Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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OBSERVANCE

The act or practice of complying with something prescribed, as a law or custom, mainly in religious matters. In the history of religious orders, the term has become normative among those who were considered "Observants," in contrast with others in the same institute who had mitigated the original rule. Thus there have been Observants among the Benedictines, Cistercians, and Franciscans.