What are the evangelic counsels?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerThe Evangelical Counsels taken from St. Matthew 19:16 and following and other places in the Scriptures are Our Blessed Lord's counsel on leading a perfect life. The three counsels: poverty, chastity, and obedience are the foundation vows for religious.

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from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957The Evangelical Counsels are 1) voluntary poverty, 2) perpetual chastity, and 3) entire obedience. Their observance is not necessary to salvation; they are a rule of perfection put forward to be voluntarily taken up by those who find themselves the vocation to do so. They are not perfection itself, but instruments for its attainment, for maintaining and strengthening love of God and one's neighbor.

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from

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

915 Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. The perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God. (Cf. Codex Iuris Canonici, canon 573)

Answer 2

Evangelical counsels are strict standards of living that determine Christian perfection. The counsels, instituted by Christ are chastity, poverty, and obedience.