On the Distinctive Spirituality of the Ordo Virginum

In an earlier post, I made the point that the Order of virgins, as a form of consecrated life within the Catholic Church, has its own objective nature. That is, consecrated virginity is not a generic vocation for unmarried women to use as a sort of blank canvas for living out whatever personal spirituality they subjectively feel called to embrace. Rather, the Ordo virginum, despite allowing for a great deal of legitimate diversity among individual consecrated virgins, is a specific form of consecrated life with its own proper identity and charism.

In that post, I discussed how we can understand this vocation’s objective nature as expressing itself on essentially three different levels: 1. the absolutely non-negotiable canonical elements necessary for a valid consecration into the Ordo virginum (namely, a virginal Catholic woman is consecrated by means of the approved liturgical rite by a bishop with the authority to do so); 2. the fundamental concrete obligations of this state; and 3. the elements of spirituality that are uniquely proper to consecrated virgins.

That post was already getting a bit too long, so I didn’t have room to list out all the specifics of the Ordo virginum’s spirituality. But it’s a worthwhile discussion, so I thought it deserved its own post.

But first, a few disclaimers: while I believe all of these things are “required” as part of the spirituality of the Ordo virginum—as in, if a woman absolutely cannot incorporate any one of these elements into her interior spiritual life, then she is probably not called to be a consecrated virgin—I do think it’s natural that in the beginning, some of these elements might resonate with an individual aspirant more than others. My own thought is the formation process is meant to give some room for aspirants and candidates to consecrated virginity to potentially “grow into” some of the aspects of this vocation that might not have immediately attracted them.

Also, although these things are all intrinsic to the Ordo virginum, not all of them are totally exclusive to it. Some of these things might also overlap to at least some extent with the spirituality of some forms of women’s religious life, for example.

Finally, at the end of the day this list is my own schema. I strongly believe that each and every one of these points is an essential element in the spirituality of consecrated virgins, and hopefully I back up my perspective convincingly. But this is not a list that the Church herself has formally given us, in the sense that it may very well be possible to describe the spirituality of consecrated virgins using slightly different framework or categories.

With all that being said, I would generally identify the characteristic spirituality of the Ordo virginum as involving five major facets: the call to a spousal relationship with Christ, a charism of virginity, a mission of liturgical prayer, a special affinity with the early Church, and a special connection with the local diocesan Church.

1. The call to a spousal relationship with Christ

This is probably the most central defining aspect of the spirituality of consecrated virgins, and anecdotally at least it seems to be what initially draws most women who eventually become consecrated virgins to this vocation in the first place.

The “bridal” aspect of consecrated virginity is abundantly obvious to anyone who reads the relevant Church documents in even a cursory way. Even the single and relatively brief canon in the 1983 Code of Canon Law which references consecrated virgins describes them as “mystically betrothed to Christ.” (canon 604 §1)

The Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity is dripping with bridal imagery, with (among other things) the consecrating bishop directly asking the candidate: “Are you resolved to accept solemn consecration as a bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God?.” Later in the ceremony, the bishop presents the newly-consecrated virgin with a ring with the words:

Receive the ring

that marks you as a bride of Christ.

Keep unstained your fidelity to your Bridegroom,

that you may one day be admitted to the wedding feast

of everlasting joy.

The Church Fathers also frequently use bridal imagery when addressing the consecrated virgins of their own time. For example, in his work De Virginibus, St. Ambrose of Milan states plainly: “Christ is the spouse of the Virgin” (De Virginibus Book I, chapter 5); and observes that a consecrated virgin 

“…has not husband, but she has a Bridegroom, inasmuch as she, […] without any loss of modesty, weds the Word of God as her eternal Spouse, free from all injury, full of reason.” (Book I, chapter 6)

It can be noted there is a more general sense in which all the faithful, whether male or female, are called to be “brides of Christ,” insofar as Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of every human heart. However, consecrated virgins are called to relate to Christ the Bridegroom in a much more intense and in some sense even literal way, in that this spousal relationship prompts her to renounce the possibility of natural marriage and family life. The idea is that a consecrated virgin offers her entire heart to Christ in a radical way, including the space that would have been given over to an earthly husband and children.

2. A charism of virginity

Almost as a prologue to a consecrated virgin’s call to be a bride of Christ, the spirituality of the Ordo virginum also depends on a charism of virginity.

Literal virginity is required for admittance to the Ordo virginum, as is evidenced by the Rite’s requirement that candidates for consecration “have never married or lived in public or open violation of chastity.”* But this initial qualification, while important, is really just the starting point to living out the charism of virginity in its deepest sense.

Virginity in unmarried people by itself isn’t too remarkable, since all of us are called to remain virgins prior to marriage. So consecrated virginity is not significant just because it denotes an absence of one particular kind of sin. Rather, consecrated virginity is a valued charism in the life of the Church because it reflects a certain totality and radical completeness in the virgin’s complete dedication of herself to God.

In contrast with the profession of the vow of chastity which most religious make, the commitment a consecrated virgin makes in her propositum (i.e., the statement of intent a consecrated virgin makes instead of a “vow” per se)** is not a promise to remain celibate and chaste from that point forward. Instead, it’s a statement of her “holy resolution” to persevere in the virtuous state in which she has already been living from the time of her birth and baptism.

Without intending to undermine the immense value of the self-gift involved religious profession, the canonical virginity proper to consecrated virgins, expressed by the propositium, gives the virginity of consecrated virgins its own unique shades of meaning. In this respect, a consecrated virgin offer God not only her future, but also her entire life including her past.

To use a metaphor, consecrated virgins not only offer God the sacrifice of the “first fruits” of their lives, they offer Him the flowers that preceded those fruits, and indeed the whole tree at every point.

Virginity also implies a certain lack of familiarity with the ways of the world, in the sense that consecrated virgins freely set themselves apart from one of the most fundamentally human experiences in life, and thus in doing so place one foot firmly in the next. As the bishop exhorts the soon-to-be-consecrated in the suggested homily of the Rite of Consecration: “The life you seek to follow has its home in heaven. God himself is its source.” And the central consecratory prayer reminds us that Christ “…has made our nature whole again, and made it possible for mortal people to reflect the life of Angels.”

Similarly, in sacred scripture virginity is seen as a living anticipation of the life of the world to come. In the Gospels, Jesus Himself commends those who “renounce marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven,” (cf. Matthew 19:12) and tells that “At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels.” (Matthew 22:30) In the book of Revelation, St. John has a mystic vision of heaven where he sees “virgins” who “are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the first fruits of the human race for God and the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:4)

Even in the later books of the Old Testament, we see hints of the eschatological value of virginity. In the book of Wisdom we read: “Yes, blessed is she who, childless and undefiled, never knew transgression of the marriage bed; for she shall bear fruit at the judgment of souls.” (Wisdom 3:13)

3. A mission of liturgical prayer

Another, more practical aspect of the spirituality of the Ordo virginum is a characteristic mission of liturgical prayer.

For background, although prayer in general is a broad category, prayer that is specifically “liturgical” is the official prayer of the Church. While we all can and should have times of purely private personal prayer in which we speak to God in our own words on our own behalf, when we engage in liturgical prayer we (that is, any member of the faithful) pray with the voice of the Church herself. The celebration of the Mass is the center of the Church’s liturgy, although the sacraments are also liturgical as is, perhaps most meaningfully for consecrated virgins, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours.

All Catholics are called to participate in the Church’s liturgical life to at least some degree, with the weekly obligation to attend Mass on Sunday essentially representing the bare minimum of this. But consecrated virgins in particular are called to make liturgical prayer a main focus of their lives.

As we read in the 2018 Instruction Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago:

“In the liturgy [consecrated virgins] recognize the fountain of theological life and of ecclesial communion and mission. They allow their spirituality to be shaped by the celebration of the sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours, in obedience to the rhythm of the liturgical year. In this way, other practices of prayer, the ascetic path and their whole existence will find unity and direction.” (ESI 30)

 And:

“[Consecrated virgins] place the Eucharist at the center of their existence. It is the sacrament of the spousal covenant from which flows the grace of their consecration. Called to live in intimacy with the Lord, identifying with him and conforming to him, sharing in the celebration of the Eucharist where possible every day, they receive the Bread of life from the table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ.” (ESI 32)

In some ways, praying the Liturgy of Hours is the one universally consistent “apostolate” of all consecrated virgins. Consecrated virgins are specially commissioned to pray the Liturgy of the Hours during their consecration Mass itself, when, after receiving the ring and the veil, the consecrated bishop hands them a breviary with the words:

Receive the book of the Liturgy of the Hours,

the prayer of the Church;

may the praise of our heavenly Father

be always on your lips;

pray without ceasing

for the salvation of the world.

This mission of praying the Liturgy of the Hours is further emphasized in Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, which tells us that:

“With daily fidelity to the Divine Office, which they received as a gift and have taken on as a duty in the rite of consecration, they extend through time the memory of salvation and allow the extraordinary abundance of the paschal mystery to flow and spread through every hour of their life.” (ESI 34)

This call to liturgical prayer is more than just a simple cut-and-dried obligation; it’s something that pertains to the very identity of a consecrated virgin who is an “image of the Church as bride.”

The Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium observes that in the context of liturgical prayer, “the Church is His beloved Bride who calls to her Lord, and through Him offers worship to the Eternal Father.” (SC 7) Similarly, the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours tells us that “This prayer is the voice of a bride addressing her bridegroom.” (GILH 15)

As such, when a consecrated virgin fulfills her duty to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, she is living out her call to pray as the bride of Christ in an especially focused and intense way.

The Liturgy of the Hours is also meant to be a sanctification of time. As we read in Sacrosanctum Concilium: “By tradition going back to early Christian times, the divine office is devised so that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God.” (SC 84) So in praying the Liturgy of the Hours faithfully, a consecrated virgin imitates the prudent virgins in the Gospel who attentively keep watch for the return of the Bridegroom. (cf. Matthew 25:1-13)

Finally, praying the Liturgy of the Hours is an expression of spiritual motherhood. The prayers of the Divine Office include not only the praises of God, but also intercessions for the needs of the faithful. The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours beautifully observes that “those then who take part in the liturgy of the hours bring growth to God's people in a hidden but fruitful apostolate,” (GILH 18) and “the ecclesial community thus exercises a truly maternal function in bringing souls to Christ, not only by charity, good example, and works of penance but also by prayer.” (GILH 17)

4. A special affinity with the early Church

The Introduction of the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity begins by noting that “the custom of consecrating women to a life of virginity flourished even in the early Church.” And so one aspect of the spirituality of the Ordo virginum which is truly unique to consecrated virgins is a special connection to the Church in her earliest centuries.

Of course, all forms of consecrated life can in some sense trace their roots to the early Church, insofar as the Evangelical Counsels are rooted in Christ’s own way of life. But different religious Orders and communities, as well as different forms of consecrated life, generally connect their foundational charism to a certain time period and cultural context in the Church’s history. For example, the stability of Benedictine monasticism was in part a response to the chaos of a degenerating civil society in late Antiquity; the poverty of the Franciscans was a prophetic response to the worldliness of the Medieval Church, and sixteenth-century Orders like the Jesuits and Discalced Carmelites furthered the work of the Counter-Reformation.

But the Ordo virginum, as a specific ecclesiological and canonical reality, literally and concretely dates back to Apostolic times. In his letter to the Church at Smyrna, written around the year 100 A.D., St. Ignatius of Antioch provides our earliest written reference to women dedicated to a life of virginity who were formally recognized as a district class within the Church. Early versions of the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity are found in our oldest surviving sacramentaries, dating from the sixth and seventh centuries. But even before the time of our extant written liturgies, St. Ambrose describes a consecration liturgy in his fourth century writings in a way which suggests it was already a well-established practice. (E.g., see Book III, chapter 1 of De Virginibus.)

Many of the female saints named in the Roman Canon at Mass—such as Sts. Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, and Cecilia—are considered consecrated virgins. The connection between the early virgin-martyr saints and the Ordo virginum in general is further evident in some of the most beautiful passages of the Rite, which are attributed to St. Agnes herself. For example, when a newly-consecrated virgin receives her ring from the bishop, she quotes St. Agnes when she responds with the antiphon: “I am espoused to him whom the Angels serve; sun and moon stand in wonder at his glory.”

Just as the historical founding “story” of a religious Order shapes the spirituality of that religious family throughout the centuries, the Ordo virginum’s origin in the early Church radically informs the spirituality of consecrated virgins even now. As we read in Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago: 

“In the first three centuries, large numbers of consecrated virgins underwent martyrdom in order to remain faithful to the Lord. […] From that time, right up to today the memory of the virgin martyrs has remained as a striking reminder of the total gift of self that virginal consecration demands.” (ESI 2)

5. A special connection to the local diocesan Church

Finally, consecrated virgins are somewhat unique among consecrated women insofar as their vocation is established in and through the local Church specifically, calling us to a specifically “diocesan” spirituality.

The connection between a consecrated virgin and the local diocesan Church is evident first of all in the very structure of this vocation. A consecrated virgin is “consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop” (canon 604 §1) or by a bishop specifically delegated by the bishop of her diocese (cf. the 1984 Ceremonial of Bishops). And as the Introduction to the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity for Women Living in the World notes:

“It is at the discretion of the Bishop and by his authority that women living in the world are admitted to this consecration, and often they take part in the good works of the diocese. It is therefore fitting that the rite of consecration should take place in the cathedral.” (n. 3)

Prior to 2018, it was sometimes assumed or supposed that the bishop as the consecrator of virgins was simply a matter of practical logistics rather than something that echoed the very nature of the vocation. But Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago describes a bond with the diocese as a fundamental part of this charism.***

Among other things, ESI 42 tells us that consecrated virgins “are, in fact, bound by a special bond of love and mutual belonging to [the] particular Church” in which they were consecrated. Consecrated virgins are also specifically charged with the duty of “bringing to prayer the needs of the Diocese and, in particular, the intentions of the Bishop.” (ESI 43)

The idea of “diocesan spirituality” might seem like a novel concept (or worse, an oxymoron!) to some. But in reality, a spiritual mission rooted in presence, evangelical witness, and service to a particular local community is something we see from almost the very foundation of the Church herself. For example, most of the New Testament epistles were written to communities that were essentially proto-dioceses.

Likewise, St. John’s visions in the book of Revelation are likewise often addressing these early local Churches. The local Churches in the Johannine writings are regarded with such a great dignity that they are often even personified, such as when the second letter of John opens with the greeting “to the chosen Lady and to her children whom I love in truth,” (2 John 1:1) which the “chosen Lady” being widely understood as a reference to a local Church.

A consecrated virgin is not only an icon of the Church in a more abstract and universal sense, but through her consecration in and for a particular diocese she also reflects the almost-personal dignity of the local Church. And as a bride of Christ and spiritual mother, though her life of prayer for and service to the people of God in a particular place, she is called to make the mystery of the love of Christ the Bridegroom especially present to that community. Or as Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago puts it, “With the celebration of consecration, the Bishop presents the consecrated women to the ecclesial community as a sign of the Church as the Bride of Christ.” (ESI 47)

Pope Benedict XVI expressed this concept beautifully in his address to the participants international pilgrimage of the Ordo virginum in 2008:

“Dearest friends, your vocation is deeply rooted in the particular Church to which you belong: it is your Bishops' task to recognize the charism of virginity in you, to consecrate you and, possibly, to encourage you on your way, in order to teach you fear of the Lord, as they commitment themselves to do during the solemn liturgy of consecration. From the sphere of the Diocese with its traditions, its Saints, its values, its limits and its problems you broaden your horizons to the universal Church, sharing above all in her liturgical prayer, which is also entrusted to you so that ‘the praise of our heavenly Father be always on your lips; pray without ceasing,’ In this way your prayerful ‘I’ will gradually be enlarged, until there is no longer anything except a great ‘we’ in the prayer. This is ecclesial prayer and the true liturgy. May you open yourselves in your dialogue with God to a dialogue with all creatures, for whom you will find you are mothers, mothers of the children of God.”

 

Notes:

* In recent years, there has been some discussion and controversy about whether never-married women who have committed serious sins against chastity in more discreet contexts are still eligible for consecration as virgins. This is a much broader conversation, some aspects of which I addressed in an earlier post: “Thoughts on Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, Paragraph 88”

My own understanding as a canonist is that the Church still expects women who present their consecration to be true virgins in actual fact—i.e., that they have never knowingly and freely engaged in the “marital act.” But the Church’s authorities generally cannot require a “manifestation of conscience,” i.e. for anyone to reveal a hidden sin outside of the confessional. Therefore, a woman who lost her virginity more secretly can’t really be legitimately interrogated about this, meaning this aspect of discernment is a kind of honor system.

Likewise, in the case of women who have committed hidden but grave sins against chastity that stop short of intercourse, the Church does not spell out exactly “how far is too far” in every theoretical case, but rather leaves it to the good-faith personal discernment of the aspirant and her confessor and/or spiritual director. But since virginity is such a central aspect of the spirituality of consecrated virgins, a woman discerning this vocation needs to be brutally honest with herself about whether she can embrace and live this out with inner peace and personal integrity.

** As noted above, a propositium is technically not the same thing as a religious vow, although it is actually a more ancient form of commitment. Still, the propositum of a consecrated virgin is generally understood to be a type of “sacred bond” referenced in, for example, canon 573 §2 of the Code of Canon Law, the canon which aims to give a working universal definition of the canonical category “consecrated life.”

*** I actually wrote an academic article on this topic in 2022 for the Newsletter of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland titled: “Consecrated Virgins and the Local Church: Considerations in Light of Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago.” While this was meant as a more technical article for my canonist colleagues, I’m happy to email a digital copy to anyone interested in reading it.

The image at the top of this post is sixth century mosaic of St. Agnes from the church of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy. For more information and a photo credit: https://www.christianiconography.info/Edited%20in%202013/Italy/agnesApNuovo.html

On Consecrated Virginity as Having an Objective Nature

As the revived Ordo virginum is still a relatively “new” vocation in the life of the Church, I think it’s only natural that we as a Church are still in the process of figuring out the best practical lived expressions of this ancient form of consecrated life. Certainly, the 2018 Instruction Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago provided us with some much-needed clarity on many aspects of this vocation, especially with respect to consecrated virgins’ practical obligations. But there are still many occasions when general directives need to be applied to specific situations with discernment; and such discernment requires a foundational clarity on the very nature of a call to the Ordo virginum.

There are many “enemies” to this kind of needed clarity. These might include, for example, ignorance of contemporary Church documents on the Ordo virginum or unfamiliarity with the writings of the Church Fathers on consecrated virginity. But as I see it, one especially great obstacle to clarity is the idea—whether spoken or unspoken, explicit or presumed—that consecrated virginity is a sort of “generic” or “catch-all” vocation, or a vocation defined by what it is not (e.g., defining consecrated virginity as simply “not life in a religious community.”)

In other words, we will never arrive at an appropriate clarity on how to fully live this life, or how to form women in this vocation, if we are working from a preconceived notion that consecrated virginity is an endlessly customizable option for women who, not feeling particularly called to embrace any other state of life within the Church, simply wish to follow their own unique personal spirituality with the Church’s blessing. It’s even less possible to come to an adequate understanding of this vocation if we have the idea that consecrated virginity is a sort of “last resort option” for women who were unable to marry or enter religious life, and therefore one which calls them to live only as much of a “consecrated” life as they can comfortably handle.

On the contrary, in order to discern what consecrated virginity calls us to, we need to begin with the foundational premise that it does indeed call us to something; i.e. that it calls us to an objective something in an objective way.

To say that consecrated virginity has an objective nature is to say that consecrated virgins are called to some things and not others; and that the Ordo virginum as a concept exists in the mind of the Church on its own, independent of the personal desires, feelings, limitations, or aspirations of any individual consecrated virgin or woman aspiring to this vocation.

Consecrated virginity as a public state of consecrated life

How do we know that the Ordo virginum does indeed have a fundamentally objective nature? I think this is first of all evident by the fact that consecrated virginity is a public state of consecrated life.

Canon 573 of the Code of Canon Law defines consecrated life as: “…a stable form of living by which the faithful, following Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit, are totally dedicated to God who is loved most of all.” 

Consecrated life involves a more radical following Christ in His own way of life by means of embracing the evangelical counsels through “vows or other sacred bonds.” (see canons 207 §2 and 573 §2, ) In the Latin Catholic canon law, there are five recognized forms of consecrated life: consecrated virgins, diocesan hermits, religious life, societies of apostolic life, and secular institutes.

Apart from these recognized forms of consecrated life, any member of the faithful can embrace a life of evangelical celibacy or perpetual virginity on his or her own initiative through a private vow or promise, and the Church sees such personal commitments to chastity as praiseworthy. Many great saints, like St. Kateri, St. Rose of Lima, and St. Catherine of Siena, simply made private vows and were not actually “consecrated” in what we would today consider a public canonical sense.

But in contrast with a private vow, a public commitment to consecrated life is one which is received by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority, such a religious superior for a nun or Sister, or the diocesan bishop in the case of consecrated virgins or hermits.

And unlike a private vow—which is essentially a wholly personal response to a personal sense of God’s call—a public state of consecrated life is also one which has some recognized and defined parameters. That is, a person can make a private vow to live whatever kind of virtuous Christian life they are drawn to, and are free to “pick and choose” whatever legitimate devotions and spiritual practices appeal to them or otherwise fit into their current life situation.

Yet public forms of consecrated life are not only “public” in the common parlance of bearing an open Christian witness and in the technical sense of having commitments received by a legitimate authority in the Church, but they also “public” on the more theological level of belonging to the Church herself rather than to individual members of the faithful. Public forms of consecrated life are not personal initiatives or do-it-yourself projects, but are, in a manner of speaking, the “property” of the Church.

Consequently, the people of God have a right to consecrated life that “does what it says on the tin,” or to forms of consecrated life that are fundamentally what they are supposed to be. Therefore the Church presents the various public forms of consecrated life “as is,” regardless of the personal feelings or individual spirituality of those who are discerning consecrated life.

Of course, there are obvious difference between the various forms of consecrated life. Secular institute members and diocesan hermits have a radically different spirituality and way of life, for example. And in many cases, there can even be quite a bit of lawful diversity within a single form of consecrated life. We might think of how a different the daily prayer and work schedule of an apostolic Sister who teaches at young children will look from that of a cloistered nun, even though both are both properly considered “religious.”

Yet each form of consecrated life has its own non-negotiable elements that define its very nature. These are elements which, if edited, would mean that the form of consecrated life in question would cease to be what it is.

As an illustration, religious life is by definition a form of consecrated life that involves vowing to observe the evangelical counsels according to a specific founding spirituality in the context of a truly common life. As I’ve alluded to above, there are many different kinds of religious communities, from strictly cloistered contemplative monasteries to apostolic communities dedicated to active works of charity, so it’s clear that the Church does not call all religious everywhere to exact and total uniformity.

However, if a religious institute decided that its members would categorically as a rule no longer live under the same roof, or if each member of a single given community were to decide for herself whether or not to follow the spirituality of their sainted founder, or if they were to do away with the practice of professing vows, the Sisters in that group would no longer be living a call to religious life.

A religious community that abandoned the essential elements of religious life could rightly be criticized or called to task by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority, because even if their new way of life might theoretically fit into the requirements of a different form of consecrated life, they would not be living as “religious” properly so-called. And a new group that refused to embrace the essential elements of religious life in the first place would never be approved as a religious institute, even if their way of life was otherwise an objectively good one.

I think sometimes there can be a tendency to overlook the fact that this same principle applies to consecrated virginity as a form of consecrated life. Because there is a great deal of fully legitimate diversity as to how individual consecrated virgins live out their consecrated lives concretely—so much so, that you could almost compare this to the diversity between religious communities—it can be easy to miss the fact that the Ordo virginum does exist as a state of consecrated life with its own proper essential elements that cannot be set aside without undermining the integrity of this vocation.

The absolute essentials of the Ordo virginum 

Breaking this down further, there are some elements of the Ordo virginum that are so essential that a consecration would either be invalid without them; or else that, in their absence, whatever would be taking place would be something other than “consecrated virginity” in the proper canonical sense of the term.

Canon 604, §1 of the Code of Canon Law references these absolute essential elements when it identifies a member of the Ordo virginum as a woman who is “consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite.”

This means that the litmus test for whether or not a woman is a “consecrated virgin” in a proper canonical sense—i.e., as opposed to using this in the looser sense of any woman who commits herself to a life of evangelical virginity, potentially in another form of consecrated life—is whether or not she was consecrated with the actual Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity as found in the Roman Pontifical by the diocesan bishop or another bishop delegated by him.*

So if, for instance, a woman committed herself to a life of virginity in some other kind of ceremony aside from the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity, she might be living a virginal life that was “consecrated,” but she would not be a member of the Ordo virginum, full stop.

Similarly, canon 604 also indicates that consecrated virgins must be “virgins,” with the Rite itself setting as the minimum standard for the requisite virginity as “never having been married or lived in public or open violation of chastity.” In light of this, a widow or a woman who bore children with a live-in boyfriend could not validly receive the consecration of virgins. The Rite of Consecration further indicates that the ritual is reserved to women, so if a bishop were to try to consecrate a man to a life of virginity, the Rite of Consecration simply would not “work” in that case, any more than a woman could validly receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Fundamental obligations of consecrated virgins

There are other elements of consecrated virginity that are essential not so much in the sense that they are required for a valid consecration, as much as they are fundamental obligations of this state in life. In pursuing and accepting a vocation to the Ordo virginum specifically, a woman is committing herself to do all that the Church expects of consecrated virgins.

The introduction to the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity references the “duties”** of consecrated virgins in a big-picture way when it states that:

“They are to spend their time in works of penance and of mercy, in apostolic activity, and in prayer, according to their state in life and spiritual gifts.”

For example, clarifying what was already stated in the Rite of Consecration, Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago describe the Liturgy of the Hours as a “duty” of this vocation. (ESI 34) While a lay woman who makes a simply private vow of virginity is perfectly free to decide that the Liturgy of the Hours does not fit into her personal spirituality or other life commitments, a consecrated virgin does have the same flexibility in this area. And so a consecrated virgin who had no interest or intention of praying the Liturgy of the Hours would be objectively failing to fulfill her vocation, even while her failure in this regard wouldn’t necessarily render her consecration invalid.

There are other fundamental obligations of the Ordo virginum as a state in life that are no less serious and binding, but which are a less black-and-white insofar as they might be fulfilled in a variety of consecrate ways.

For instance, the Code of Canon Law calls consecrated virgins to be “dedicated to the service of the Church,” which based on other relevant canonical “fonts” or sources would seem to mean some sort of visible, Church-related apostolate.

However, there is obviously no one single way to do fulfill this big-picture obligation, and as ESI 27 notes: “Setting out to follow Christ, [consecrated virgins] embrace his chaste, poor and obedient way of life, and dedicate themselves to prayer, penance, the works of mercy and the apostolate, each one according to her own charisms.” (My emphasis)

Still, the fact that the practical ins and outs of being “dedicated to the service of the Church” might look different for different consecrated virgins does not change the fact that a consecrated virgin is called to take on some kind of real apostolate. Among other places, this is evident in ESI 39, which mentions consecrated virgins “discerning their concrete forms of their ecclesial service.” 

Or in other words, the fact that consecrated virgins’ call to ecclesial service is more of a broad general category as opposed to a very specific set of directives does not mean that this obligation can or should be “watered down” or explained away into something meaningless. 

Just as a consecrated virgin who refused to pray the Liturgy of the Hours would not be living her vocation fully, so too a consecrated virgin who made no attempt to dedicate herself to the service of the Church—or who had no inclination to, as the Rite itself puts it “spend her time in works of penance and of mercy, [and] in apostolic activity”—would likewise not be truly living as a consecrated virgin.

Characteristic spirituality

There are other essential aspects of consecrated virginity that are not exactly prerequisites for validity or core actionable duties, but are more like facets of the central charism or identity that consecrated virgins are expected to embrace.

The most obvious of these is the call to relate to Christ specifically as His bride. The Church does not expect all women, and arguably not even all consecrated women, to embrace an explicitly “bridal” spirituality. But a woman who struggled with bridal imagery in the spiritual life certainly would not be able to live an emotionally healthy or spirituality coherent life as a member of the Ordo virginum specifically.

At this point, admittedly, there is the potential for the discussion to get a little confusing at insofar as characteristic elements of the spirituality of the Order of virgins often overlap with both the absolute essential elements as well as the duties of this state.

For instance, consecrated virgins are called to a spirituality that is heavily informed by a charism of virginity. But virginity is not merely an aspect of our spirituality, it’s also a canonical prerequisite to being consecrated in the Ordo virginum.  

Likewise, consecrated virgins are canonically connected to the local diocesan Church insofar as they are consecrated under the auspices of the diocesan bishop. Their bond with the diocese is also related to the concrete obligations of their state, in that they are called to prayerfully intercede for the diocesan bishop’s intentions and for the needs of the local Church, (cf. ESI 43) and that in their call to the apostolate they “often take part in the good works of the diocese.” (Rite of Consecration, Chapter I, n. 3)

Yet properly understood, these diocesan elements are not bland boxes to check off on a protocol list. Rather, they transcend the merely administrative and point towards a deeper “diocesan spirituality” of consecrated life lived in and for the local Church. As Eccesiae Sponsae Imago tells us, consecrated virgins “are, in fact, bound by a special bond of love and mutual belonging to this particular Church.” (ESI 42)

Since consecrated virgins are individuals with a “rich variety of personal charisms” (ESI 8) it is to be expected that no two consecrated virgins are going to have an identical spirituality or interior life. And the Church’s law does gives consecrated virgins freedom in fostering personal devotions and in embracing different forms of private prayer. (Cf. ESI 35) Still, there are some themes that are intrinsically part of a vocation to the Ordo virginum that a consecrated virgin is not free to neglect or abandon, even if such themes might seem challenging at first or at times.

Things outside the vocation of consecrated virginity

Looking at all this from the opposite angle, there are things which are not essential elements of the Ordo virginum in any sense. This is either because such things are simply not requirements, or because they are actually more proper to other states in life, or because they are based on misunderstandings or mistaken assumptions.

For the first example, while a spirit of penance and asceticism is indeed a non-negotiable aspect of a vocation to consecrated virginity, ESI 36 notes that:

“[Consecrated virgins] accept the penitential practices proposed by the Church and, in agreement with her spiritual director, each one chooses the ascetical forms or practices that help her to grow in freedom and the evangelical virtues, with a disposition of discernment and conversion that lasts through life.”

Thus, while something like a practice of regular and frequent fasting would be eminently  appropriate for a consecrated virgin, consecrated virgins are not required to fast to a greater extent than any other Catholic. A consecrated virgin who discerns with her spiritual director that she should take on some penitential practice other than fasting would not be a “bad” consecrated virgin—even while a consecrated virgin who was willing and able to fast on a regular basis might, in doing so, be an exemplary one.

An example of something that is not an essential element of consecrated virginity because it is more proper to other states of life is the idea of being a “hidden witness.” Although consecrated virgins may not always be as readily visible as women religious who wear full traditional habits, consecrated virgins are nevertheless called to be a fully public witness in the life of the Church, who are open about sharing the commitment they have made.***

It is true some secular institutes have a practice of “discretion,” by which the institute members generally do not advertise their consecrated status, so as to better integrate into the ordinary world of temporal affairs. Sometimes, despite being radically different forms of consecrated life, the Ordo virginum is confused with secular institutes, with the result being that the secular institute-specific charism of discretion can at times be wrongly “borrowed” and mistakenly applied to consecrated virgins.

Another example of something which is not a necessary part of a call to the Ordo virginum is “community life.” The Ordo virginum can also at times be wrongly conflated with religious life properly so-called, and in this genre of misunderstanding, it’s sometimes assumed that it would be the ideal for consecrated virgins to strive to share a common dwelling with other consecrated virgins, or else to otherwise do everything that can to approximate “living in community.” But while consecrated virgins certainly are allowed to share residences if they wish, Eccleiase Sponsae Imago makes states directly that this kind of common life is entirely optional and not in any sense an intrinsic element of this vocation. (ESI 66) And while consecrated virgins can choose to form themselves into associations, but membership in such an association must be entirely voluntary on the part of the individual consecrated virgin. (ESI 65)

Why does all this matter?

To me as a canon lawyer, clarity on the nature and fundamental duties of one’s state of life seems self-evidently important to the point of being almost a tautology! That is, of course we need to understand what the Church calls us to, so that we can fulfill our call. We can’t answer a call we don’t fundamentally understand, and we can’t understand a call that isn’t objective enough to be understood.

But to parse it out a little more, there are several reasons why it is important to: 1. acknowledge that consecrated virginity is a public state of consecrated life with and objective nature and real obligations; and 2. to seek clarity on what that nature is and what those obligations are.

First of all, it’s important for the discernment of vocations, on the part of both the women discerning and the diocese.

For a woman discerning this vocation, she obviously needs to understand and appreciate the objective nature and specific charism of the Ordo virginum so that she can accurately assess whether this is in fact what she feels called to. Often there can be a tendency to simply define consecrated virginity as simply “consecrated life outside of a religious community.” But aside from the fact that this is a rather simplistically reductionist way to look at any form of consecrated life within the Church, it does not accurately represent the scope of the vocational “options” out there.

More fundamentally, a woman discerning her vocation needs to have an accurate understanding everything the Church requires and expects of consecrated virgins so that she can “count the cost.” As Jesus Himself points out in a parable:

“Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’” (Luke 14:28-30)

An initial, and perhaps superficial, attraction to consecrated virginity or some of its “trappings” is not the same thing as being truly prepared to persevere to the end and to make all the sacrifices required of this state in life. It’s one thing to feel inspired by photos of newly-consecrated virgins in their wedding dresses. But it’s quite another to persevere in liturgical prayer when prayer is dry; or to continue on in generous service to the Church when one’s apostolic efforts seem burdensome or fruitless; or to bear joyful public witness in social or professional situations when identifying oneself as a consecrated virgin feels awkward.

And even though I don’t often see these things spelled out this frankly, none of this should seem controversial or offensive. In the eyes of the Church it’s completely legitimate for a woman discerning her vocation to conclude that, for whatever reason, she is not up for taking on all the obligations and sacrifices the Church requires of members of the Ordo virginum. Similarly there may be other women who are sincerely drawn to the charism of the Ordo virginum, but have the prudence and honest self-knowledge to realize that are unable to fulfill the obligations of this state.

Consecrated virginity is a relatively rare vocation that is not for everyone, and that’s perfectly fine! The most chartable situation for everyone concern is to make it easy for women who don’t have a strong call to what the Ordo virginum actually is to realize this before they are consecrated, rather than leaving them to struggle in a vocation that are ultimately not well-suited for.

Beyond discernment, any decent formation program for consecrated virginity would need to be built on a reasonably clear understanding of the vocation. Logically, you cannot form someone unless you know what you are forming them for.

Formation for consecrated life is, or at least should be, more than, e.g. simply reading a few books of beautiful reflections. Any decent formation program—whether for priesthood, religious life, or consecrated virginity—is going to demand some degree of growth and change in the one being formed. But growth and change can be challenging, or even painful at times. It will always require some degree of “dying to self” so as to live more fully for the Lord and His people. But it could be hard for a kind-hearted formator to ask a candidate to make the hard choices needed to prepare for a happy and fruitful life as a consecrated virgin if the formator does not have a clear sense that some personal sacrifices are indeed necessary, and the reasons why this is so.

And as already-consecrated virgins, I think we too need an understanding that consecrated virginity is a vocation with an objective nature in order to live out our consecrated lives in a coherent and healthy way. An attitude of “just do whatever you feel drawn to” might feel like freedom at first, but at the end of the day I don’t think it makes for a worthwhile vocation.

To conclude with another near-tautology, for a commitment to mean something, it has to mean something. A commitment to nothing in particular is not much of a commitment. In order to truly offer our life as a gift, something specific and intentional must be given.

 

Notes:

*N.b., although the Church’s law clearly envisions the diocesan bishop as the ordinary minister of the consecration of virgins, the 1984 Ceremonial of Bishops explicitly allows for the possibility that the diocesan bishop may delegate the actual consecration ceremony to another bishop.

** The original Latin text of the Rite of Consecration uses the word “munera” which is translated into English as “duties.” However, “munera” can also be translated as “offices,” and it has the connotation of a much deeper obligation. Whereas depending on the context a “duty” might be thought of as a simple task to be carried out, a “munus” is more like a vocational obligation which shapes one’s very identity. As a parallel point of reference, we speak of Holy Orders as calling the clergy to the triple “munera” of teaching, governing, and sanctifying.

*** I don’t have one concise citation to back up this point, but I do think the idea that consecrated virgins are called to an open public witness is fairly clear—or at least extremely strongly implied—by the relevant canonical sources. As just one example, n. 4 of the Introduction of the Rite of Consecration to Life of Virginity for Women Living in the World specifically states that consecrations are celebrations that are open to the public, and that “to encourage a greater attendance of the people, the faithful should be notified of the celebration in good time.” But more to the point, if life with a “discreet consecration” as or “hidden leaven in the world” was an essential part of the charism of consecrated virginity, then this would have been stated somewhere in either the Church’s liturgy, law, or some other authoritative magisterial source. And as far as I can tell, there is no such reference anywhere.