•   Vita Consecrata
  
  The Consecrated Life, deeply rooted in the example and teaching of Christ the Lord, is a gift of God the Father to his Church through the Holy Spirit.  By the profession of the evangelical counsels the charasteristic features of Jesus--- the chaste, poor and obedient one--- are made constantly visible in the midst of the world and the eyes of the faithful are directed towards the mystery of the Kingdom of God already at work in history, even as it awaits its full realization in heaven. 
  
  In every age there have been men and women who, obedient to the Father's call and to the prompting of the Spirit, have chosen this special way of following Christ, in order to devote themselves to him with an "undivided" heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:34).  Like the Apostles, they too have left everything behind in order to be with Christ and to put themselves, as He did, at the service of God  and their brothers and sisters.  In this way, through the many charisms of spiritual and apostolic life bestowed on them by the Holy Spirit, they have helped to make the mystery and mission of the Church shine forth, and in doing so have contributed to the renewal of society. 
  
  The evangelical counsels are thus above all a gift of the Holy Trinity.  The consecrated life proclaims what the Father, through the Son and in the Spirit, brings about by his love, his goodness and his beauty.  In fact, 'the religious state reveals the transcendence of the kingdom of God and its requirements over all earthly things.  To all people it shows wonderfully at work within the Church the surpassing greatness of the force of Christ the King and the boundless power of the Holy Spirit.  "The first duty of the consecrated life is to make visible the marvels wrought by God in the frail humanity of those who are called.  They bear witness to these marvels not so much in words as by the eloquent language of a transfigured life, capable of amazing the world.  To people's astonishment they respond by proclaiming the wonders of grace accomplished by the Lord in those whom he loves.