or laypersons, the state of consecrated life is neither clerical nor lay by nature. Types Institutes of consecrated life Institutes of consecrated life are either religious institutes or secular institutes. Religious institutes are societies in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vows, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common. Secular institutes, are those "in which the Christian faithful, living in the world, strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from within". Societies of apostolic life Societies of apostolic life are dedicated to pursuit of an apostolic purpose, such as educational or missionary work. They "resemble institutes of consecrated life" but are distinct from them. The members do not take religious vows, but live in common, striving for perfection through observing the "constitutions" of the society to which they belong. Some societies of apostolic life, but not all of them, define in their constitutions "bonds" of a certain permanence whereby their members embrace the evangelical counsels. The Code of Canon Law gives for societies of apostolic life regulations much less detailed than for institutes of consecrated life, in many instances simply referring to the constitutions of the individual societies. Although societies of apostolic life may in externals resemble religious life, a major distinction is that they are not themselves consecrated and their state of life does not change (i.e. they remain secular clerics or laypersons). Examples of societies of apostolic life are the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, and the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice, the Society of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and the Missionary Society of St. Columban. Other forms Besides institutes of consecrated life, the Catholic Church recognizes: the eremitic life, also known as the anchoritic life, "by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance". Apart from hermits in religious orders, the Catholic Church law recognizes as a diocesan hermit "one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, in the hands of the diocesan bishop, and observes his or her own plan of life under his direction". "They manifest