What the Council Fathers taught on religious life 
In Answer to your Question (September 2000 Religious Life)
by Fr. Burns Seeley

Q So often Vatican II is unjustly criticized as the reason for the decline of priestly and religious vocations. Can you summarize what the Council Fathers actually taught regarding religious life? Also, can you offer suggestions on how individual religious can incorporate this teaching into daily practice? 

A Here are some brief thoughts on the two-part question submitted.
"Can you summarize what the Council Fathers actually taught regarding religious life?"

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council spoke of the nature of religious life in terms the Church has always used. Religious life was clearly not redefined. On the other hand, the Fathers did call for the reform of those religious institutes which had strayed from their raison d'être and from the spirit and aims of their founders (PC [Perfectae Caritatis] 1, 2).

Religious were also admonished to be faithful in the observance of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. Consequently, the Council taught that "Religious should be poor in fact and in spirit, having their treasures in heaven" (PC 13). Speaking of obedience, we read, "Far from lowering the dignity of the human person, religious obedience leads it to maturity by extending the freedom of the sons of God" (PC 14).

Concerning chastity, the Council Fathers held that "Religious … at pains to be faithful, should believe our Lord's words and, relying on God's help, they should not presume on their own strength. They should practice mortification and custody of the senses. Nor should they neglect the natural means which promote health of mind and body. Thus, they should not be influenced by the false doctrines which allege that perfect continence is impossible or inimical to human development and, by a kind of spiritual instinct, they should reject whatever endangers chastity" (PC 12).

The Council Fathers stressed the cultivation by religious of a deep spiritual life and a common life imbued with fraternal charity (PC 5, 6, 12). It is well to note too that there was no question in the documents of Vatican II of discarding of the religious habit. To the contrary, religious were reminded that the habit was to be worn (PC 17).

Last, religious institutes, in order to comply effectively with the spirit of their founders, were told by Vatican II to direct and apply themselves to the needs and conditions of the Church in our day and to those of contemporary society.This call for renewal or updating did not imply the change of the nature of any given institute, but only to change its approach, if appropriate or necessary, to a world which, in many cases, was radically different than the times in which its founder lived (PC 2).

"How can individual religious incorporate this teaching into daily practice?"
The following points should be helpful.
As is true of every God-given vocation within the Church, faith and sanctity should be assiduously sought and acquired. But the religious has the distinctive advantage in this regard due to the fact he has subscribed to, and is assisted, by the evangelical counsels.

Every effort should be made by each religious to know and accept the Catholic faith as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (PC 12). Today is an age of many heresies, and doctrinal confusion and uncertainty abound. For our times, there is no more basic and comprehensive doctrinal text for Catholics than the Catechism. As Pope John Paul II attests, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is "a sure norm for teaching the faith" (Apostolic Constitution, Fidei Depositum). Sanctity can be acquired, in part, by cultivating a life of daily personal and communal prayer centering on daily Mass, and in the participation in a daily holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament (PC 6).

The daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours also promotes individual and corporate holiness. Frequent sacramental confession and sound spiritual direction should be part of the life of a religious as well. These are powerful aids in the advancement of a soul towards spiritual perfection.
Finally, religious should also have a thorough knowledge of the life of their founders or foundresses and of the Constitutions and history of their particular institute.

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