Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it “is characterized by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in a stable state of life recognized by the Church”. The Code of Canon Law defines it as “a stable form of living by which the faithful, following Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit, are totally dedicated to God who is loved most of all, so that, having been dedicated by a new and special title to his honour, to the building up of the Church, and to the salvation of the world, they strive for the perfection of charity in the service of the kingdom of God and, having been made an outstanding sign in the Church, foretell the heavenly glory.”

What makes the consecrated life a more exacting way of Christian living is the public religious vows or other sacred bonds whereby the consecrated persons commit themselves, for the love of God, to observe as binding the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience from the Gospel, or at least, in the case of consecrated virgins a proposal of leading a life of perpetual virginity, prayer and service to the church. The Benedictine vows as laid down in the Rule of Saint Benedict, ch. 58:17, are analogous to the more usual vows of religious institutes.

Consecrated persons are not necessarily part of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, unless they are also ordained clergy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church comments: “From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels. They led lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became hermits or founded religious families. Thus the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved them.”

There are young men and women from the parish of Katukurunda who are undergoing formation into Religious life in many religious congregations:

The Order of St. Benedict (OSB)

  • Dom. Merengnage Sandun Kokila Fernando (OSB) ( No. 193, Sendrick Place, Karukurunda, Moratuwa )

Third order of the Franciscans (TOR)

  • Goniya Malimage Pawantha Dilshan Aponsu ( 74/8, Waidya Road, Egoda Uyana, Moratuwa )

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI)

  • Payagala Waduge Shenal Dilhara Savio Fernando ( No 163/3, Egoda Uyana Road, Katukurunda, Moratuwa )

Sisters of the Divine Savior – Salvatorian Sisters (SDS)

  • Palliyaralalage Don Mary Benshita Asunthika ( No 12/10, Peiris Road, Joseph Place, Katukurunda, Moratuwa )

Your constant prayers are requested for these seminarians and religious formees in the seminaries and convents to persevere in their vocations until the very end for the benefit of the Church in the future.