The possession of some degree of perfection may well be called the State of perfection. But this expression has a further and more technical signification. In the Christian commonwealth there are a number of persons who are aspiring to the ordinary perfection of a holy life, without being bound to any fixed rule of living. Their State is constituted by their inward dispositions and is known to themselves and God. But besides this there is a certain condition of life, a legally defined Status in the Church to which the name of perfection is assigned. It is constituted by certain external conditions and obligations. This Status of Perfection does not imply that its members actually possess the internal state of perfection, but that they ought to possess it, that they are at least bound to aspire to it, and that they have special opportunities and graces for that object. Further, it does not imply that others who are outside the Status of Perfection are not bound to high perfection, nor that they are necessarily on a lower grade of perfection than those who belong to the Status. Do not make the mistake of some who suppose that, because they do not belong to the external status of perfection, therefore they are not bound to aspire to Christian perfection. There is the perfection of the life of the precepts and the perfection of the life of the counsels; the perfection of those in the world, and the perfection of those consecrated to God. We are all without exception called to be perfect like our heavenly Father, and every one can acquire that perfection in a high degree.
