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Lesson 3: Consecrated LivesConsecrated virgins, consecrated widows: history, responsibilities, current revival. Consecrated Virgins
I have kept myself for you alone, and now with lamp alight I run to meet my Spouse! (Antiphon One, Evening Prayer Two, Divine Office, Common of Virgins) He who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please God. . . and the unmarried woman, and the virgin, thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit, in Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:32, 34) From the earliest days of the Church, God has called young women to a special relationship with Christ, a spiritual union which most perfectly reflects the relationship between Christ and his Church. “As the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23-33), the consecrated virgin is the visible sign of this brideship and becomes in a special way an open channel of blessings for the whole Church.” (Comparison of the Consecration of Virgins Living in the World with Religious Profession on http://www.catholic-forum.com/usacv/inde... Beyond physical virginity, she has chosen a constant dying to self and to the world, living totally for Christ alone. This miraculous love pours itself out in service to the Church, the Body of Him to whom she is espoused. She is fruitful, producing spiritual children for God though her union with her Beloved. By the sacramental rite of consecration, she is dedicated to prayer, sacrifice and vicarious atonement for sin. They have the duty now to show to the world what the Church should look like and what the Church should be: holy, sinless, totally dedicated to the cause of Christ, enthusiastic, joyous, and ready to do anything that is asked of them, even to the giving of their life. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/usacv/hwan...This vocation is not for the immature, and it is distinct from Religious Profession. Only by an enduring grace of God can one live this life; yet it appears in the earliest years of the Church. Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia . . . their names were enshrined in the Tridentine Rite’s Ordinary of the Mass, their lives spoken of, admired and celebrated in Catholic culture. Down through the millennia others have accepted the call, bearing testimony to the Lamb they follow. By their mystical union with Christ, consecrated virgins become channels of grace. Those cited above were undoubtedly instrumental in spiritually supporting the confessors and martyrs, to whose ranks they belong. St. Rose of Lima, stained glass window in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Macon, Georgia. Photo by Terry H. Jones appears on the Patron Saint Index Page at Catholic Community Forum, and is in the public domain. In 1970, the Church officially reinstated secular consecrated virginity as a form of consecrated life. Canon 604 reads, The order of virgins is also to be added to these forms of consecrated life. Through their pledge to follow Christ more closely, virgins are consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church, when the diocesan Bishop consecrates them according to the approved liturgical rite. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/usacv/cano...That rite is patterned after the ordination ceremony for priests. Like a priest, the consecrated virgin is removed from the world’s domain and belongs only to God. To abuse her or a priest is a sacrilege, a desecration of Christ’s bride or one chosen to be another Christ. When the streets of Rome were safe for women to walk alone, the Church was blessed with many who made a vow of virginity and later received consecration. As the Empire deteriorated, the Church offered them safety inside the walls of a convent. Some joined the desert solitaries, some embraced the cenobitic safety of Basil or Pachomius or, later, Benedict. From approximately 500 to 900 A.D., the consecration of virgins was bestowed on all nuns; from 800 to 1970 A.D., women living in the secular world were no longer consecrated. After this sad neglect, Vatican II restored the rite, and the Church now acknowledges a singular gift and vocation. The consecrated virgin shares intimately in the nature and mission of the Church--she is a living image of the Church's love for her Spouse while sharing in His redemptive mission. (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins, website http://www.ewtn.com/library/PRIESTS/CONS...Nuns are not automatically consecrated virgins. Nuns vow poverty, chastity and obedience to God and to their religious superiors; they perform the specific work and live the specific charism of their order (Benedictine, Dominican, etc.). Consecrated virginity is reserved for those who have made a vow of virginity and have undergone the specific rite reserved to bishops, the only church authorities permitted to conduct the ritual. Consecrated virgins may be nuns or laypersons. Unlike a nun, the secular C.V. (The initials you will see after her name) follows her Spouse and is not limited by dedication to a specific work. Her lifestyle must be in keeping with the dignity and salvific nature of her vocation. She may be a nurse or a religious education coordinator or sell health care products. She earns her living, pays rent, buys groceries and lives alone or with another person, and is always present to her Spouse, who is Himself her life and fulfillment. For more about this remarkable vocation, please access the website of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins at http://www.catholic-forum.com/usacv/inde... For a detailed account of one virgin’s life, please go to the next Lesson sub-Section. |
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