Episode 259: The Third Order

The term Third Order signifies, in general, lay members of religious orders, who do not necessarily live in community and yet can claim to wear the habit and participate in the good works of some great order. They were a twelfth-century adaptation of the monastic confraternities. Monastic is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role in the Catholic Church.