Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

84 whom the religious are to follow, obey and imitate (PC 1, 2, 5, 8, 13, 25), but their goal is to live a life completely devoted to God Himself, in seeking, loving and uniting with Him (PC 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14). A fragment of No. 5 of this document is very important for this paper’s topic: Members of each institute should recall first of all that by professing the evangelical counsels they responded to a divine call so that by being not only dead to sin (cf. Rom. 6:11) but also renouncing the world they may live for God alone. They have dedicated their entire lives to His service. This constitutes a special consecration, which is deeply rooted in that [i.e. consecration 1 ] of baptism and expresses it more fully. Since the Church has accepted their surrender of self they should realize they are also dedicated to its service. This service of God ought to inspire and foster in them the exercise of the virtues, especially humility, obedience, fortitude and chastity. In such a way they share in Christ’s emptying of Himself (cf. Phil. 2:7) and His life in the spirit (cf. Rom. 8:1-13). Faithful to their profession then, and leaving all things for the sake of Christ (cf. Mark 10:28), religious are to follow Him (cf. Matt. 19:21) as the one thing necessary (cf. Luke 10:42) listening to His words (cf. Luke 10:39) and solicitous for the things that are His (cf. 1 Cor. 7:32). This excerpt is typical of the entire decree. God calls and man responds, choosing the path of life totally dedicated to Him. This choice guides the consecrated person to Christ; it is the path of following and imitating Him. Participation in Christ’s life involves participation in His emptying through death. The word “consecration,” twice appearing in this excerpt, while it was used only four times throughout the whole decree (in addition to this quote, it appears once in PC No. 11 and once in No. 17). The Passion di- mension of consecration is strongly emphasized. Less obvious references to this dimension are found in paragraphs concerning the vows of chastity and obedience, where the Council speaks of mortification (cf. PC 12) and the total dedication of one’s will (cf. PC 14). The link between religious and baptismal consecration is also important. 1 Note of the translator: this excerpt from the English text of the decree, taken from w2.vat- ican.va, uses the word “consecration” only once; for this reason the word was added in brackets to conform to the Polish text and to follow the reasoning.