1. Abbess

The head of a religious community of female religious who live in an abbey or in some monasteries. She is a major superior.

2. Abbot

The head of a religious community of male religious who reside in an abbey. He is a major superior.

3. Celibacy

State of sexual abstinence and commitment to not contracting matrimony for the sake of the Kingdom. Celibacy may be promised or vowed for the sake of the Kingdom and it is obligatory for Roman Rite clergy (there is debate as to whether this is obligatory for permanent deacons).

4. Consecrated Lay Person

A (non-clerical, non-eremetical, non-religious, non-consecrated virgin) member of a secular institute who has made semi-public vows or promises and has been accepted by the competent authority is a consecrated lay person.

5. Consecrated state

The state of life which is constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure of the Church, belongs undeniably to her life and holiness. [CCC #914] Those who belong to the consecrated state are religious, diocesan (canon 603) hermits, and consecrated virgins.

6. Consecrated Virgin

A female virgin consecrated to God by her diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite. She may be religious, or she may "live in the world", living the vocation individually under the direction of her bishop. Can. 604 §1. Similar to these forms of consecrated life is the order of virgins who, expressing the holy resolution of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church. §2. In order to observe their own resolution more faithfully and to perform by mutual assistance service to the Church in harmony with their proper state, virgins can be associated together.

7. Continence

Sexual abstinence.

8. Deacon

A male who has received Holy Orders on the diaconate level. He may give homilies, witness marriages, preside at funerals, baptize, give blessings, and is an ordinary minister of Holy Communion. Deacons in good standing with the Church are clerics.

9. Dedicated Lay Person

A dedicated lay person is one who has dedicated his/her life to God by means of a private promise or vow of perpetual, lifelong continence and celibacy ("chastity") for the sake of the Kingdom.

10. Hermit

Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly, hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance." They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One. [CCC 920-921]

11. Lay State

Those who are neither in clerical state (entered by holy orders) nor in the consecrated state (entered by public vow or consecration).

12. Physical Virginity

A property of one who has not voluntarily engaged in sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex. Rape, incest, and necessary (legitimate) medical procedures do not destroy a person's physical virginity. The only vocation in the Catholic Church that requires physical virginity is that of the consecrated virgin. Those who have lost their physical virginity are not barred from holy orders, marriage, or to consecrated life in a form other than consecrated virginity.

13. Priest

A man who has been ordained by a bishop. He receives the sacrament of Holy Orders and by receiving this sacrament legitimately, enters the clerical state in the Church. Priests may do things such as hear confessions, say Mass, baptize, confirm (in certain instances), anoint the sick, witness marriages, preside at funerals, and give blessings.

14. Rule

A document which outlines a plan of life for an individual or community. A person may be obliged to follow such a rule of life if bound by vow or promise to do so. Famous rules include the Rule of St. Benedict, the founder of western monasticism, the Rule of St. Basil, and the Rule of St. Augustine.