Article 1: Nature
24 In the name of Christ, we desire to be a religious family

- where its members are willing to live radically the demands of the Incarnation, the Cross, the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper;

- where the humiliations of Nazareth and Calvary can be imitated;

- where one can enter into the secrets of Tabor and Gethsemane;

- where the paternity of the Father can be experienced, as well as the brotherhood of the Son, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit;

so that we can love each other as sons of the same Father, brothers of the same Son, and temples of the same Holy Spirit, forming one heart and soul (Acts 4:32).

25 We desire to consecrate ourselves to God by the public profession of the evangelical counsels, forming a religious institute, living a fraternal life in common, with the separation proper to religious, in such a way that all the members may tend to the perfection of their state.[28] Harmoniously integrated into our religious family we also include religious who may not be priests, and associations of the faithful who want to live in a genuine spirit of family according to their lay vocation.[29]

26 We want to dedicate ourselves to apostolic work, imitating “Christ proclaiming the Kingdom of God,”[30] under the direction of clerics and undertaking the exercise of Holy Orders.[31] Some members of our Institute have an exclusively contemplative life, either monastic or eremitic. Likewise, we include the possibility that some members of the apostolic branch could live a more contemplative type of life for a predetermined time, since “a pause for true worship has a greater value and spiritual fruit than the most intense activity, were it apostolic activity itself.”[32]

Article 2: Common, proper, and specific end
27 Like all institutes of consecrated life, religious as well as secular,[33] we have a universal or common end – usually called vocation – by which we want to follow Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit. We want to dedicate ourselves totally to God as our supreme love, so that, by surrendering our entire being in a new and unique way to His glory, for the edification of the Church and for the salvation of the world, we may achieve the perfection of charity. By this charity, to which the profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience leads, we want to be united in a special way to the Church and her mystery.[34]

28 Likewise we tend to the proper end of all institutes of religious life, which is the total consecration of our person, manifesting the admirable betrothal established by God in the Church, sign of heavenly life. In this way we will accomplish the full donation of ourselves as a sacrifice offered to God by which all our existence becomes a continuous worship to Him in charity. This consecration is manifested in forming a family,[35] professing public vows, and living a fraternal life in common.

The public testimony we must give includes separation from the world.[36] To live according to the Holy Spirit, it is necessary to separate oneself from the spirit of the world: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him (Jn 14:17).

29 Finally, as the specific or singular end, we want to dedicate ourselves to the evangelization of the culture – to work to transform “through the power of the Gospel

- mankind’s criteria of judgment,

- determining values,

- points of interest,

- lines of thought,

- sources of inspiration and models of life,”[37]

so that the “very power of the Gospel should permeate

- thought patterns,

- standards of judgment,

- and norms of behavior.”[38]

We cannot forget what the Second Vatican Council pointed out: “One of the gravest errors of our time is the dichotomy between the faith which many profess and the practice of their daily lives.”[39] This is greatly due to the fact that the world “in recent times has come to the point of separating and detaching itself from the Christian foundations of its culture,”[40] leading to the de-christianization of the culture.

Article 3: Character
30 We consider that some of the most important means of reaching the established purpose are to work concerning the key areas of the culture, namely: families, education (especially in seminaries, universities and colleges), mass media and the thinkers or intellectuals. Regarding the latter, we will work in the initiation, calling, development, discernment, formation, consolidation, accompaniment, and the further exercise of the vocation to the intellectual apostolate.

Article 4: Charism
31 The specific charism of our Institute requires all its members to work in supreme docility to the Holy Spirit and according to the pattern of the Virgin Mary, in order that Jesus Christ be the Lord of all that is genuinely human, even in the most difficult situations and under the most adverse conditions.

32 This charism is the grace to know how to work concretely in order to prolong Christ in families, in education, in the mass media, in the intellectuals and in all other legitimate manifestations of human life. It is the gift to make each man “like a new Incarnation of the Word,”[41] by being missionary and Marian.

Article 5: Mission
33 The mission, received from the founder and which will be submitted to the Church for approval, is to bring to fullness the effects of the Incarnation of the Word, which “is the epitome and root of all good,”[42] especially to the vast world of culture, i.e., the “manifestation of man as an individual, as a community, as a people, as a nation.”[43]

Article 6: Spirit
34 The spirit which animates our Institute from its beginning, and which must determine its own identity within the Church, is the spirit of faith and love by which all its members must live the mystery of the Incarnate Word and Its reference to all creatures: “the Word is expressive not only of the Father, but of all creatures... (and as regards to creatures) He is both expressive and operative.”[44]

35 This spirit is to live and to make others live under the action of the Holy Spirit, without coercion of any kind, scrupulously respecting each conscience, promoting healthy pluralism, bringing others to live fully the freedom of the children of God,[45] because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3:17). At the same time, never forgetting that the kingdom of God is… righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).

36 There is no point in extending ourselves to many countries or having numerous members if we lose our spirit. Infallibility and indefectibility are only promised to the Catholic Church, in the person of Peter and his successors. We will not lose our spirit as long as we are faithful to the Church and observe the will and intentions of the Founder in all that makes up the patrimony of the Institute.[46]

[28] Cf. CIC, can. 598, § 2.

[29] Cf. CIC, can. 677.

[30] Cf. CIC, can. 577.

[31] Cf. CIC, can. 588, § 2.

[32] John Paul II, Discourse to the Superior Generals of Orders and Religious Congregations, September 24, 1978.

[33] Cf. CIC, cc. 573-606.

[34] Cf. CIC, can. 573.

[35] Cf. CIC, cc. 607-709.

[36] Cf. CIC, can. 607.

[37] EN 19.

[38] John Paul II, Sapientia Christiana, 1.

[39] GS 43.

[40] ES 14.

[41] Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, Elevations, 33.

[42] Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on Saint Matthew, 2, 3.

[43] John Paul II, Discourse to the Men of the Culture on the Occasion of the Jubilee of Redemption, December 12, 1983.

[44] ST I, 34, 3.

[45] Cf. Rom 8:21.

[46] Cf. CIC, can. 578.


Note: This English translation of the Constitutions of Institute of the Incarnate Word and the Directory of Spirituality is a draft version and is subject to further revision and improvement.