Religious Vows

Videos on the Vows

1. Our Religious Vows - Introduction - (49:27)

2. What are the Vows?

3. Religious Life and Vows Today

4. Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience: Religious Life, Why?

5. The Challenge Of Religious Chastity (part 1) - Fr Benedict Groeschel CFR

6. Poverty, chastity, obedience — a sign of contradiction

7. Religious Vows

8. Hearing the call to vows

9. REAL TALK- Vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

10.  Religious vows

11.  Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience: Religious Life, Why?

12.  Sister of Providence Janice Smith on the vows

13.  Alone with God Obedience, Poverty & Chastity Pt 1

14.  Alone with God Obedience, Poverty & Chastity Pt 2

15.  Alone with God Obedience, Poverty & Chastity Pt 3

16.  The vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

17.  Poverty, Chastity and Obedience the Joy of Jesus in the World

18.  Religious life is the highest vocation

19.  FAQS 1: Poverty Chastity & Obedience

20.  Poverty, Chastity, & Obedience | Homily: Father Edward Riley

21.  The Vows by Marino Restrepo. Retreat to the Missionaries of Charity.

22.  Living the Vows

23.  Vita Consecrata - 3 of 10 - Why Profess Religious Vows?

24.  Religious vows

25.  Brother Toby on Vows

26.  Divine Sexuality and Spirituality Series 11 videos

 

CHASTITY

Church Documents on Celibacy

1. Sacerdotalis Caelibatus  - The Celibacy of the Priest, Encyclical of Pope Paul VI promulgated on June 24, 1967

2. John XXIII And The Encyclical Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia (Curé of Ars-virginity and celibacy)

3. Pius XI And Ad Catholici Sacerdotii (Priestly Celibacy)

4. John Paul II And Pastores Dabo Vobis (Priestly Celibacy)

5. Benedict XVI And Sacramentum Caritatis (Priestly Celibacy)

 

Books

6. The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy

7. Case for Clerical Celibacy - Its Historical Background & Theological Development

8. Celibacy in the Early Church: The Beginnings of Obligatory Continence

 Articles on Celibacy

1.      On Exhortation to Chastity (Tertullian)

2.      Celibacy and the Priesthood

3. Why a Celibate Priesthood?

4. Celibacy Is a Gift

5. Celibacy Isn’t the Problem

6. How to Argue for Priestly Celibacy

7. Doesn’t 1 Timothy 4:3 disprove the priesthood? Celibacy of the Celibacy of the Clergy

8. Celibacy And Crisis Of Faith

9. Celibacy of the Clergy  (Catholic Encyclopedia)

10.  Ask Father: Celibacy and Catholic Teaching 

11.  Celibacy Isn't the Problem by Cardinal John J O'Connor

12.  Church's Teaching on Priestly Celibacy by Fr William Saunders

13.  Priestly Celibacy by Karl Keating (from his book What Catholics Really Believe: Setting the Record Straight)

14.  Uses of Clerical Scandal by Philip Jenkins. Though cases of the sexual abuse of minors by priests continue to appear, it no longer seems plausible to speak of a general collapse of clerical discipline and celibacy or of a systematic cover-up by Catholic bishops.

15.  What's the Deal About Legally Married Priests? by Fr William Saunders

16.  When Clergy Marry: An Insider's View by Lynnewood Martin (from Homiletic & Pastoral Review, June 1997)

17.  Why a Married Priesthood Won't Remedy the Priest Shortage by Patricia Dixon (from New Oxford Review, January 1999)

18.  Two Epistles Concerning Virginity (St. Clement of Rome)

19.  On Modesty (Tertullian)

20.  Chastity

Giving into one's lustful drives is irrational. Chastity is more than prudent self-control. To practice chastity there must be chastity of the eyes, chastity of the ears, chastity of thought and chastity of desire.

21.  Chastity and Eternal Life

The clearest teaching of our faith on the necessity of chastity for attaining eternal life is in Christ's sermon on the mount. He is telling his followers that the Old Testament prohibition of adultery is not enough. If we wish to reach heaven we must not only control our bodies, we must master even our minds.

22.  Christian Chastity and the Pro-Life Movement

For many people the subject of our present conference must seem strange. What connection is there between chastity and the pro-life movement? There is more than a connection. There is the dependence of a building on its foundations. Chastity is the foundation of the pro-life movement.

23.  Contraception: Fatal to the Faith and to Eternal Life

You might say this piece will be two articles in one. First we shall see how the practice of contraception inevitably leads to the loss of the true faith. Then we shall look at how contraception leads to eternal death.

24.  The Eucharist and Chastitiy

To understand how indispensable the Eucharist is to the practice of Christian chastity is to understand the meaning of Christianity. When Christ told us, "Without me, you can do nothing," He meant this to be taken literally. Without the constant help of His grace to enlighten our darkened minds and strengthen our weak wills, all the moral precepts of the New Testament are so much pious rhetoric or religious jargon.

25.  Prayer and Chastity

"…chastity has been called the difficult virtue and Christ's teaching on chastity the difficult commandment. But that is an understatement. When Christ told us that, 'without me you can do nothing,' He meant two things. He meant that without the possession of His grace in our souls no one can reach heaven. He also meant that without grace we cannot practice virtues which He told His followers are necessary to remain in His friendship."

26.  Confession and Growth in Chastity

The present article must seem strange for two reasons. What can we possibly mean by growth in chastity? In the language of all cultures and the experience of all people, chastity is a virtue that you struggle to preserve. Seriously, is there such a thing as growing in chastity? So, too, the sacrament of Confession was instituted by Christ to restore us to the state of grace after we have lost God's friendship by committing mortal sin. What does Confession have to do with growing in any virtue, including the moral virtue of chastity?

27.  Modesty is Always in Style

If there was ever a strange title for a talk on the Pro-Life movement it is surely, "Modesty is always in Style." The reason why this title seems so strange is that people just do not associate modesty with the pro-life movement or, as the Holy Father calls it, "the Culture of Life." Yet the two issues are closely related. Modesty is a pre-condition for chastity, and chastity is the pre-condition for the culture of life.

28.  Sex and Sanctity

The stress in my presentation, therefore, is on sex as a means, and sanctity as the end. I assume that sanctity is achieved by doing the will of God according to one’s state of life; and sex is an inevitable part of everyone’s state of life. Sex is inescapable, sanctity is attainable. And a major factor in attaining sanctity depends on how a person copes with sex in his or her particular state of life. For the sake of convenience, I will distinguish three general states of life in each of which sex is divinely intended to be a means of sustaining and growing in the life of God.

29.  Sex Stimuli and Christian Chastity

Our subject for this evening's conference is Sex Stimuli and Christian Chastity. A subtitle for this conference could be: Sex Stimuli and Christian Sanctity. Everything in our lives is intended by God to draw us closer to Him in this world and bring us to the possession of Him in a heavenly eternity. Sex stimuli are a part of Divine Providence. Provided they are used according to the will of God, they are not only the occasion for the practice of moral chastity. They can be the means of reaching the highest sanctity.

30.  Consecrated Chastity - A Mystery of Faith

It is remarkable how frequently we now hear or read about celibacy, among priests or religious, and how comparatively less often we hear about consecrated chastity.…We shall approach this delicate topic under the following headings: Chastity as the virtue of temperance, Chastity as the virtue of charity, and Chastity as a lifetime imitation of Jesus Christ.">

31.  Psychology and Christian Chastity: A Catholic Evaluation of Sex Education

My plan for this conference is first to briefly explain how secular psychology paved the way for introducing sex indoctrination into elementary education in the United States. Then, in sequence I will point out some of the principal departures from historic Christian principles which have penetrated sex education even in nominally Catholic institutions.

32.  Christianity and Sexual Pleasure

The first reaction to a subject like sex and Christianity, or even sex and sanctity, is wonder and misgiving. We have become so accustomed to associate sex with sin that even our vocabulary has been affected. The first thought that comes to most people's minds on hearing words like impurity or immorality is some failure against chastity, as though there was something basically wrong with the use of sexual faculties, or as though the essence of evil was sin against the sixth and ninth commandments of the Decalogue.

33.  Catholic Catechism on Homosexuality

Over the centuries, the Church has often issued decrees defending Catholic morality. Among these decrees more than one has condemned the practice of homosexuality. Until recent years, however, the more common term used by the Church was "sodomy" and not homosexuality. The reason for the shift in vocabulary has been mainly the widespread denial that sodomy is anywhere formally condemned by Sacred Scripture. Another reason is that homosexuality has become so prevalent in the modern world that one psychological science after another has developed a library of literature defending the practice of homosexuality.

34.  The Sixth and Ninth Commandments and Consecrated Chastity

The extensive teaching of the Second Vatican council on Consecrated Chastity is absolutely unique in the Church’s two thousand years of the Church’s councilor history….There is nothing like it in all the previous councils of the Church. You might ask why? One reason that I like to repeat, having been privileged to assist with the broadcasting of the canonization of Saint Maria Goretti. In 1950, Pope Pius XII in his homily after the canonization predicted that the enemies of the Church would use sex pleasure to destroy the faith of millions of believing Christians. As he said without chastity, Christianity cannot survive. Everything that he predicted has been fulfilled beyond his own, the Popes wildest, might I say, nightmares. There is a worldwide mania called sexual promiscuity.

 

 Videos on the Vow of Chastity

1. Consecrated Chastity - (56:40)

2. What is the Vow of Chastity? Vita Consecrata - 4 of 10

3. The Vow of Chastity: Answers from Religious

4. Priests Discuss Celibacy

5. Celibacy: Burden... Or Gift?

6. Is Celibacy Required for Spirituality? | Sadhguru

7. Everyone Should be a Brahmachari - Sadhguru

8. Chastity Advice that Actually Works

9. The particular character of the vow of chastity...

10.  The Franciscan Vow of Chastity

11.  Consecration & Evangelical counsel of Chastity

12.  The Gift Of Chastity | Homily

13.  Chastity is needed in all vocations

14.  Bishop Barron on Priestly Celibacy

15.  Living Water: Virtue and Chastity

16.  The Fragile Virtue of Chastity Needs Guardians

17.  The Challenge of Religious Chastity

18.  The power of PURITY! Chastity is possible.

19.  Chastity And Purity

20.  The Vow of Celibacy

21.  The Vow - Purity

22.  Prophetic Vow For Celibacy

23.  Pure in Heart: What is Chastity

24.  Is Chastity Possible today? Part 6 - Constant Challenge

25.  Maintaining Chastity

26.  3 Reasons to take the Vow of Chastity

27.  Battling Temptation and Pornography

28.  Catholics & Pornography: 4 Quick Insights from the U.S. Bishops

29.  Overcoming Pornography Addiction

30.  Pornography Isn't Your Problem | Jason Mahr | TED

31.  Advice for Overcoming Lust

32.  Aquinas' 4 ways to overcome lust

33.  Are Impure Dreams Mortal Sins?

34.  Avoiding Impurity

35.  How to Grow in the Virtue of Chastity ~ Fr Ripperger

36.  Modesty ~ Fr Ripperger 9

37.  Chastity – Catholic Answers 37

 

POVERTY

Articles on Poverty

1. Following of Christ (John Tauler) - to follow the selfless life of poverty demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

 

Videos on the vow of Poverty

1. Consecrated Poverty - (44:30)

2. What is the Vow of Poverty? Vita Consecrata - 5 of 10

3. The Vow of Poverty: Answers from Religious

4. The Vow of Poverty is Very Freeing

5. Vows Of Poverty

6. The Consecrated Vow Of Poverty In The Code Of Canon Law

7. 3 Reasons to take the Vow of Poverty

8. Not for this World: Detachment, Simplicity, Poverty - Fr. Thomas McFadden OFM Cap.

9. Q&A: Why do nuns make a vow of poverty?

10.  Not many who take a vow of poverty leave the Church

11.  The Consecrated Vow Of Poverty In The Code Of Canon Law

12.  The Vow of Poverty

13.  The Vow of Poverty is Very Freeing

14.  A man who has taken a vow of poverty discussed consumerism.

15.  Vow of Poverty BJE

16.  Vows Of Poverty

17.  Vow of poverty MLC

18.  The Evangelical Counsels: Poverty

19.  The Poverty of Religious Purpose

20.  Understanding Capuchin Poverty (Ask a Capuchin)

21.  Consecrated Poverty

22.  Breaking the Spirit of Poverty (Part 1)

23.  Franciscan Poverty

24.  "The Life of St. Francis - Poverty vs. Simplicity" - Swami Kriyananda

 


 

OBEDIENCE

Articles on Obedience

1.  School of Obedience (Andrew Murray) (classic)

 

Videos on the Vow of Obedience

1. Consecrated Obedience - (50:42)

2. What is the Vow of Obedience? Vita Consecrata - 6 of 10

3. The Vow of Obedience: Answers from Religious

4. “The Benefits of Obedience"

5. The Third Evangelical Counsel - Obedience

6. 2Minutes2Virtue - Obedience Leads to Freedom!

7. You Cannot Obey God Without God

8. Archbishop Fulton Sheen on the Hour of Power from 1972

9. Vow of obedience | Wikipedia audio article

10.  The Evangelical Counsels 3: Obedience

11.  The Simplicity of Obedience

12.  Obedience

13.  A Treatise on Obedience, by Saint Catherine of Siena, part 1

14.  Little Piece Of Paper - Why Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice - The Story of...

15.  2 Minute Message - Obedience is Better than Sacrifice

16.  Obedience Is Greater Than Sacrifice part 1

17.  Obedience Is Greater Than Sacrifice part 2

18.  Obedience Is Greater Than Sacrifice part 3

19.  Does God want Obedience or Sacrifice? / JOHN BEVERE

20.  Obedience: An Essential Part of the Christian Life

21.  The Benefits of Obedience

22.  Obedience Brings God's blessings

23.  Obedience of Bl. Giles of Assisi - Apr 23 - Homily - Fr Ignatius

24.  Obedience with Fr. Aaron Peters, OSB

25.  Obedience

26.  Obedience (emotional short film - you WILL cry)

27.  True Meaning of Patience and Obedience

28.  Vows - Obedience

29.  Vow of Obedience

30.  The Vow of Obedience

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