Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th centuries:
Angela Merici was an Italian Catholic religious educator who founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women dedicated their lives to the service of the church through the education of girls.
In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of religious institute.
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is in communion with the Holy See.
In the Catholic Church, a religious profession is the solemn admission of men or women into consecrated life by means of the pronouncement of religious vows, typically the evangelical counsels.
The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, formerly called Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, is the dicastery of the Roman Curia with competency over everything which concerns institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, regarding their government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and privileges.
In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite.
A religious is, in the terminology of many Western Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion, what in common language one would call a "monk" or "nun".
Consecrated 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. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, as well as those living as hermits or consecrated virgins/widows.
A society of apostolic life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose and live fraternally. It is regarded as a form of consecrated life.
An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church canonically erected by competent church authorities to enable men or women who publicly profess the evangelical counsels by religious vows or other sacred bonds "through the charity to which these counsels lead to be joined to the Church and its mystery in a special way". They are defined in the 1983 Code of Canon Law under canons 573–730. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has ecclesial oversight of institutes of consecrated life.
In Christianity, the three evangelical counsels, or counsels of perfection, are chastity, poverty, and obedience. As stated by Jesus in the canonical gospels, they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect". The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that they are not binding upon all, and hence not necessary conditions to attain eternal life (heaven), but that they are "acts of supererogation" exceeding the minimum stipulated in the biblical commandments. Catholics who have made a public profession to order their lives by the evangelical counsels, and confirmed this by public vows before their competent church authority, are recognised as members of the consecrated life.
In the Catholic Church, a secular institute is one of the forms of consecrated life recognized in Church law.
A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctification of the world, especially from within.
Pope Pius XII apostolic constitutions and bulls includes a listing of all apostolic constitutions and papal bulls issued by Pope Pius XII (1939-1958):
Precedence signifies the right to enjoy a prerogative of honor before other persons; for example, to have the most distinguished place in a procession, a ceremony, or an assembly, to have the right to express an opinion, cast a vote, or append a signature before others, to perform the most honorable offices.
"A religious institute is a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, and lead a life of brothers or sisters in common."
Primo Feliciter was a motu proprio issued by Pope Pius XII on March 12, 1948.
Cum Sanctissimus was an instruction issued on March 19, 1948, by the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes of the Catholic Church. The instruction clarified specific issues with respect to the approving religious institutes.
The Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula or officially the Secular Institute of Saint Angela Merici, is a secular institute of consecrated women in the Catholic Church founded in 1535 by Angela Merici in Brescia, Italy. Their primary focus is the education of women and girls, and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula. They follow the original form of life established by their foundress in that they live independently, responsible for their own well-being, for which they often have secular jobs, but they formally dedicate their lives to the service of the church. In 1572, some members formed a separate monastic order, the Ursulines.
Pious association or pious union in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church is the legal concept that describes an organization of Catholic persons, approved by the local ordinary, engaged in the practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy in the name of and in accordance with the teachings of the Church.
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