Religious Life

Reverend John A. Hardon, S.J. We distinguish between natural poverty and supernatural poverty. The natural poverty which is binding by the natural law, requires that we respect other people’s property, whatever they own; that we not only do not steal with hands, we do not even steal with our hearts, otherwise known as greed or […]

Reverend John A. Hardon, S.J. The new Code of Canon Law could not be more clear. It declares that, “The public witness to be rendered by religious to Christ and the Church entails a separation from the world proper to the character and purpose of each institute” (Canon 607, §3). There are seven basic elements […]

Reverend John A. Hardon, S.J. The following is the text of a paper read by the Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J., on October 7th, 1970, at the Provincial House of the Notre Dame Sisters, Chardon, Ohio (U.S.A.). Introduction Of all the possible subjects dealing with the religious life, the most unlikely would seem to be […]

Reverend John A. Hardon, S.J. An address by Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J. (Feb. 29, 1972) at the meeting of Consortium PERFECTAE CARITATIS It is no secret to anyone familiar with the scene in countries like America, that two very different concepts of the religious life are widely professed. One view sees religious life firmly […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Vocations to the priesthood and the religious life depend on good religious education as the harvest depends on a good soil. Vocations prosper when religious education in the home and school is true to its Catholic heritage; when parents and teachers seriously proclaim the Faith of our Fathers, when […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. March 25, 1977 IMPRIMATUR: Umberto Cardinal Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston Contents     Introduction Part 1:     The Crisis in Religious Life – A Crisis of Faith in the Church’s Teaching Authority     Religious in Tomorrow’s World     Religious Poverty and the Christian Faith     Consecrated Chastity — A Mystery of Faith     The Witness of […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. March 25, 1977 IMPRIMATUR: Umberto Cardinal Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston The Meaning of Religious Obedience It must seem strange that we should be reflecting on the meaning of such fundamentals of religious life as poverty, chastity and obedience. Why not talk about their sublimity or dignity, or concentrate on […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. March 25, 1977 IMPRIMATUR: Umberto Cardinal Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston The Divine Office as the Church’s Prayer of Praise and Intercession One of the most providential developments in the Catholic Church, through the Second Vatican Council, has been the extraordinary emphasis on the Liturgy in the life of the […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. March 25, 1977 IMPRIMATUR: Umberto Cardinal Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston Authenticity in the Religious Life There seems to be a special value in writing about authenticity in the religious life in our time. If there is anything that the modern world abhors it is pretense. It can forgive a […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Societies, like individuals, have distinct personalities. Or, more accurately, societies, no less than individuals, are as effective as they are distinctive, contributing their unique share to the welfare of mankind under the Providence of God. Religious communities are no exception. They are so numerous in the Church, and so […]

December 25, 1983 — Evening Conference By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Before we start the Retreat, I would like to give you some idea of what we plan to do. My plan is to make this a Retreat on “The Essentials of the Religious Life”; more specifically, it is the Retreat that the Holy Father himself […]

December 25, 1983 — Evening Conference — Conference 1 By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Over the centuries all the Bishops of Rome have shown a remarkable affection for Religious. They have sensed as of by divine instinct that the welfare of the people of God depends on no small measure on the loyalty of dedicated men and women […]