Holy Orders/Consecrated Life

HOLY ORDERS : The Sacrament of Apostolic Ministry by which the mission entrusted by Christ to his Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church through the laying on of hands. This sacrament has three distinct degrees or "orders": deacon, priest, and bishop. All three confer a permanent, sacramental character (1536).

CONSECRATED LIFE: A permanent state of life recognized by the Church, entered freely in response to the call of Christ to perfection, and characterized by the profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience (914).   From the Catechism of the Catholic Church referenced by the  US Conference of Catholic Bishops