PART II CONSECRATED LIFE CHAPTER I PURSUIT OF EVANGELICAL PERFECTION Vocation to Holiness 21Mindful that, in the baptism of faith, they have truly been made sons of God and partakers of the divine nature, the confreres are obliged to maintain and to make perfect this holiness, which they have received from God according to the exhortation of the divine Teacher: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48, RSVCE). LG 40 Observance of the Evangelical Counsels 22The holiness of the Church of Christ becomes apparent and is strengthened in a special way by the observance of the Evangelical Counsels, which, rooted in the words and examples of the Lord, are taken up gratefully by the confreres and are employed as the most apt means for the purification of their hearts and for acquiring likeness in charity to Christ and Mary Immaculate. As a consequence, let their life be for the world a visible sign of the Kingdom of Heaven—a sign which can and ought to effectively attract other Christians to the prompt fulfillment of the duties of their own vocation. LG 44 Consecration through Vows 23Public vows, by which, in the act of profession, confreres take upon themselves an obligation to observe the Evangelical Counsels, make more firm and stable their previous baptismal consecration to God and the Church. Simultaneously, they constitute bonds by which the professed are united in
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