Can You Explain Third Order Catholics? Holier Badge |NOON | Patrick & Joy Campbell

Patrick and Joy are Third Order Benedictines, officially called Oblates. After more than a year of formation, under spiritual direction, they made a promise, a vow and a covenant with God, in the presence of the Eucharist to live the " Rule of St. Benedict" as their state of life permits.

This episode brings a perspective on the fruits of a covenant made before God to carry out His will through the perfection of our life via a papally-approved rule of life.

From the Institute of Religious Life website, the following are stated.

Third Orders are comprised of lay men and women who are formally associated with a religious order such as the Benedictines, Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, Mercedarians, Norbertines, Servites, Marists, and Trinitarians and who may or may not live in community (Third Order Regular versus Third Order Secular).

Canon Law defines Third Orders as "associations whose members, while living a secular life, strive after Christian perfection by observing a papally approved rule, under the direction and spirit of a religious order" (Canon 702). Although members, sometimes call tertiaries, are not bound by public vows, they are fully members of a religious family.

Entry into a Third Order requires spiritual discernment and a proscribed period of formation, followed by a formal profession that includes promises or vows.

Source: Institute of Religious Life
https://religiouslife.com/resource/third-orders