The members of the Pauline Institutes of Consecrated Secular Life
● Jesus Priest
● Saint Gabriel Archangel
● Our Lady of the Annunciation
● Holy Family
belong to the 10 Institutions that comprise the Pauline Family ‒ five religious Congregations, four Institutes of Consecrated Secular Life and an Association of Cooperators ‒ founded by Fr. James Alberione.
They were started on 12 September 1958 and the first three were recognized and approved by the Holy See on 8 April 1960 and the last was recognized and approved by the Holy See on 19 March 1993.
The Pauline Institutes are not secular institutes who are juridically independent but they are Institutes of consecrated secular life aggregated to the Society of St. Paul and, adopting the words of the Founder himself, a «work proper» to it. The Superior General of the Society of St. Paul is also their Superior, making possible the fruitful charismatic exchange and enriched collaboration that is taking place with respect to the reciprocal vocations and to the diverse styles of life proper of the religious and of the lay people.
The members are not religious because the religious live their consecration in community with their particular habit to distinguish them from others and who exercise a common apostolate proper to the institution to which they belong. Those, however, who belong to Pauline Institutes unite the value of consecration and that of secularity; live the evangelical counsels by professing the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience; do an apostolate of evangelization for the spread of the Kingdom of God and living in the world with no outward sign of belonging to the Institute.
What closely binds together the members of the Institutes is not the common life but the fraternity that unites them in sincere friendship and Christian charity even if they live in their respective residences or families. They have meetings in common as members of the Institutes; make the same spiritual practices, despite not living together. To establish and nurture this fraternity the Institutes organize annual spiritual exercises and periodic meetings that are of spiritual and formative character and any other means that facilitate contact, information and formation of the members.
How to be a Member
The Institute of Jesus Priest welcomes members of the secular clergy who desire for their personal sanctification and to do apostolate in following Christ, living the evangelical counsels with the profession of the vows of conjugal chastity, poverty and obedience in their respective parish or place of work.
The Institute of Saint Gabriel Archangel welcomes single men who desire for their personal sanctification and to do apostolate in following Christ, living the evangelical counsels with the profession of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, while remaining in the family, or wherever they want to be, and in the specific field of their own work or profession.
The Institute of Our Lady of Annunciation welcomes single women who desire for their personal sanctification and to do apostolate in following Christ, living the evangelical counsels with the profession of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, while remaining in the family, or wherever they want to be, and in the specific field of their own work or profession.
The Institute of the Holy Family welcomes couples, even widows or widowers, and those who are engaged preparing for marriage, who desire in a special way for their personal sanctification and to do apostolate in following Christ, living the evangelical counsels with the profession of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, while remaining in the family, and in the specific field of their own work or profession.
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