Provida Mater Ecclesia

Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life Provida Mater Ecclesia was an apostolic constitution by Pope Pius XII, that recognized secular institutes as a new form of official consecration in the Catholic Church.

Pius described them as "societies, clerical or lay, whose members make profession of the evangelical counsels, living in a secular condition for the purpose of Christian perfection and full apostolate.

Merici envisioned the members as consecrated to God and dedicated to the service of their neighbor, but to remain in the world, teaching the girls of their own neighborhood, and to practice a religious form of life in their own homes.

[5] Unlike apostolic societies dedicated to a particular work, secular institutes are organizations of like-minded Catholic laity or clerics who share a certain vision lived out personally.

Along with Primo Feliciter and Cum Sanctissimus the constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia provided the basis for Catholic secular institutes to receive their own legislation.