February 2, 1947: by his Apostolic Constitution 'Provida Mater Ecclesia,' Pope Pius XII recognized Secular Institutes as a new form of official consecration in the Church. Since that venerable day numerous institutes of men and women have been officially sanctioned by the Church.

What does the Church ask of these new institutes? Their calling is to bring to our all-too-often materialistic world an evangelical flavor. The challenge which members of Secular Institutes wish to take up is that of being 'as leaven in the dough' by living their total consecration to God in the world. Responding to new needs, the Church's decision is to produce witnesses of Jesus Christ who can proclaim the Good News of salvation in Christ in the midst of life's daily traffic. If the Carmelite witnesses to Jesus Christ by her life of prayer, by a life totally consecrated to the affairs of the heavenly Father, members of Secular Institutes strive to witness to the Kingdom in a Christian hope lived out in a world flooded with false gods and joys but always thirsting for the true God. Our Christian commitment is rooted in an unconditional and dynamic faith in the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth. This faith commitment, daily nourished by the certainty that the Word of God produces what it says, engenders in these committed Christians the happy obligation to live full time the charity of Christ, the most excellent means for helping our brothers encounter the God of all happiness and total life.