Beauty and Hermeneutic Identity in Consecrated Life: Gadamer and the “Icon of the Transfigured Christ”

Abstract

“Thank you, Sister, for wearing your habit!” “Mom, a blue fairy!” “Sister, would you and your sisters pray for my special request?” Comments that spring spontaneously from the lips of persons who encounter religious demonstrate that those in consecrated life keep up a consistent dialogue with those who observe them, oftentimes without words. Consecrated life serves as a sign to those who live it, and for those who view it from without. The variety of reactions and responses to the sight of a religious sister, brother,