________, renew my dedication to God
Through the vows of Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience.
I renew the gift of my life in community
and in mission to extend God’s reign of justice, love, and peace in the world.
With total dependence upon God,
I promise fidelity to this commitment
made in accordance with the Constitutions
of my Religious Congregation.
I ask you to pray
that I will be faithful to this commitment. Amen
"This community really, for me, gave me a place and a voice to say, it's okay that you sing in Spanish. It's okay that you're abuelito did this. You had a little altarcito. It's okay. That cultural experience is valid, is valued. That's what attracted me to my community, where I could explore that and celebrate that."
"I was attracted to living in community with other people with the same charism, with the same spirit, with the same hopes for the world with our differences. I wanted to be in community. That was really important to me."
"I think the greatest joy and the greatest challenge is community life, always."
2024 Papal Message for the 28th World Day for Consecrated Life
It is good for us to look at these two elders who were waiting patiently, vigilant in spirit and persevering in prayer. Their hearts have stayed awake, like an eternal flame. They are advanced in age, but young at heart. They do not let the days wear them down, for their eyes remain fixed on God in expectation (cf. Ps 145:15). Fixed on God in expectation, always in expectation. Along life’s journey, they have experienced hardships and disappointments, but they have not given in to defeat: they have not “retired” hope.
2023 Papal Message for the 27th World Day for Consecrated Life
Your mission is enriched by the charisms of your institutes and societies, the charisms of your founders. In their remarkable variety, they all gave themselves for the edification of the Church and for her mission. All charisms are for the mission, and they are precisely so with the incalculable richness of their variety; so that the Church may bear witness to and proclaim the Gospel to everyone and in every situation.
2022 Papal Homily for the 26th World Day for Consecrated Life
What is our vision of consecrated life? The world often sees it as “a waste”, a relic of the past, something useless. But we, the Christian community, men and women religious, what do we see? Are our eyes turned only inward, yearning for something that no longer exists, or are we capable of a farsighted gaze of faith, one that looks both within and beyond? I am greatly edified when I see older consecrated men and women whose eyes are bright, who continue to smile and in this way give hope to the young. Let us think of all those times when we encountered such persons, and bless God for this. For their eyes are full of hope and openness to the future.
2021 Papal Homily for the 25th World Day for Consecrated Life
2020 Papal Homily for the 24th World Day for Consecrated Life
2019 Papal Homily for the 23rd World Day for Consecrated Life
2018 Papal Homily for the 22nd World Day of Consecrated Life
2017 Papal Homily for the 21st World Day of Consecrated Life
2016 Papal Homily for 20th World Day of Consecrated Life
2015 Papal Homily for 19th World Day of Consecrated Life
2014 Papal Homily for 18th World Day of Consecrated Life
2013 Papal Message for 17th World Day of Consecrated Life
2012 Papal Message for 16th World Day of Consecrated Life
2011 Papal Message for 15th World Day of Consecrated Life
2010 Papal Message for 14th World Day of Consecrated Life
2009 Papal Message for 13th World Day of Consecrated Life
2008 Papal Message for 12th World Day of Consecrated Life
2007 Papal Message for 11th World Day of Consecrated life
2006 Papal Message for 10th World Day of Consecrated Life
2005 Papal Message for 9th World Day of Consecrated Life
2004 Papal Message for 8th World Day of Consecrated Life
2003 Papal Message for 7th World Day of Consecrated Life
2002 Papal Message for 6th World Day of Consecrated Life
2001 Papal Message for 5th World Day of Consecrated Life
2000 Papal Message for 4th World Day of Consecrated Life
1999 Papal Message for 3rd World Day of Consecrated Life
Updated on: 2020-12-31
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