Common Terms
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ABBEY - An abbey is the home of a community of vowed men or women who live according to the monastic tradition of the Church, and who have as their leader an abbot or abbess.
ACCOMPANIMENT - Accompaniment is a process of discerning the vocation in life to which God is calling a person. It brings a person to a free choice of saying yes or no to a vocation to which they have experienced a sense of being called by God. It is a formal arrangement with a diocese or religious community in which the person is accompanied in their discernment by a priest, sister or brother.
BROTHER - A brother is a vowed member of a religious community of men within the Church. He shares in the life and mission of his community. He may serve in a variety of ministries, but not in the ministry of priests or deacons.
CAREER - One meaning of vocation is career, a life-work chosen by a person to use personal talent, provide some service or goods, earn money, and contribute to society.
CELIBATE CHASTITY - All baptised persons are called to chastity. Married persons are called to live chastity in faithful love of their spouse. Single persons are called to live chastity in continence. Men and women who vow or promise celibate chastity choose not to marry and to refrain from genital sexual activity. In doing so they give witness to God's faithful and unconditional love for all people.
CLERGY - The clergy are those men within the Church community who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders, that is, deacons, priests and bishops. They may be called clerics.
CHARISM - A charism is a gift freely given by God to a person or community, for the good and service of others in bringing about the Kingdom of God. Religious communities seek to live the charism which is received through their founders as God's gift to the Church.
CONTEMPLATIVE - A contemplative is a person whose life is shaped by constant prayerful awareness of the presence and action of God in their lives and in the world. Contemplative religious communities are primarily directed to a life of prayer rather than active ministry, and in this way serve God and God's people.
CONVENT - Convent is the name customarily given to the home of a community of sisters.
COVENANT - A covenant is a sacred and binding agreement made in love between persons or between persons and God.
DEACON - A deacon is an ordained man whose ministry is to assist the bishop of his diocese and serve people who are in need. He may proclaim and preach the Good News, assist at Eucharist, and preside at baptisms, marriages and funerals. A permanent deacon may be married or celibate. A deacon in transition to priesthood is celibate.
DIACONATE - The diaconate is the way of life, service and ministry of a deacon.
DIOCESAN PRIEST - A diocesan priest is an ordained man who lives and ministers in a geographic area which is called a diocese, under the leadership and authority of the bishop of the diocese to which he belongs. He has promised celibacy, and obedience to his bishop. He typically ministers in a parish, proclaiming and preaching the Good News, presiding at worship and celebrating the sacraments.
DISCERNMENT - Discernment is a process of prayerful reflection which leads a person or community to understanding of God's call at a given time or in particular circumstances of life. It involves listening to God in all the ways God communicates with us: in prayer, in the scriptures, through the Church and the world, in personal experience, and in other people.
FORMATION - Formation is the process by which baptised persons grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ. It begins with baptism and continues through the whole of life. Formation for vocation refers to the time and process in the life of a person who is preparing for ordination as a deacon or priest, or for profession of vows in a religious community. During this formation a person is initiated into the ordained life and ministry or into the life and mission of a religious community.
FRIAR - A friar, from the Latin 'frater' meaning brother, is a priest or brother member of a religious community of men who live in a friary and belong to the tradition of religious orders of friars within the Church.
HERMIT - A hermit is a person who chooses to live the heremitic way of life. This is a life of solitude, lived in prayer and simplicity, apart from Church communities and the world.
HOLY ORDERS - Holy orders, sometimes called sacred orders, is the sacrament conferred on those members of the Catholic community who have been called by God and chosen by the Church for service as deacon, priest or bishop.
LAITY - The laity is all who have been baptised and who have not been ordained a deacon, priest or bishop. Through baptism, the laity share in the mission of Jesus and the Church, of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Sister and brother members of religious communities are laity or lay people.
MINISTRY - Ministry is the use of a person's gifts and talents, time and energy, in the service of others. It involves the exercise of roles designated by the Church to fulfil its mission in different works of service, such as in worship, teaching, leadership, the sacraments, welfare, and stewardship.
MISSION - Mission means being sent. The mission of the Church is to proclaim and witness to the Kingdom of God, as Jesus did. It does this by spreading the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ, by serving others, and by building up the community of the Church. More particularly, the mission of religious communities refers to the purpose for which the community exists within the Church. especially as this finds expression in living the charism of the community and its founder.
MISSIONARY - A missionary is a person who chooses to participate in the mission of the Church by serving peoples of other cultures, often in a foreign country. A missionary may be ordained, or a vowed religious, or a lay person.
MONASTERY - A monastery is the home of a community of vowed men or women religious who live according to the monastic tradition of the Church.
MONASTICISM - Monasticism is the ancient style of vowed religious life which typically includes community, prayer, common worship, silence, and labour. It is governed by a monastic rule, or way of life, which involves a choice to live apart from society and the world, and so to witness in a radical way to Jesus Christ.
MONK - A monk is a man who is a vowed member of a monastic community of men. As well as professing the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, monks often also take a fourth vow of stability, that is, to remain for life in one monastery.
NOVICE - A novice is a new member of a religious community of vowed women or men, who has commenced formation and is in a process of initiation into the life and mission of the community. This process is called the novitiate. It introduces a novice to prayer, to the vowed life, to the spirit and charism of the religious community, and leads the novice through discernment to commitment as a member of the community. Some communities have a one-year novitiate, others two years.
NUN - A nun is a woman who is a vowed member of a monastic community of women. As well as professing the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, nuns often also take a fourth vow of stability, that is, to remain for life in one monastery.
OBEDIENCE - All baptised persons are called to listen to God so as to know God's call and God's will in their lives. Men and women who vow or promise obedience commit themselves to listening to God's call as it is heard through their leaders and communities, and to responding faithfully to this call.
ORDINATION - Ordination is the liturgical celebration in which men receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Ordination involves prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop, that God may give the man receiving ordination the spiritual gifts he will need for ministry as a deacon, priest or bishop serving the Catholic community.
POSTULANT - A postulant, sometimes also known as a pre-novice, is a person preparing to be admitted as a novice into a religious community.
POVERTY - All baptised persons are called to a reverent appreciation of the resources available to them. Women and men who vow poverty commit themselves to living simply, to sharing all things in common and not exercising ownership over things, for the good of their religious community and its mission in the Church.
PRESBYTERY - A presbytery is the home of a priest or priests, usually situated in the parish in which the priest ministers.
PRIEST - A Catholic priest is a man who has been ordained to the order of presbyter within the Church. A priest shares in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, and is a co-worker with the bishop of his diocese. The ministry of priests is to preach the word, preside at worship, celebrate the sacraments, and care for the pastoral needs of the Church community. Priests may belong to a diocese or to a religious community.
PROFESSION - Profession is the act through which men and women consecrate themselves to God by making vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in a religious community. Profession is normally made initially for a certain time, and then later for life. Profession may also be understood in the sense of a career or occupation, that is, a life-work chosen by a person to use personal talent, provide some service or goods, earn money, and contribute to society. For example, teaching, law and medicine are regarded as professions.
PROMISE - A promise is a sacred commitment made by a person. A diocesan priest promises celibacy, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, and obedience to the bishop of his diocese. In marriage a husband and wife promise love and fidelity, to each other.
RELIGIOUS - Religious may refer to a disposition or way of life that is open and responsive to God. It may also refer to a sister, brother or priest who is a vowed member of a religious community.
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY / ORDER / INSTITUTE / SOCIETY - Brothers, priests and sisters make profession in a chosen religious order/ institute / society, and commit themselves to sharing fully in its life and mission, according to the charism of its founder. Religious community may refer to a local community of vowed women or men who belong to a religious order/institute/congregation, or it may refer to the whole vowed membership of a religious order/institute/ society.
RELIGIOUS LIFE - Religious or consecrated life refers to the vocation of those men and women who choose to dedicate themselves to God through profession in a religious community. Religious life usually involves these women or men joining a religious community and sharing in a common life of prayer and service, according to the spirit and charism of their founder and their mission in the Church.
RELIGIOUS PRIEST - A religious priest is a man who belongs to a religious community, in the same way, that brothers and sisters belong to a particular religious community. Unlike them, he is nota lay person, but is an ordained minister and shares in the ministry of priesthood like diocesan priests. He does not belong to a diocese, but serves in priestly ministry according to the tradition of his religious community and the needs of the Church.
SECULAR INSTITUTE - A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in the Church, in which members profess vows and commit themselves to witnessing to the Good News through their service and ministry. Its members, who may be lay or ordained, live in the ordinary circumstances of the world, either alone, in families or in communities.
SEMINARIAN - A seminarian is a man who is in formation for priesthood.
SEMINARY - A seminary is a place where men who are information for priesthood live and receive their formation. The academic education of men for ministry as priests may be conducted in the seminary, but most often it takes place in a separate college or school of theology.
SISTER - A sister is a vowed member of a religious community of women within the Church. She shares in the life and mission of her community.
VIRGINS - The order of virgins is a form of consecrated life in the Church. Consecrated virgins pledge to follow Jesus Christ more closely. They are consecrated to God by their diocesan Bishop, and are dedicated to the service of the Church. Virgins may be associated together to fulfil their pledge more faithfully, and to assist each other in their service of the Church.
VOCATION - In baptism each person is called by God to follow Jesus in a life of holiness and service. This call may be lived out indifferent vocations: in marriage, as a single person, or as a priest, brother or sister.
VOW - A vow is a free and deliberate commitment and an act of devotion made by a person to God. Men and women who make profession in religious communities do so by making vows, usually, of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Information on this page is courtesy:
www.catholicozvocations.org.au