Religious Life

Consider religious life! We welcome you to read about the variety of religious orders that serve in the Archdiocese of Seattle for both women and men. Feel free to reach out directly to orders that interest you, ask to speak to an order's vocation director and/or schedule a visit. Visiting an order is a great way to get more information and speak to those who have already heard God's call to religious life!

A religious order is a lineage of communities who live in accordance with their specific charism, usually characterized by the principles of its founder. The priests, sisters and brothers of religious communities engage in many kinds of work for the Church and the good of humanity; they often specialize in certain kinds of work, such as education, work with the sick or poor and service in the foreign missions.

From the very beginning of the Church, there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty and to imitate him more closely by practicing the evangelical counsels (chastity, poverty and obedience).

Within the vast number of religious orders that exist, what is essential are these fundamental virtues: prayer, responsiveness to the call of Christ and charity of service to others. What is distinctive about the dedication of religious life is the public and permanent commitment to community life and the charism of the order.

There are four branches of religious orders:

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“I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

~ Philippians 3:8