The term consecrate means to set aside for a sacred use. The Vocation Tree reflects three distinctions of the term "consecrated" in reference to vocational calls:

• A Christian is consecrated at his or her baptism - set aside for God alone.
• The Church also refers to the state of consecrated life as a particular call stemming from the baptismal consecration, a call which involves the setting aside of a particular person as one who is to live as Christ himself, chaste, poor, and obedient.
• Within the state of consecrated life, there is the particular vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the World. In this particular vocation, the consecration sets the virgin aside as a sacred person in the Church, one who is given the title bride of Christ, a title she shares with the Church herself.