Illustration: The three knots of this cincture symbolize the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Pope Leo’s Catechesis on The Documents of the Second Vatican Council. II.
St. Peter’s Square – Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium. 7.
Holiness and evangelical counsels in the Church
‘The evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, are signs of the Kingdom of God
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Second Vatican Council’s constitution Lumen Gentium on the Church dedicates its fifth chapter to the universal vocation to holiness of all the faithful.
Every one of us is called to live in God’s grace by practicing the virtues and imitating Christ.
According to the conciliar constitution, holiness is not a privilege for the few but a gift that requires every baptized person to strive for the perfection of charity—that is, the fullness of love toward God and toward one’s neighbor.
Charity is the heart of the holiness to which all believers are called, infused by the Father through the Son, Jesus.
Charity “rules over all the means of attaining holiness and gives life to these same means” (Lumen Gentium, 42).
The highest level of holiness is martyrdom, as seen in the early days of the Church.
It is the “supreme witness of faith and charity” (LG 50).
For this reason, the Council text teaches that every believer must be ready to confess Christ, even to the point of shedding one’s blood, as has always been the case and continues to be so today.
This readiness to bear witness is realized every time Christians leave signs of faith and love in society by committing themselves to justice.
All the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, nourish a holy life.
They assimilate everyone to Christ, the model and measure of holiness.
He sanctifies the Church, of which he is the head and shepherd.
From this point of view, holiness is his gift, manifested in our daily lives when we receive it with joy and respond with commitment.
In this regard, during the General Audience on October 20, 1965, St. Paul VI recalled that the Church requires all the baptized to “be holy, that is, truly worthy, strong, and faithful children of hers” to be authentic.
This realization occurs as an inner transformation, whereby the life of every person conforms to Christ through the Holy Spirit. (cf. Romans 8:29; – For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.) LG, 40).
Lumen Gentium describes the holiness of the Catholic Church as one of her constitutive characteristics.
She is believed to be “indefectibly holy” (LG 39).
This does not mean that she is holy in a full and perfect sense.Rather, she is called to confirm this divine gift during her pilgrimage toward her eternal destination.
She walks “amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God” (St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei 5.2; LG).
The sad reality of sin in the Church—that is, in all of us—invites each person to make a serious change in their life by entrusting themselves to the Lord, who renews us in charity.
It is precisely this infinite grace that sanctifies the Church and entrusts us with the daily mission of conversion. Therefore, holiness has a spiritual nature and concerns the essence of Christian life, both personal and communal, not merely an ethical commitment, no matter how great.
From this perspective, consecrated life plays a decisive role, as discussed in the sixth chapter of the Conciliar Constitution (cf. nos. 43-47).
In the Holy People of God, consecrated life is a prophetic sign of the new world experienced here and now in history.
The evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which shape every experience of consecrated life, are indeed signs of the Kingdom of God, already present in the mystery of the Church. These three virtues are not shackles on freedom, but rather liberating gifts of the Holy Spirit through which some of the faithful are wholly consecrated to God.
Poverty expresses complete trust in Providence, freeing one from calculation and self-interest. Obedience takes as its model the self-giving that Christ offered to the Father, freeing one from suspicion and domination.
Chastity is the gift of a heart that is whole and pure in love, at the service of God and the Church.
Consecrated persons bear witness to the universal vocation of holiness of the entire Church by conforming to this style of life, which is characterized by radical discipleship.
The evangelical counsels demonstrate complete participation in the life of Christ, even unto the cross.
It is through the sacrifice of the crucified one that we are all redeemed and sanctified.
Contemplating this event reveals that no human experience is beyond God’s redeeming power.
Even suffering, when experienced in union with the Lord’s passion, becomes a path to holiness.
This grace strengthens us in every trial, pointing us not toward a distant ideal but toward encountering God, who became man out of love.
May the Virgin Mary, the all-holy Mother of the Incarnate Word, always sustain and protect us on our journey.
