World Day of Consecrated Life 2021

In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd. This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world. So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples.

Consecrated men and women in religious, monastic, and contemplative institutes, in secular institutes and new institutes, members of the ordo virginum, hermits, members of societies of apostolic life, we ask all of you to place this Encyclical at the center of your life, formation, and mission. We cannot disregard this truth anymore: we are all brothers and sisters, as, in fact, we pray, not necessarily consciously of it, in the Our Father, that “without an openness to the Father of all, there will be no solid and stable reasons for an appeal to the fraternity” (n. 272).