Saints: Life & Times
Lesson 3: Consecrated Lives
. . . . . Consecrated Widowhood Today
The consecration of widows is today gaining acceptance, due in no small part to papal support. As early as 1954, Pius XII addressed the encyclical “Sacra Virginitas” to all forms of consecrated life. Paragraph 5 reads:
Innumerable is the multitude of those who from the beginning of the Church until our time have offered their chastity to God. Some have preserved their virginity unspoiled, others after the death of their spouse, have consecrated to God their remaining years in the unmarried state, and still others, after repenting their sins, have chosen to lead a life of perfect chastity; all of them at one in this common oblation, that is, for love of God to abstain for the rest of their lives from sexual pleasure. May then what the Fathers of the Church preached about the glory and merit of virginity be an invitation, a help, and a source of strength to those who have made the sacrifice to persevere with constancy, and not take back or claim for themselves even the smallest part of the holocaust they have laid on the altar of God. (http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P12SAC...More recently, in 1994, the world Synod of Bishop met and reflected upon the consecrated life and its mission. On the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1996, Pope John Paul II issued his reflections on the Synod’s findings in the form of an Apostolic Exhortation, “Vita Consecrata,” the consecrated life.
Again being practiced today is the consecration of widows,[14] known since apostolic times (cf. 1 Tm. 5:5, 9-10; 1 Cor. 7:8), as well as the consecration of widowers. These women and men, through a vow of perpetual chastity as a sign of the Kingdom of God, consecrate their state of life in order to devote themselves to prayer and the service of the Church. (“Vita Consecrata” by Pope John Paul II at http://www.religiouslife.com/vc_intro.ph...The Pope sees consecrated life not as an individual lifestyle choice, but as an integral part of the Church’s mission and witness. The consecrated widow or widower is not admirable solely for promising not to remarry, anymore than the consecrated virgin is admirable solely for her physical state or the hermit for his fasts and solitude. Their consecration makes them vessels of Christ, a living witness to His poverty, chastity and obedience, and a powerful source of spiritual and physical help. As such, many are called by God to join a religious institute. The Society of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity offers a way of life for consecrated widows which includes three hours of prayer each day. Most of that time is spent at Mass, reciting the Liturgy of the Hours, in adoration, and praying the Rosary. The Holy Family Institute, part of the Pauline religious family, has about 1,000 widows worldwide. To learn more from a consecrated widow herself, go to http://www.ncregister.com/Register_News/...
Veni, Sponsa Christi. The desire to totally consecrate oneself to God is rooted in God Himself. A religious vocation is just that: a calling. To respond to it takes more than human strength. “You have not chosen me. It is I who have chosen you.”
"He who works my fate has no need of any other help from me, but the good will to do His Will, and an entire abandonment to His good Providence." --St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Widow and Religious Foundress
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