tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39841862959355983892024-03-13T06:03:42.634-04:00Sponsa Christi... a consecrated virgin reflects on her vocationSponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-15820366271318874592022-09-13T21:52:00.003-04:002022-09-13T22:01:57.009-04:00Quick Question: Are consecrated virgins called to pray for priests?<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErpU9OgFA4AxSsV6FDWKD7QuHAp3MtBg-Qqd0i2xnBJLLPQCW_G-lNWuKFmlb_51FNXSC-j6qxTMXF3OBvSincqgipVHyRbVMa0LYTfRhqQjwGQIky9jX9Bw15IRuiEpExgNz1-OzlO77EkWP1PkaCt61dS-PdZqsSU_u51Ibqb7SbgW7od2sP_fi/s960/altar%20Jerabek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErpU9OgFA4AxSsV6FDWKD7QuHAp3MtBg-Qqd0i2xnBJLLPQCW_G-lNWuKFmlb_51FNXSC-j6qxTMXF3OBvSincqgipVHyRbVMa0LYTfRhqQjwGQIky9jX9Bw15IRuiEpExgNz1-OzlO77EkWP1PkaCt61dS-PdZqsSU_u51Ibqb7SbgW7od2sP_fi/w400-h400/altar%20Jerabek.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Short answer:</b> Yes.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Longer answer:</b> Prayer for priests <i>per se</i> isn’t
necessarily the central aspect of our vocation, although consecrated virgins would
certainly seem to be called to pray for the local clergy of their dioceses in
at least a general way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The praenotanda of the <i><a href="chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/http://diolc.org/files/consecratedlife/Complete%20Rite.pdf" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i> lists prayer as one of the “principle duties of those
consecrated.”* It is worth noting that in the original Latin typical edition,
the word for “duties” is actually “<i>munera</i>,” a word that is often
translated in other context as “offices.” In many ways, an office represents a
more profound obligation that a mere duty. Whereas a “duty” might refer to a simple
task, an “office” is more intrinsically linked to the concept of vocation and
thus ultimately to a person’s very being. Identifying consecrated virgins as having
an “office” of prayer underscores how essential prayer is to our vocation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet at the same time it can be noted that a call to be
especially dedicated to prayer, even to intercessory prayer, is different from
a specific call to intercede for a specific intention. Some religious Orders,
such as the <a href="https://lorettocarmel.org/prayer-for-priests-and-missionaries/" target="_blank">Discalced Carmelites</a> and the <a href="https://nunsforpriests.org/" target="_blank">Handmaids of the Precious Blood</a>, do
have “prayer for priests” as a characteristic and central element of their
founding charism. The Ordo virginum, in contrast, historically lacks this same
heavy direct emphasis on intercessory prayer for the clergy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Likewise, in the suggested homily supplied in the <i>Rite
of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>, the bishop exhorts the
soon-to-be-consecrated virgin to:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Make it your concern to pray fervently for the spread of
the Christian faith and for the unity of all Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray earnestly to God for the welfare of the
married. Remember also those who have forgotten their Father’s goodness and
have abandoned his love, so that God’s mercy may forgive where his justice must
condemn.”</span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some consecrated virgins have observed that priests are
not included in this “to-do list” of intentions, pointing out that this lack
could be taken to indicate that consecrated virgins do not have any sort of
special call to pray for the clergy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, these above-mentioned points are more about the
simple absence of a directive for consecrated virgins to pray specifically for priests. And although <a href="https://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2018/01/understanding-canon-law-introduction.html" target="_blank">points of silence in the law</a> can be interesting and even
meaningful, it is often difficult to draw firm conclusions based on silences
alone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Therefore, it is important to consider the more detailed
and explicit discussion on consecrated virgins’ obligation of intercessory
prayer found in the 2018 Instruction <i><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/07/04/180704d.html" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a></i> (ESI). Among
other places, <a href="https://canonlaw.ninja/?nums=43&v=esi" target="_blank">ESI 43</a>—a section which discusses some of the spiritual aspects of
a consecrated virgin’s bond with her diocese—directs consecrated virgins to “…bring
to prayer the needs of the Diocese and, in particular, the intentions
of the Bishop.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">If a consecrated virgin is asked to intercede
specifically for the needs of her diocese and the intentions of the bishop, it
would be hard to imagine any sense in which this could possibly not encompass prayer
for the local diocesan clergy. I.e., what diocesan bishop wouldn’t have the welfare
of his priests as a principle personal prayer intention? And how could the
spiritual support of priests not be a real need of the diocese?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In light of these considerations, I believe it is
reasonable to conclude that consecrated virgins are indeed called to pray for
priests—or at the very least, for the priests of their respective dioceses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But since prayer for priests is referenced only
implicitly here, I think it is reasonable to conclude that “prayer for priests”
as such is not a distinctive characteristic element of the charism of the Ordo
virginum (even while we should still keep in mind that the spiritual support of
our local diocesan Church is). At the same time, consecrated virgins’ call to
intercede for the local clergy is still implied rather strongly, so I think it
would also be incorrect to regard “prayer for priests” as something somehow alien
to our vocation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This relative ambiguity gives individual consecrated
virgins some freedom to discern for themselves how prominently intercessory
prayer for priests will factor into their own personal spiritual lives. For example,
I think it would be praiseworthy for one consecrated virgin to focus especially
on offering prayers and sacrifices for the sanctification of the clergy, but
equally legitimate for another consecrated virgin to pray for priests in a more
perfunctory way as part of her overall prayers for the needs of her local
Church. Absent any special prayer request from her bishop, I would say that
this is the sort of matter that an individual consecrated virgin to discern
with her spiritual director.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">(Photo by Fr. Bryan Jerabek, who was my classmate in my canon law program, and whom I reasonably presume doesn't mind me using it here!)</span></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-7586864685184425572022-02-16T19:06:00.019-05:002022-02-16T19:27:05.226-05:00A brief explanation of the new canon 604 §3<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjA6PrlZLG0TDls5BINQ8dVSFk0fO2H5C80L1polvWFlUKMDS8tgTgYi69_5GzYGYARkwJ5pbtVMfE2bowvMMJGTjgJQJ1pwri7JD70IA_8ZQrXpgeDxz2cpyuKV8uBis6X-C0LmHK0iT0E6QF4d-TYksEQGQbm7m3fqWiIs3SMBavgkTL_RcA4o1BN=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1280" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjA6PrlZLG0TDls5BINQ8dVSFk0fO2H5C80L1polvWFlUKMDS8tgTgYi69_5GzYGYARkwJ5pbtVMfE2bowvMMJGTjgJQJ1pwri7JD70IA_8ZQrXpgeDxz2cpyuKV8uBis6X-C0LmHK0iT0E6QF4d-TYksEQGQbm7m3fqWiIs3SMBavgkTL_RcA4o1BN=w400-h264" width="400" /></a></div>This
past Friday, on February 11, 2022, Pope Francis issued a <i><a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20220211-motu-proprio-assegnare-alcune-competenze.html" target="_blank">motu proprio</a></i>
modifying some of the canons in the <i>Code of Canon Law</i>.* One of these alterations
was adding a third paragraph to <a href="https://canonlaw.ninja/?nums=604" target="_blank">canon 604</a>, the one canon on consecrated
virginity. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>The newly-expanded canon 604 (with the latest edition in bold) now
reads:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;"> §1.
Similar to these forms of consecrated life is the order of virgins who,
expressing the holy resolution of following Christ more closely, are
consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical
rite, are mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to
the service of the Church.<br />
<br />
§2. In order to observe their own resolution more faithfully and to perform by
mutual assistance service to the Church in harmony with their proper state,
virgins can be associated together.<br />
<br />
<b>§3. The recognition and establishment of such associations at the diocesan
level belongs to the diocesan bishop, within his own territory, at the national
level it belongs to the episcopal conference, within its own territory.</b></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">What
does this change?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Basically,
nothing! All can. 604 §3 does is make explicit what was already implied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In the section of the <i>Code</i> which discusses associations of the
faithful in general, <a href="https://canonlaw.ninja/?nums=312" target="_blank">canon 312</a> details which authorities are able to formally recognize
and approve such associations. Naturally, the Holy See (a.k.a. “the Vatican” or
“Rome”) has competence to approve international associations; the relevant
bishops’ conference has the competence for approving associations within its
own territory; and the diocesan bishop is competent to approve diocesan associations
of the faithful within his own diocese.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Even
while there can be different kinds of associations specific to members of the
Christian faithful in different states in life—such as clerical associations
for priests, or associations specifically intended for laypeople—can. 312 was
meant to apply to all associations of the faithful inclusively.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><b>If
this doesn’t really change anything, then why add it to the <i>Code</i>?</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">I
don’t know for sure. The Pope didn’t call me to chat about this <i>motu proprio</i>
beforehand!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">But
if I had to hazard a guess, my thought is that perhaps there were some questions
or mistaken impressions that the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) needed to approve all
associations of consecrated virgins, not just the international ones.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The
1988 document <i><a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus.html#CONGREGATIONS" target="_blank">Pastor Bonus</a></i>, which describes which Vatican dicastery (or “department”)
handles what, states in art. 110 that CICLSAL has competence for “the order of
virgins and their associations.” So even while I would have always presumed
that <i>CIC</i> can. 312 applied to associations of consecrated virgins just as
it did to any other association of the faithful, I could theoretically imagine
a scenario where someone might have wondered whether this specification in <i>Pastor
Bonus</i> art. 110 meant that associations of consecrated virgins were somehow
a special case reserved to Rome.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">So now, it is definitively clarified that associations of consecrated virgins do
indeed follow the same norms applying to associations of the faithful in
general.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Interestingly,
there seems to have been similar questions and concerns about can. 604 </span><b><i><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">§</span></u></i></b><b><i><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> back when the <i>Code</i> was initially
being drafted. It was argued that since all Christians fundamentally have the
right to associate, it could be unnecessary or superfluous for the language of
the <i>Code</i> to go out of its way to specify that consecrated virgins enjoy
a right common to all the faithful.** But at the end of the day, the drafters
obviously decided to err on the side of clarity. And so can. 604 </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">§</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">2 exits to note that consecrated virgins can
indeed form associations among themselves for pious reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p><i>notes:</i></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">*For
a good explanation of all the changes introduced in this <i>motu proprio</i>, see
<a href="https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/the-canon-laws-they-are-a-changin?r=do21a" target="_blank">this article</a> in <i>The Pillar</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">**
Sr. Sharon Holland recounts this in her article “<a href="chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/holland.pdf" target="_blank">Consecrated Virgins for Today’s Church</a>.”<o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-35397009269030885342022-01-16T17:40:00.001-05:002022-01-28T17:20:25.853-05:00Some Basic Advice for Discerners<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIofFEgKIvZHGBZm4Q44Xmupz5RW5l9KeE_iwuDBUDUQadgCPYc3xhAaypH90Xd7h4OsCIVHtoNzsct8WXfHEmN_LnIw0_wgc89s_AmYhFN4fZTOCh8OY0tKcfWM5fNjdKf1ocI-Vtwt9Hve0eIpibGMhRp2Hpb0QGZgidDSDaeMJY0TV6s9nrfwpH=s480" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="361" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIofFEgKIvZHGBZm4Q44Xmupz5RW5l9KeE_iwuDBUDUQadgCPYc3xhAaypH90Xd7h4OsCIVHtoNzsct8WXfHEmN_LnIw0_wgc89s_AmYhFN4fZTOCh8OY0tKcfWM5fNjdKf1ocI-Vtwt9Hve0eIpibGMhRp2Hpb0QGZgidDSDaeMJY0TV6s9nrfwpH=w301-h400" width="301" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">One of the most
common questions I’m asked as a relatively seasoned consecrated virgin is
whether I have any advice for women discerning this vocation. This is also one
of the trickiest questions to answer, because in real life my answer would
depend a lot on the individual woman I’m talking to. For instance, my advice to
a college student would be very different than my advice for a forty-something
professional woman, which would also be different than my advice to someone who
had <a href="https://leonieslonging.org/2015/02/17/the-vocation-to-consecrated-virginity/" target="_blank">recently left a religious community</a>, etc.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Still, there
are some very basic ideas that I find apply almost across the board. Some of
these may go with out saying…but just in case they are helpful, I’m going ahead
and saying them anyway!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">1. Make sure
you’re clear on what this vocation is actually all about<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">If you feel
called to discern a vocation to consecrated virginity, an important first step
is understanding the fundamental nature of this form of consecrated life.
Specifically, you should be clear on the concept that consecrated virginity is
a public form of consecrated life for chaste and never-married women, centered
around the charism of a spousal relationship with Christ, and which is lived
out under the authority of the diocesan bishop primarily within the context of
the local diocesan Church. And, as a public form of consecrated life,
consecrated virginity involves some baseline obligations of evangelical
witness, formal liturgical prayer, and service of the Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">This point
might seem overly obvious to many readers. But I find that sometimes people
still have an impression of consecrated virginity as sort of a generic
catch-all category, in which the main defining feature is simply being “not
religious life in community”!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
commonly, well-meaning people can tend to confuse consecrated virginity with
other vocations that are neither vowed religious life in community nor normal
human marriage.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">So just to
clarify: consecrated virginity is <a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2010/12/consecrated-virginity-versus-private.html" target="_blank">not a private vow</a>. A private vow is a wholly
personal response to a sense of God’s call without any exteriorly-imposed
parameters. Consecrated virginity, on the other hand, despite its flexibility
in admitting a wide variety of practical lived expressions, is still a public
commitment to a way of life that is exteriorly defined, governed, and formally
approved by the Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Consecrated
virginity is also very different from a secular Third Order. Third Orders (and
oblate and community associate programs, etc.) are, essentially, modes for
laypeople to share in the spirituality of a religious Order. But consecrated
virginity has its own spirituality and charism that is district from any of the
Church’s many religious families, and consecrated virgins <a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2021/06/quick-question-are-consecrated-virgins.html" target="_blank">are not “laypeople”</a>
in the usual sense of the term.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Consecrated
virginity is also not the same as the so-called “lay consecrated life” of the
newer lay ecclesial movements, since—among other points of contrast—the <i>Ordo
virginum</i> is an ancient vocation dating back to Apostolic times and doesn’t
involve an association with any group (unless of course you want to call the
local diocese a “group”). Similarly, <a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2015/07/consecrated-virginity-versus-secular.html" target="_blank">secular institute</a> members and Opus Dei numeraries
are not “consecrated virgins” in the technical sense of belonging to the <i>Ordo
virginum</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">And finally,
consecrated virginity is <i><u>really</u></i> not “the single life,” since
consecrated virgins make a life commitment that is, theologically, <a href="https://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2015/03/who-can-be-called-bride-of-christ.html" target="_blank">truly nuptial</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">All of these
non-consecrated virginity vocations are still good vocations! But if you’re
discerning consecrated virginity, you should have a good understanding of what
it is you are discerning.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">2. Do your
homework</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Or in other
words, read and familiarize yourself with the relevant Church documents on
consecrated virginity. In my opinion, the most important one to read is the <i><a href="chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://diolc.org/files/consecratedlife/Complete%20Rite.pdf" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i> itself. I would even recommend
multiple readings of the <i>Rite of Consecration</i>, perhaps beginning with a
more straightforward academic reading if the <i>Rite</i>, and then subsequently
re-reading it in a slower, more contemplative and prayerful way. The <i>Rite of
Consecration</i> sums up the core spirituality of a consecrated virgin, so your
inner spiritual attraction (or lack thereof!) will be an important clue about
whether or not you’re called to this life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Following that,
another important document to read is the 2008 Instruction on the <i>Ordo
virginum</i>, <i><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/07/04/180704d.html" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a></i> (ESI). With a title that
translates literally as “the Image of the Church as Bride,” this Vatican
document address questions related to the nature and purpose of consecrated
virginity in greater depth. The official intended audience of ESI is actually
bishops and the canon lawyers assisting them, so a lot of ESI is written in somewhat
technical language. Nevertheless, it contains some beautiful and very
accessible passages, especially paragraphs 1 – 40; and even the more “dry”
parts of ESI <a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-first-look-at-ecclesiae-sponsae-imago.html" target="_blank">still communicate significant details</a> about what the Church
expects from her consecrated virgins.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">That past three
Popes have all given addresses and homilies to the <i>Ordo virginum</i>
specifically, which are each worth a read:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><a href="chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/pjp2-a.pdf" target="_blank">“<i>May Christ
be your total and exclusive love</i>”</a> – Pope St. John Paul II (1995)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080515_ordo-virginum.html" target="_blank">“To the Order of Virgins: Personal journeys in holiness at service of all”</a> – Pope Benedict
XVI (2008)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-06/full-text-of-pope-message-to-consecrated-virgins.html" target="_blank">“Be ‘women of mercy’”</a> – Pope Francis (2020)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">You might also
consider reading some of the Church’s writings on consecrated life in general,
such as St. John Paul II’s work <i><a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031996_vita-consecrata.html" target="_blank">Vita Consecrata</a></i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In terms of
more devotional reading, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Christ-His-Consecrated-Virgins-Marriage/dp/B000KIN1O4" target="_blank">Christ in His Consecrated Virgins</a></i> by Ludwig
Munster was originally written for pre-Vatican II Benedictine nuns preparing to
receive the consecration of virgins after their solemn religious profession,
but it’s still relevant for today’s consecrated virgins “living in the world.”
It’s currently out of print, but you can read the whole thing online <a href="https://archive.org/details/ChristInHisConsecratedVirginsTheMarriageOfTheLambByLudwigMunster" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Finally, Fr.
Thomas Dubay’s book <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/920402.And_You_Are_Christ_s" target="_blank">“And You Are Christ’s…”</a></i> is kind of the go-to English
language classic for introducing the basic theology and spirituality behind a
commitment to dedicated Christian virginity of any sort. (Although, as a more
mature consecrated virgin, I don’t find it as personally helpful as I did when
I was younger, but I would still heartily recommend it to anyone discerning
this vocation.) A similar book is <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/723250.Virginity" target="_blank">Virginity</a></i> by Fr. Rainero Cantalamessa,
which has been translated from the original Italian into multiple
languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">3. Find a
good spiritual director</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Yes, I know
it’s hard to find a good spiritual director, etc. etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">But seriously,
really try your best here. Spiritual direction is something any woman seriously
discerning consecrated virginity needs to make a priority. You absolutely need
a good spiritual direction to help you in your discernment of this vocation—and
if consecrated virginity does wind up being your call, then you’ll need a
spiritual director post-consecration to help you with all the on-going
discernment that this life requires.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">If you don’t
have a spiritual director or are struggling to find one, a great first step is
to ask God in prayer to send you one. It’s amazing how often God will answer
prayers like this through surprise providential encounters.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">On your part, the
active legwork involved in finding a spiritual director doesn’t have to be too mysterious
or complicated. If you already know a priest that you find to be holy and
sensible (and for whatever it’s worth, St. Teresa of Avila thought it was more
important that spiritual directors be “learned” than that they be particularly
holy!), you can start by just asking him if he would be open to doing spiritual
direction with you. Even if he can’t take this on, he might be able to refer
you to someone else who can. If you don’t know any priests whom you would feel
comfortable going to for direction, you can try just asking your parish priest
or maybe your diocesan vocations office for a referral.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Incidentally, a
spiritual director doesn’t have to be a priest—although in my own personal
anecdotal experience, it seems that holy diocesan priests in general tend to be
the best at intuitively “getting” the vocation of consecrated virginity. And I
do think there is some real benefit in an aspiring consecrated virgin having a
spiritual director who is also committed to a life of celibate chastity in some
way. But there are good spiritual directors among non-ordained religious, men and
women in other forms of consecrated life, and lay people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">4. Try to
meet consecrated virgins</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">If you are
discerning this vocation, it can be very helpful to meet actual consecrated
virgins in real life. If you don’t have any already-consecrated virgins
nearby—and even if you do—you might consider attending the U.S. Association of
Consecrated Virgins’ annual discerners’ conference.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Additionally,
if there is a consecration being celebrated close to you, see if you can
attend. The vast majority of consecration ceremonies are open to the public. Not
only will you be able to experience one of the most beautiful ceremonies of the
Roman liturgy, but you may even have the chance</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> to meet consecrated virgins or
other discerners who are also in attendance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">One caveat,
however: consecrated virgins are a very “individual” bunch. Or to put a spin on
the old saying: if you’ve met one consecrated virgin…you’ve met <i><u>one</u></i>
consecrated virgin! Consecrated virgins share important things in common, but
our consecrated lives are lived out in a variety of concrete ways. If you don’t
“click” with the first consecrated virgin you meet, or even the first several,
this isn’t necessarily a sign that you’re not called to this life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">5. Work to
resolve any “crisis” or on-going issues in your life</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">For example, if
you have a serious physical or mental health problem, do whatever you can to speed
your recovery, if possible. Or for more chronic conditions, do what you can to
manage them to the point where they’re not radically impinging upon the rest of
your life. If you are burdened by major debts, make a real effort to pay them
down. If you have a family crisis that is demanding most of your time and
attention, either wait until your family circumstances get to a more stable
place or find some way where your degree of personal responsibility within the
situation can be adjusted to a more manageable level.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Sometimes
discerners have the impression that, because consecrated virginity doesn’t
entail the same kind of hard restrictions that religious communities generally
have for new members, it’s no problem to discern consecrated virginity when you
have an uncontrolled chronic illness, are deeply in debt, or have overwhelming
family obligations. And there is a kernel of truth to this—consecrated virgins
can own property and control their own finances, so it’s entirely possible for
a consecrated virgin to responsibly pay off a student loan or mortgage on a
house; and this life allows for a decent amount of flexibility and freedom, so
it is possible for one consecrated virgin to live at a more “gentle” pace than
others, or for consecrated virgins to assist aging parents in various ways.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">But with that
being said, before you start discerning consecrated virginity in earnest, it’s
important to have your life in serene, stable, and healthy place. (Or at least as
serene and stable as you can reasonably get it. Obviously, none of us are
perfect and nobody is going to have a completely stress-free life!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">This is for a
few reasons. First, a basic principle of any type of Christian discernment is
that it’s easiest to listen for God’s voice amidst calm and peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Following that,
it’s crucial to have a real sense of freedom when you’re discerning this
vocation. If you are discerning consecrated life in general, it might be
tempting to see consecrated virginity as an easier or less demanding vocational
option than religious life since, as noted above, strictly speaking an aspiring
consecrated virgin doesn’t need to be completely debt-free or in perfect
physical health to be accepted as a candidate. But if you’re discerning
consecrated virginity with a thought of: “Well, at least this is an option for
me…”, that’s not a good sign. In order to discern consecrated virginity
fruitfully and appropriately, it must be approached as a “first choice”
vocation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Additionally,
the very same things that could make joining a religious community difficult
can also present special challenges for living out a fervent consecrated life
as a member of the <i>Ordo virginum</i>. Despite the high levels of personal
freedom inherent in this vocation, we consecrated virgins still have real
obligations and commitments by virtue of our state in life. While there can be
exceptions in exceptional cases, if you’re thinking of becoming a consecrated virgin,
you need to be able to take on a commitment to regular liturgical and private
prayer, as well being realistically capable of undertaking some kind of apostolate
or service of the Church. If you don’t see yourself as being able to do this,
then it’s most likely not the right time in your life to be discerning this
call.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">6. Cultivate
a spirit of openness</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Hopefully it
goes without saying that consecrated virgins are called to be mature adult
women who can take pro-active responsibility for their own lives, think
critically about nuanced questions, and who can make sensible decisions with
confidence. Yet at the same time, it’s good to remember that a consecrated
virgin is also called to a spirit of docility and openness, in the sense of
truly wanting to know God’s will and do it, even if God’s will is something surprising,
unexpected, or something which goes against her personal preferences or is
outside of her comfort zone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">This call to a
spirit of openness applies doubly (if not triply, or four times as much) to
women still just discerning this vocation. It’s important to be open to the
idea that the <i>Ordo virginum</i> may be where God is calling you…but
conversely, in your initial discernment it’s also important to be open to the
idea that God just as well might not be calling you to consecrated virginity
after all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">And if you and
your bishop do discern that you’re called to consecrated virginity, then you’ll
also need to have a spirit of openness towards formation. Even if you’ve been
doing your best to “live the life of a consecrated virgin,” at the end of the
day you really can’t life the live of a consecrated virgin fully unless and
until you actually are consecrated. Knowing your need for formation is a strong
sign of a genuine vocation, whereas feeling convinced you have it all completely
figured out is a red flag in my mind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">And don’t
forget, even after consecration on-going formation is a life-long project! The
consecrated virgins in my own life whom I most respect and admire also happen
to be the ones most interested in continuing to study and delve deeper into the
Church’s teachings on what it means to be a consecrated bride of Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">7. Pray,
pray, pray…and then pray some more</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Praying to know
God’s will for your life is such standard advice I almost forgot to list it
here! But it’s standard advice for a reason. You can’t learn to listen for
God’s voice if you don’t have a real listening relationship with Him, which is
what prayer essentially is. And since the heart of a consecrated virgin’s
vocation is a spousal relationship with Christ, the “relational” aspect of
prayer is absolutely essential. You can’t have a relationship with a theory or
idea, but only with a person, and a vibrant prayer life is the only way to
establish this kind of person-to-person relationship with Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Beyond this, I
think it would be helpful for a discerner to try adopting some of the specific
elements of the prayer life of a consecrated virgin, especially daily Mass
whenever possible, dedicated time for silent prayer, and the Liturgy of the
Hours.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">But once again,
keep in mind that at the end of the day, you can only truly have “the prayer
life of a consecrated virgin” once you are a consecrated virgin. Actually being
consecrated really does entail a significant shift in your interior spiritual
life. And also, if this is your call, ideally you should have years to ease
yourself into the amount of daily prayer time expected of a consecrated virgin.
So, be sure to set realistic goals for your prayer life as a discerner and
don’t let yourself get discouraged if it seems like a lot at first. Just take
the first step.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-560275132211473742021-10-06T02:06:00.000-04:002021-10-06T02:09:03.387-04:00Quick Question: Can an Eastern Catholic woman become a consecrated virgin?<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjMxSodyzaichkvA-ukjSl9EI0U64ZaKLbrfOktvrG7k0AsWeUxz25tuMsy572msp89JJyqZNMg2T7euBBeyR-wv2ddeJ9gNQfxMwiT1ekhCtywMp9PQgdcVtN7aB8jn7ooPKYaEeuL4/s1440/Simi+consecration+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjMxSodyzaichkvA-ukjSl9EI0U64ZaKLbrfOktvrG7k0AsWeUxz25tuMsy572msp89JJyqZNMg2T7euBBeyR-wv2ddeJ9gNQfxMwiT1ekhCtywMp9PQgdcVtN7aB8jn7ooPKYaEeuL4/w320-h320/Simi+consecration+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Simi Sahu, the first Syro-Malabar consecrated virgin <br />in the United States</span></td></tr></tbody></table></b></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Short answer:</b> Yes.</span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Longer answer:</b> Yes, but it’s a little complicated.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Eastern Catholics* have a slightly different system of
canon law than Latin (a.k.a. “Roman”) Catholics.** A rough counterpart to our
Latin 1983 <i><a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/cic_index_en.html" target="_blank">Code of Canon Law</a></i> (<i>CIC</i>) is their 1990 <i><a href="https://canonlaw.ninja/?v=cceo" target="_blank">Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches</a></i>. (<i>CCEO</i>)</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, the <i>CCEO</i> is different from the<i> CIC</i>
in one very significant way: while the Latin <i>Code of Canon Law</i> governs
Latin Catholics in a single flat “layer,” the <i>Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches</i> is written in such a way so as to account for the fact that each individual
Eastern Church—or what we would technically call Churches “<i>sui iuris</i>”—also
has its own proper law specific to that particular Church. The <i>CCEO</i> sets
some basic universal norms for all Eastern Churches, but in numerous places it
defers to a <i>sui iuris</i> Church’s proper law.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And as some readers may already know, <a href="https://canonlaw.ninja/?nums=570&v=cceo" target="_blank">canon 570</a> in the <i>Code
of Canons of the Eastern Churches </i>explicitly mentions consecrated virgins, along
with hermits and consecrated widows. As this canon states:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Particular law can establish other kinds of ascetics who
imitate eremitical life, belonging or not to an institute of consecrated
life. Consecrated virgins and widows who live on their own in the
world, having publicly professed chastity, can also come under norms of
particular law.”</span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But as we can see here, this is one instance where the actual
details are matter of an individual Church’s proper (i.e. “particular”) law. So
in contrast with <i>CIC</i> can. 604, which formally recognizes the <i>Ordo virginum</i>
as an established form of consecrated life in the Latin Church throughout the world,
<i>CCEO</i> can. 570 merely allows for the possibility of individual <i>sui
iuris</i> Churches deciding to have the vocation of consecrated virginity
within their own ecclesial community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So the permission to have consecrated virgins in <i>CCEO</i>
can. 570 also comes with the implied caveat that an Eastern <i>sui iuris</i>
Church could legitimately decide <b>not</b> to have consecrated virgins, or that
an Eastern Church could decline to establish the <i>Ordo virginum</i> within
their tradition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And if a <i>sui iuris</i> Eastern Church did decide to
have consecrated virgins, there is another issue to be addressed: i.e., how
exactly are these women to be consecrated? For Latin Catholics, the <i><a href="chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://diolc.org/files/consecratedlife/Complete%20Rite.pdf" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i>, in both its modern and historic forms,
is part of our own specific and venerable liturgical tradition. That is, the
Rite of Consecration that we know and love today is not simply a generic
ritual, but has a distinctively “Latin” and “Roman” character. As the 1970 <a href="chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes-Decree.pdf" target="_blank">decree</a> promulgating the <i>Rite of Consecration</i> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">states: “The rite for the consecration of virgins
belongs to the treasures of Roman liturgy.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because of this, in my opinion it would not be appropriate
for an Eastern Church to simply “borrow” the Latin <i>Rite of Consecration to a
Life of Virginity</i> when consecrating virgins in their own Eastern ecclesial
context. (To do so would be akin to, for example, a Latin priest deciding to
celebrate the Byzantine Holy Week liturgies in his Latin parish in lieu of the
Latin Triduum services and the Easter Vigil.) In order for an Eastern Church to
consecrate a virgin within their own community, the competent authorities would
need to either: identify a historic <i>Rite of Consecration</i> that developed
as part of their own proper liturgical tradition; or develop a new but
characteristically Eastern liturgy for the consecration of virgins “from
scratch”; or else somehow combine these two approaches—such as, perhaps,
adapting something like an ancient liturgy for the institution of early
deaconesses and/or ancient forms of female monastic profession.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In all honesty, I am unfortunately not personally
familiar enough with the wide world of Eastern Catholicism to know all the
details of which <i>sui iuris</i> Churches are making what provisions to
establish their own Order of virgins. But certainly, the establishment of the <i>Ordo
virginum</i> in individual Eastern Catholic Churches is a fascinating topic!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, in the meantime, what should an Eastern woman do
if she feels called to consecrated virginity? The obvious first step would be
to reach out to her own Eastern bishop to ask about the possibility of
consecration within her own Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But if her own Eastern Church does not have provisions
for consecrated virginity, one other option—especially in places like the
United States, which is predominantly Latin but still has a sizable Eastern
representation—would be for the woman to contact her local Latin diocese. If
both the woman’s Eastern bishop and the relevant Latin bishop agree, she could
be consecrated to a life of virginity by the local Latin bishop, for the local
Latin diocese, according to the Latin <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of
Virginity</i>. This would be parallel (cf. <i>CIC</i> can. 17) to scenarios
where an Eastern Catholic man is ordained a priest by a Latin bishop and incardinated
into a Latin diocese.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, this option is not a “quick fix.” A Eastern
woman consecrated in a Latin diocese would need to come to a place in her
interior life where she felt she could truly belong to that diocese in a deep
spiritual sense. And it could be spiritually, emotionally, and pastorally
complicated for some women to essentially have two spiritual homes at the same time—that is, a
home within her proper Eastern Church by virtue of her baptism; and a home
within a Latin diocese by virtue of her consecration as a virgin. In a case like this, an especially sensitive and careful discernment
would be needed on the part of everyone involved.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Notes:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">* For those unfamiliar with the term, Eastern Catholics
are Catholics who, while being fully in union with the Pope, worship according
to a different liturgical tradition than the “Roman” or Latin Catholics who
comprise the majority of the Catholic Church. Often, Eastern Catholicism is
connected to a particular geographical area and culture—as just a few examples,
Byzantine Catholics are generally of Slavic descent, the Syro-Malabar Church originates
in India, an Maronite Church is predominantly Lebanese. Eastern Catholics have
their own bishops and are organized into their own dioceses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">** Many people refer to “mainstream” Catholics as “Roman
Catholics,” as this largest of <i>sui iuris</i> Churches was founded by St.
Peter in Rome, with our liturgical and canon law traditions being broadly influenced
by ancient Roman culture. However, often today the preferred term is “Latin
Catholic,” as “Roman Catholic” might be seen as downplaying the unity of the
Eastern Churches with the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome. </span><o:p></o:p></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-4497914686610528692021-08-22T19:44:00.004-04:002021-10-24T00:42:24.638-04:00Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago and Formation, part I: Basic Principles<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuAkf8AbjlC5B6HDZN_xiJ86GvUJuq0R_FM-vnHATBqy_Z0f-WL_0tK8Rb_rU2Buqfb3tk0gGsTW8cQJEKjl4Noxro7TdEDajXtUaO4mziUcmsstLhOoUL6WQmH8SJqprlqX4if0wYsY/s1287/sts.-ambrose_and_marcellina-1024x1287.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuAkf8AbjlC5B6HDZN_xiJ86GvUJuq0R_FM-vnHATBqy_Z0f-WL_0tK8Rb_rU2Buqfb3tk0gGsTW8cQJEKjl4Noxro7TdEDajXtUaO4mziUcmsstLhOoUL6WQmH8SJqprlqX4if0wYsY/w319-h400/sts.-ambrose_and_marcellina-1024x1287.jpg" title="The consecrated virgin St. Marcellina with her brother, St. Ambrose. St. Marcellina was encouraged by her brother to help guide younger consecrated virgins in the fourth century." width="319" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Image:
The consecrated virgin St. Marcellina with her brother, St. Ambrose. St.
Marcellina was encouraged by her brother to help guide younger consecrated
virgins in the fourth century. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>One
of the most noteworthy aspects of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/07/04/180704d.html" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a> </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">(ESI), the
2018 Instruction on the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ordo virginum</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, is its outline of the initial
formation process for consecrated virgins in paragraphs 74 – 107, along with
other references to formation scattered throughout the rest of the text. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is an important development, because prior to this none of the Church’s
canonical documents on consecrated virginity so much as mentioned the need for
formation. So in a very strict technical sense, before ESI it was theoretically
possible to argue that the Church didn’t envision any formation at all as being
required for would-be consecrated virgins. (Not that I personally would have tried
to make this argument, of course!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prior
to ESI, one would have hoped that reference to parallel situations in canon law
(cf. <i>CIC</i> can. 17), ordinary pastoral solicitude, and plain common sense
would have indicated the need for some sort of formation for aspiring
consecrated virgins. But it is still helpful to have the Church’s vision of
formation substantially clarified in ESI—especially since, before this
Instruction, educated and well-meaning people could have come to different
conclusions on certain points.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
will write a follow-up post on the steps in the process of formation as
described in ESI, but I think it’s important to start out by discussing some of
the more general questions and principles of formation that ESI articulates. And
so what follows are my own thoughts and personal insights, written primarily from
my perspective as a canon lawyer, but also from the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">viewpoint</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> of my
vocation as a consecrated virgin.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">1.
ESI clarifies the nature of this vocation</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In my opinion, the most important
contribution ESI makes to our understanding of appropriate formation for
consecrated virgins is its clarification of the fundamental nature of the <i>Ordo
virginum</i> as, among other things: a visibly public form of consecrated life
(cf. ESI 38 and 67) which is inspired by the Evangelical counsels (ESI 27);
characteristically rooted in the local diocesan Church (ESI 42); having an
essential contemplative dimension (ESI 29) while also being ordered towards
apostolate, ministry, and concrete service of the Church (ESI 39); and which is
meant as a radical gift of a woman’s whole life (cf. ESI 74).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although
these issues might seem only indirectly related to formation <i>per se</i>, in
reality these kinds of clarifications are foundational to any formation
program. Without wanting to put too fine a point on it, you can’t form someone
for something unless you understand specifically what you are forming them <i><u>for</u></i>.
Formation for a life of dedicated service as a public representative of the
Church in consecrated life will naturally have to be very different, and
perhaps much more involved, than the formation required for making something
like a simple private commitment to evangelical chastity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">2.
ESI envisions formation as a personal work</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">ESI further clarifies how the Church
envisions formation for the <i>Ordo virginum</i> as an integral and “hands-on”
project. That is, a project which certainly involves the aspiring consecrated
virgin taking in new information in an intellectual way, but one which can
hardly stop there. Any kind of serious formation requires real dialogue,
practical discernment, pastoral engagement, and the forming of relationships.
Or to put it more straightforwardly, while things like reading lists and
information packets can be very helpful as supplemental resources (and are
certainly much better than nothing!), the Church via ESI does not see women as
being adequately formed for consecrated virginity by simply reading books,
articles, or other texts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
principle is evident throughout ESI’s section on formation. For instance, ESI
92 requires “the Bishop, the Delegate [for consecrated virgins] and the
consecrated women who participate in the service of formation” to become acquainted
with aspirants and candidates for consecrated virginity in a direct way as individual
people, so as to more fully understand their strengths, weaknesses, and overall
aptitude for this vocation. As ESI 98 goes on to tell us: “The obligation of
the Bishop, the Delegate, and the consecrated women who collaborate in the
service of formation will therefore consist in ensuring that the candidate
receives a systematic introduction to the charism and to the features of this
form of life, in accompanying her while she intensifies and deepens her
spiritual life, and in observing how she harmonizes and arranges her lifestyle
in docility to the action of the Spirit.” In a similar vein, ESI 94 speaks of
an aspiring consecrated virgin having regular meetings and communication with
the above-mentioned formation team. And even earlier on in the Instruction, we
are told that: “Consecrated women take an active part in formation initiatives,
in agreement with the Bishop. They collaborate as far as possible in the
formation of aspirants and candidates for consecration.” (ESI 45)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
importance of accompaniment is a theme that runs throughout this Instruction,
even in sections that do not discuss formation specifically. In my view, this serves
as a salutary reminder to us that, although consecrated virginity is an induvial
vocation (in the sense that this vocation is not dependent on membership in an
organized institute), as Pope Francis notes, ultimately “nobody is saved alone”*
and thus nobody can truly be formed in consecrated life alone. Consecrated
virginity is integrally woven into the fabric of the broader Church, which is a
interdependent community and a spiritual family.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">3.
ESI dictates a comprehensive approach</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another striking feature of ESI’s discussion on
formation is how formation is envisioned as a process for fostering the
development of the whole person. While ESI undoubtedly conveys the necessity of
spiritual formation, it does not present formation in the <i>Ordo virginum</i>
as being simply a matter of adopting a new spirituality or more intense prayer
life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
example, ESI 87 refers to the importance of human formation, noting that
formators should be attentive to an aspirant’s or candidate’s “realistic
self-knowledge,” her “capacity to establish healthy, serene and generous
relationships with [both] men and women,” her professional development, and her
responsible use of “goods, of social media and of her free time.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">ESI
also indicates that intellectual formation is a requirement for aspiring
consecrated virgins. This is particularly clear in ESI 102, which states: “When
her practical circumstances and her personal abilities allow, the candidate
will be encouraged to attend courses of study at theological colleges,
institutes of religious science or similar institutions. In no case should an
adequate theological preparation in the areas of biblical studies, liturgy,
spirituality, ecclesiology, and moral theology be omitted.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
shows us that a call to consecrated virginity is not meant merely as a private interior
change, but is intended as a vocation which encompasses a woman’s entire life
and all the dimensions of her personality.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">4.
ESI provides a formation timetable</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prior to ESI, there was no universal consensus
regarding exactly how long discernment and initial formation for consecrated
virginity should last, or how this time period should proceed. I personally
have heard of cases where, on the one hand, a woman first expressing her
interest in the <i>Ordo virginum</i> was consecrated a mere few months later;
and on the other, where a woman remained in a vague and unstructured “discernment”
period that lasted for the better part of ten years. I am of the opinion that neither
of these situations were just or fair to the women involved. Yet as much as I
hate to admit it, prior to 2018 both of these scenarios were technically permissible
since before the Instruction was published the length and manner of formation fell
into what was a near total <i><a href="https://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2018/01/understanding-canon-law-introduction.html" target="_blank">lacuna</a></i>, or an almost complete gap in the law.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
now, thankfully, the Church has given us a canonical framework for how
formation for consecrated virginity should proceed. In a nutshell, it is now a
requirement that potential consecrated virgins have a “preparatory period,”
which I think in English we could also call an “aspirancy,” which should last from
one to two years. (ESI 92). This is to be followed by what ESI calls the
“formation program,” but which as an English speaker I would call a “candidacy,”
lasting two or three years. (ESI 97)**</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even
though ESI speaks of the need to personalize formation to the individual, (ESI 77)
it is still important to observe the timeline of formation which the Church
presents to us in ESI. This is a matter of both prudence and justice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
a matter of prudence, because among other concerns, a too-short formation
period could lead to women being consecrated before they’re truly ready. Or
conversely, a formation period that is too long could undermine the need for a
candidate to make a confident decision with respect to her vocation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Adherence
to a defined formation timeframe is also a matter of justice, because a lack of
clarity on when a candidate’s consecration may occur is, essentially, a lack of
clarity whether her consecration is even likely to happen at all. This denies
the candidate her right to discern seriously and make firm decisions about the
overall the course of her life. For instance, loosely-organized “formation”
that drags on for many years without a clear goal or direction, and which might
eventually end with the bishop deciding against consecration, deprives the
woman of the time she might have used more fruitfully in discerning other forms
of consecrate life, or even marriage and family life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">5.
ESI addresses the question of age</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I mentioned in <a href="https://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-first-look-at-ecclesiae-sponsae-imago.html" target="_blank">an earlier post</a>, ESI’s
clarification on the appropriate age for discerning a vocation to consecrated
virginity is significant, because it affects our understanding of the essential
nature of this vocation. That is, is this a call that a young woman can embrace
and then build her life around, or is a vocation meant for only for older women
who have a proven history and established lifestyle?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prior
to ESI, the only time a Church document mentioned the age with respect to the <i>Ordo
virginum</i> was in the praenotanda of the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of
Virginity</i>, which includes the stated requirement that candidates: “by their
age, prudence, and universally approved character…give assurance of
perseverance in a life of chastity dedicated to the service of the Church and
of their neighbor.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
this is</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> general enough to admit several different interpretations.
For instance, it could be read as something along the lines of: “Don’t
consecrate a teenager!” Yet others had interpreted this to mean that
consecrated virginity was meant as a sort of “second half of life” vocation,
for women who were at least thirty-five years old, or even much older.***</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
ESI 82 helpfully clarifies that consecrated virginity is indeed a vocation that
young women are invited to discern. It states that the “hard” lower age limit
for entering formation is eighteen; with a “soft” or merely customary lower age
limit for actually receiving consecration being twenty-five years of age. Or as
ESI itself puts it: “In no case can the preparatory period begin before the age
of eighteen years,” and “Ordinarily consecration is not celebrated before the
candidate has reached her twenty-fifth birthday.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
same paragraph also states that “for admission to consecration the usual age
for marriage in the region must be taken into account.” Interestingly, this
line includes a footnote drawing a parallel with <a href="https://canonlaw.ninja/?nums=1072" target="_blank">canon 1072</a> in the <i>Code of
Canon Law</i>, in which pastors are directed to dissuade youths from marrying
before the age which is accepted as normal in their own cultural context.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
my reading of ESI 82, I understand these passages as indicating that while
nobody under the age of majority can embark on a formal path of formation for
the <i>Ordo virginum</i>, it may still be possible in some cases for a woman under
the age of twenty-five to receive the consecration of virgins. For example, if
an exceptionally mature eighteen-year-old woman begins a five-year formation
program and completes it fruitfully, her bishop may legitimately decide to
consecrated her at the age of twenty-three, as opposed to asking her to wait an
additional two years in a formational limbo not described or envisioned by ESI.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">ESI
also does not specify an upper age limit. From a technical canonical
perspective this is not surprising, since religious life and other forms of
consecrated life also don’t have a universally prescribed upper age limit for
new vocations. But, just as individual religious communities can set their own
upper age limits, I personally think it may be helpful for individual dioceses
to consider adopting an upper age limit for discerning consecrated virginity in
their own policies or proper diocesan law (even if it’s well understood that
exceptions to a stated age limit could be possible on a case-by-case basis). Among
other things, a stated upper age limit for consecration in the <i>Ordo virginum</i>
helps communicate the idea that consecrated virginity truly is meant as a
radical offering of one’s whole life, that it should be a woman’s “first
choice” vocation, and that it presupposes an openness to formation and a
willingness to take on significant new commitments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">6</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">.
ESI emphasizes respect for the internal forum</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally, ESI makes explicit what could
have always been inferred about formation for consecrated virginity: namely,
that the distinction between the internal and external forum must always be
respected.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
give some background, when the Church speaks of the internal versus external forum,
this indicates the distinction between a person’s private interior life and
their outward observable actions and behavior. As a illustration, a person’s attendance
at a particular Mass is a matter of the external forum, as this can be easily
noted by anyone else who happened to be present; but on the other hand, his or
her interior attentiveness and spiritual experience while at that Mass are
matters of the internal forum.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Church’s law has always sought to maintain a strict boundary between the
external and internal forum in order to protect the privacy and freedom of conscience
of all the faithful, and to properly reverence the sacred relationship between
God and an individual soul. This general principle finds its most obvious
expression in the absolute inviolability of the seal of Confession. But it is
also evident in ecclesial laws strongly discouraging, for example, clerical
religious superiors from hearing the sacramental confessions of their subjects,
(cf. <i>CIC</i> can. 630) or in the prohibition on rectors of seminaries serving
as spiritual director to the students under their care. (cf. <i>CIC</i> can.
240 </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">§</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">2) The general idea in
these latter examples is that an authority figure in the Church, who is
empowered to make serious decisions about one’s future (such as whether or not
someone will be ordained or determining where someone will be assigned), should
not be influenced in their decision by the purely personal spiritual matters of
their subjects, which are legitimately private.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
in some of my above-mentioned points, I think a working knowledge of the Church’s
practices regarding the protection of the internal forum in parallel situations
could easily have led one to conclude that aspiring consecrated virgins should
likewise enjoy reasonable boundaries between the internal and external forum. So
in that sense, this aspect of ESI is one of its least novel concepts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nevertheless,
ESI </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">references</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the need to respect the internal forum in several places. For </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">example</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, ESI 53 states: “Regarding pastoral collaboration in the external
forum, those entrusted with these responsibilities [i.e., responsibilities
related to the formation of aspiring consecrated virgins] will not establish a
spiritual accompaniment relationship with aspirants, candidates, or consecrated
women. They know that their personal dialogue with each one is to be used
specifically for listening, challenge, and review of progress.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Similarly,
under the heading of “The practice of spiritual accompaniment,”**** ESI 79
tells us: “To ensure the [aspiring consecrated virgin’s] freedom in the area of
manifestation of conscience, the Delegate for the pastoral care of the <i>Ordo
virginum</i> and the consecrated women who participate in the service of
formation offer this service in the external forum. They do not establish
relationships of spiritual accompaniment with the aspirants, candidates or
consecrated women. They abstain from asking for information or advice about the aspirants, candidates or consecrated women from their directors, spiritual
accompaniers, and confessors.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
important concrete consequence of this newly-articulated principle is that
there now must be some sort of formation director—either in-house from among
the diocesan staff, or another qualified person brought in from the “outside”
whom the diocese commissions for this task—for aspiring consecrated virgins and
candidates. That is, while spiritual directors have an important role, the
entirety of formation cannot be delegated to a woman’s spiritual director. If
this were to happen, this would lead to one of two unacceptable options: either
1. The spiritual director would have to violate confidentiality, leading to a
conflict of <i>fora</i>; or 2. The diocesan bishop would be completely in the
dark about the candidate’s progress in formation or suitability for consecration.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
practical pastoral note…</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Looking
at all this, it might be tempting for discerners and aspiring consecrated
virgins to compare, with a critical eye, how their diocese’s formation program
measures up to everything described in <i>Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</i>. And
conversely, bishops and diocesan staff responsible for the <i>Ordo virginum</i>
might feel dauted by the scope of the task at hand!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
so it might make sense to close by reminding all of my readers that,
especially with such a “new” vocation, at the end of the day we all have to do
the best we can with what we have. Certainly, some elements of ESI (e.g., respecting
the privacy of the internal forum) can and should be implemented immediately.
But other aspects (such as the development of a theological curriculum or
robust program of human formation) are necessarily going to take some time. And
this time of “growing pains” is going to be a reality no matter how many people
devote their best efforts to this worthy project, and regardless of the
resources devoted to it. In fact, I have often mused that it will probably take
an entire “generation” of consecrated virgins to develop, from our collective
studies and lived experience, all the details of truly effective practical
formation programs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the meantime, we all keep doing what we can to serve the women who, in God’s
providential plan, come to us. Every step we take can be a step forward, and we
trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in the beautiful work of nurturing new
vocations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Notes:</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">* cf. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Fratelli
tutti</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">, 32</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">** I think we
can use the terms “aspirancy” and “candidacy” to refer to periods of formation,
because ESI refers to women in the “preparatory period” as “aspirants,” and to
those in the “formation program” as candidates.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">*** On a more
whimsical personal note, when I was discerning my own vocation in the 2000s, for
whatever reason thirty-five was often cited (or rather, mis-cited) as the lower
age limit for consecrated virginity. Obviously, in my case it was clarified that
thirty-five was simply a suggested lower age recommended by some bishops. But on
my actual thirty-fifth birthday—by which point I had already been consecrated
for eleven years!—I remember thinking: Huh, I’m finally “old enough” to be a
consecrated virgin now!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">**** ESI frequently
speaks of “spiritual accompaniment.” I understand this as being more or less
the same thing as what I would normally call “spiritual direction.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-20458783996427933412021-06-20T18:35:00.002-04:002021-06-20T23:08:10.564-04:00Quick Question – Are consecrated virgins “laywomen”?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKQj9ReNxM2-oUdkGfpC26Qd-MPn-jAhUCmncbztC95oNLjn3yTtBqKgPI6fJDCudmkC3ALhL2DfvGKu5GAOIZrnlJ-ilGSUESDI0HR9IidE7LAW2Uw2eKvJCRe5TozYqYCcCLjkH9mA/s259/St.+Agnes+2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="175" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKQj9ReNxM2-oUdkGfpC26Qd-MPn-jAhUCmncbztC95oNLjn3yTtBqKgPI6fJDCudmkC3ALhL2DfvGKu5GAOIZrnlJ-ilGSUESDI0HR9IidE7LAW2Uw2eKvJCRe5TozYqYCcCLjkH9mA/w270-h400/St.+Agnes+2.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Short answer:</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> No.</span><p></p><p><b style="font-family: georgia;">Longer answer:</b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> It depends on what exactly you mean
by “lay.”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In various Church documents, the words “lay” and “laity” are
used to mean slightly different things in different contexts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In one sense of the term, “laity” can refer to anyone who
isn’t clergy, i.e. those who have not received the sacrament of Holy Orders as
a bishop, priest, or deacon.* In this sense, even a strictly cloistered nun
with solemn vows would be considered “lay,” because she hasn’t been ordained.
(And also in this sense, the phrase “laywoman” would be redundant, since women
cannot receive Holy Orders and thus are always categorically “lay.”)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This use of the word “laity” is often seen in questions
related to the governance of the Church and the administration of the
sacraments. For instance, a “lay judge” in a marriage tribunal is simply a non-ordained
canon lawyer appointed to the office of Judge, whether that person be a religious
Sister, a married father of three, a single unmarried woman, etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The other sense of the term “lay” refers to those members
of the faithful** who are not ordained and also are not in any public state of
consecrated life recognized by the Church.*** In a lot of ways, this is the
more robust and more popularly used sense of the word. We see the Church referring
to the laity in this strong sense in documents specifically describing the role
of the lay faithful, such as <i>Christifideles laici</i>. We also see this sense
of the term “lay” in the way that the government of the universal Church is
organized. I.e., the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life serves
and oversees issues related to the laity who are not in consecrated life;
whereas issues pertaining to non-ordained religious are handled by the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because consecrated virginity is a public state of
consecrated life, consecrated virgins are not laypeople in this latter, stronger
sense of the term. Members of the <i>Ordo virginum</i> are in the very same
general category as nuns and religious Sisters, meaning that consecrated virgins
are only “lay” insofar as they are not ordained.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, consecrated virgins (at least those “living in
the world”) are considered “secular,” another word which can have shifting
nuances in meaning depending on the context. My own interpretation of the word “secular”
when applied to the vocation of consecrated virginity is as essentially a synonym
for “living in the world.” That is, it simply distinguishes us from those
cloistered nuns who may also receive the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>,
and indicates that we are not “religious” in the strict sense of being
professed members of a religious institute. In this way, consecrated virgins
are “secular” in the same way that diocesan priests are called “secular clergy.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, being secular in even this somewhat restricted
sense of the term still has some practical and spiritual consequences. Consecrated
virgins, like secular priests, can own and mange their own property, for example.
Also, all religious communities require some level of “cloister,” or obligation
of presence within one’s own religious house. By not having this obligation,
consecrated virgins and secular clergy can in some ways be more immediately present
to the faithful at large. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nevertheless, I don’t think that this specific usage of
the word “secular” means that the Church envisions consecrated virgins (or
secular priests) as having lifestyles that are indistinguishable from the
majority of the secular lay faithful. Even while members of the <i>Ordo
virginum</i> are not “religious” technically speaking, and even if our Evangelical
life won’t look exactly the same as those who live in convents and monasteries,
consecrated virgins are still called to live the Evangelical Counsels in a radical
way. (cf. the 2018 Instruction <i><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/07/04/180704d.html" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a></i>, 27)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>notes:</i></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">* See the <i>Code of Canon Law</i>, canon 207, §1: “By
divine institution, there are among the Christian faithful in the Church sacred
ministers who in law are also called clerics; the other members of the
Christian faithful are called lay persons.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">** Incidentally, the word “faithful” refers to all
Catholics—and in some contexts, to all baptized Christians, whether Catholic or
non-Catholic—regardless of their state in life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">*** For instance, see the Vatican II document <i>Lumen gentium</i>
in its section of the laity, especially LG 31: “The term laity is here
understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in
the state of religious life specially approved by the Church. […]” Note that
before the new <i>Code of Canon Law</i> was published in 1983, the word “religious”
was often used in Church documents in an inclusive way referring to all recognized
forms of consecrated life, not just membership in a religious institute.</span><o:p></o:p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-30741677432587456422021-05-09T17:14:00.039-04:002021-05-09T17:24:23.076-04:00Pope Francis on Spiritual Motherhood<p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRPrPOjp1H_rWZBZH81_Qgblgf_534iPRc7zvMUpRYC7ybcm1rbgijT_lHztzPnyLAndZZjaZBeZhePgtHXTjGMDFe3Yuh76gfxlTR4Cp-95_FKXdYz2_d16qq55liN4sIkEF0qPjsQI/s960/Mother+of+the+Church+1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRPrPOjp1H_rWZBZH81_Qgblgf_534iPRc7zvMUpRYC7ybcm1rbgijT_lHztzPnyLAndZZjaZBeZhePgtHXTjGMDFe3Yuh76gfxlTR4Cp-95_FKXdYz2_d16qq55liN4sIkEF0qPjsQI/w400-h300/Mother+of+the+Church+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icon of Mary, Mother of the Church, overlooking St. Peter's square</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">“The consecrated woman is a mother, she must be a mother,
not a ‘spinster!’ Excuse me for speaking like this, but motherhood in the
consecrated life is important, this fruitfulness! May this joy of spiritual
fecundity motivate your life; be mothers, as a figure of Mary, Mother, and of
Mother Church. It is impossible to understand Mary without her motherhood; it
is impossible to understand the Church apart from her motherhood and you are
icons of Mary and the Church.”</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> – Pope Francis’ address to religious superiors,
May 8, 2013. </span> (<span style="font-family: georgia;">Full text <a href="http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/may/documents/papa-francesco_20130508_uisg.html" target="_blank">here</a></span>.)</p></blockquote><br /><p></p>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-10363326602815063212020-05-25T21:56:00.003-04:002021-05-09T17:06:11.145-04:00Letter to a Newly Consecrated Virgin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOhB4QV_Sd5OCkIu8_ZRw6M6wvx0A6CsOivzgKTwzhgaa_BHF2Wmtu5s591ux4_SpNmfx5eBSbR4K0ZvaIBUH8mFpUyRzm2XT4m5mIzsD3-q9Y2bFCHGWQx8uNsR_hHRsx8GdxCuueSA/s1600/1_21_St+Agnes+_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOhB4QV_Sd5OCkIu8_ZRw6M6wvx0A6CsOivzgKTwzhgaa_BHF2Wmtu5s591ux4_SpNmfx5eBSbR4K0ZvaIBUH8mFpUyRzm2XT4m5mIzsD3-q9Y2bFCHGWQx8uNsR_hHRsx8GdxCuueSA/s400/1_21_St+Agnes+_3.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dear
sister in Christ, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Maybe
we know each other in real life, or maybe we’ve only “met” over the internet,
or maybe you’ve just stumbled upon this blog. We may have corresponded over
many years, or we may have just exchanged one or two emails, or perhaps you
don’t know me at all. Whatever the case may be, if you are a newly-consecrated
virgin, I first of all send my warm and heartfelt congratulations. I hope your
consecrated life brings you many years of joy and happiness, crowned with an
eternal reward! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
know it’s usually presumptuous to offer unasked-for advice, but I remember when
I was in your shoes—that is, newly consecrated and happy about it, but still trying
to “find my feet” in a new vocation—and I think it would have helped me to have
had some more honest insights about the lived reality of life as a consecrated
virgin. My own thoughts at this point may or may not resonate with you, but
after living more than a decade of consecrated life myself, hopefully I’ll still
have something helpful to share. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
so here are some of the things I wish an “older sister” would have said to me
all those years ago:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1.
This is just the beginning of a new life.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
consecration may have in some ways felt like a culmination, or like a conclusion
of some sort, but it wasn’t; it was only the very beginning of a new life. This
might be a bit more readily obvious to those of us who were consecrated in our
twenties or thirties (though even for us younger ones, there still might have
been a sense of “finally, I’m done discerning my vocation!”). But I think this
is true for newly-consecrated virgins of all ages. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Consecrated
virginity is unique among forms of consecrated life in that presumes that we
have already been living an exceptionally chaste life for a number of years. Or
really, it presumes that our entire lives have been virtuous in this way. Yet our
consecration isn’t meant as a reward-like recognition or acknowledgment of
this. Rather, as the <i>Rite of Consecration</i> tells us, it’s a call to continue
living this life of virtue “with a new grace and [consecrated] to God by a new
title.” In our consecration, the natural virtue of chastity, which even the
classical pagans valued, takes on a new supernatural dimension as an
eschatological sign of Christ’s love for the Church. And in addition to the
universal call to holiness we received at baptism, in our consecration we are
embracing a new, special, and privileged call to be a bride of Christ in a
radical and more literal way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course your consecration day itself will always be important in your memory. But
I think you’ll find that if you live your vocation well, over the years the
emotional and spiritual weight of the day will start to feel very secondary to
the many years of fidelity you will have offered the Lord. In fact, I think
there may be even greater joy in perseverance. Each passing year of your
consecrated life becomes a self-gift you offer to your divine Spouse, a gift
which is just as precious as that first self-offering you made on your
consecration day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">2.
Your life is different now.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even
if prior to consecration you were sincerely striving to “live the life of a
consecrated virgin,” and even if your exterior life looks the same, the fact of
the matter is that your life is different now. And so are you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
isn’t talked about as much as it probably should be, and my impression is that
many newly-consecrated virgins often feel a bit unsettled post-consecration without
really knowing why. But I think this is due to the “growing pains” involve in
adjusting to a new identity. It takes time to adjust to a new identity, but I
believe that in most cases this struggle is normal and healthy. I actually
think I would be more worried about a new consecrated virgin who <i><u>didn’t</u></i>
struggle at all with this, because it would make me wonder if she was fully
processing what had happened to her spiritually or if she was fully grasping the
weight of what she had committed to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
an interior level, among other things, you may find yourself being drawn to a
greater spirit of simplicity or evangelical poverty—that is, a more profound detachment
from worldly things. This is really a great grace!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t
resist this grace, even if it might conflict with your idea of what life as a
consecrated virgin is supposed to be like. Maybe let go of some ideas, such as
the thought that you’ll be something like “a normal woman living in the world
like anybody else.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Naturally</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">, you
probably will blend in a little better than a nun or fully habited Sister would,
and the hope is that people will see you as approachable. But the consecration
will make you different from laywomen, as well making you a bit weird from a
worldly perspective. But let your “weirdness” unfold naturally according to the
inspirations and providential circumstances the Lord sends you, so that this
weirdness can serve His purposes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
will also be some practical adjustments involved in assuming your new vocation,
which may seem subtle from an outside point of view, but which will still
require some careful discernment on your part. You are a public representative
of the Church now, and we can rightly say you are now an icon of the Church, or
an “image of the Church as Bride” (i.e., an “<i>Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</i>”).
To a significant extent, everything you now do should be an expression of what
the Church would do. E.g., when you are kind and fair, even in the small
interactions of daily life, this is a reflection of the Church as loving and
just. Our sins are of course our own and nobody else’s, but the other side of
this coin is that our lack of kindness, patience, courage, or any other virtue
has the potential to reflect badly on the Church in the eyes of others. And in
general, when you have entered a public state of consecrated life, the faithful
will expect more of you…as they are indeed fully entitled to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
of this, it may be necessary to re-evaluate certain aspects of your life. For
example, you may find you need to be more reserved in some ways, or more
selective about whom you let into your circle of close personal friends. There
might be some social invitations that, while not sinful, you will need to
gracefully turn down. Or on the other hand, you might also find you need to be
more friendly or even “pastoral” to people you otherwise wouldn’t have talked
to! You may even discern it’s necessary to start dressing or introducing
yourself differently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
can be a bit daunting at first, but be patient with yourself as you do this
hard work of discernment. (And obviously keep in conversation with your bishop,
spiritual director, and trusted mentors as you do this!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">3.
Know that you’re still being formed. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">At
this point in history, it can more or less be taken for granted that a
newly-consecrated virgin today (at least in the United States) will not have
had a perfect formation experience. This makes sense when you consider how relatively
recently the </span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ordo virginum</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> was revived as its own distinct state in life.
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Even in a best-case scenario, with an
attentive bishop motivated to provide a decent structured formation program, as
a contemporary Church we simply don’t have enough collective lived experience
to provide formation that is perfectly comprehensive for all aspiring
consecrated virgins everywhere. That is, it’s likely going to take us a while
longer to figure out exactly what the specific formation needs of consecrated
virgins are, along with the best practical ways to address these needs. (Though
as a point of </span>reference<span style="font-size: 12pt;">, consider that it wasn’t until the Council of Trent in
the sixteenth century that the Church adopted the first versions of our modern
seminary system for the formation of priests!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
this does put us at an obvious disadvantage, I think much of the disadvantage
of having had a less-than-perfect formation experience can be mitigated by
simply being aware of and accepting the reality of the situation. Being aware
of our areas for potential or needed growth can help us take care to make up
for what is lacking, and “knowing what you don’t know” is crucial for avoiding
mistakes that our possible blind spots may cause. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Also
keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is the best of all formators, and He will
help us in the ways we need, but only if we are truly docile and open to Him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
alluding to my earlier point, receiving the concretion itself is a highly
formative event. No amount of prior study can compare to the experience of
actually being consecrated. So even if you were blessed enough to have had an excellent
formation program, know that post-consecration you are still being formed by both
your lived experience of consecrated life and by the graces you received in
your consecration. God willing, each passing year as a consecrated virgin will
make you an ever more fitting spouse of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">4.
You’ll have share in the cross in a new way.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Church describes even natural human marriage as “a partnership of the whole of
life.” (<i>CIC</i> canon 1055 </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">§</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1) Spouses are called to
share everything, including all their joys and sorrows. This is true also for
those of us who have Christ as our spouse. In a mysterious way that words can’t
quite describe, your consecration will give you a new and more intimate window
into Christ’s suffering and passion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is not just pious sentiment. In my own experience and having talked with
numerous consecrated virgins over the years, it seems to be quite common that
new consecrated virgins will encounter some sort of new and extraordinary—and
at times even uncanny—suffering shortly following their consecration. This
might be the result of exterior life circumstances, a purely interior spiritual
trial, or some combination of these. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, suffering by definition is never pleasant, and I certainly wouldn’t
wish it on anyone, much less my sisters in the <i>Ordo virginum</i>. But if
there is a consolation in this, to me when a newly consecrated virgin does
encounter some sort of unexpected trial, paradoxically I’m inclined to see this
as a positive sign in her vocation. That is, it can be a sign that her
consecration really “worked,” and that Jesus took her at her word when she said
“yes” to His call to a life of greater union with Him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
old saying that God can never be outdone in generosity is certainly true. And
for the sake of a healthy spirituality in consecrated life it’s important to
remember that while God at times permits suffering for a greater good, He does
not actively desire us to be in pain—and in fact, it’s God’s will to bring us to
a place where “He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes, and
there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">pain.</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">” (Revelation
21:4)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
for those of us who have committed to remaining with Jesus “wherever He goes,”
(cf. Revelation 14:4) we can look on it as a privilege when He invites us to
remain with Him so personally in His darkest but most triumphant hour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">5.
Your happiness, even in this life, will depend on your generosity.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Finally,
perhaps the most important thing to understand about living out a vocation to
consecrated virginity is that there really are no half-measures. A consecrated
virgin either gives the Lord absolutely everything, thereby receiving
everything (and more!) from Him in return; or else her life becomes empty, silly,
and fruitless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think this point is worth spelling out, because a common misconception among
women first discerning this vocation is that consecrated virginity is sort of a
way to have one’s cake and eat it, too—as in, a way to nominally “give
everything to God” while still maintaining all of one’s worldly interests and
activities as usual, or as a way to receive the graces and honors of
consecrated life in the Church without having to make the often painful
sacrifices inherent in joining a religious community. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
fundamental misunderstanding of our vocation is insidious because it contains a
small grain of truth. For example, consecrated virgins generally don’t have a
moment equivalent to crossing the threshold of an enclosure like a postulant in
a cloistered monastery does, nor do consecrated virgins typically make a point
to limit contact with family and friends or restrict their communication with “the
world.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
readily apparent or not, consecrated virginity still demands a radical shift in
perspective and attitude from “worldly” orientation to one deeply informed by
the Evangelical counsels. This is not just something the Church specifically
asks of us—although she does (see ESI 27)—but it’s something built into the
very nature of our commitment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Marriage
natural parenthood are so deeply inscribed in the human heart that the act of altogether
renouncing these things leaves a void. The idea in consecrated virginity, or
even consecrated celibacy in general, is that we allow Christ to superabundantly
fill this void. But the catch is that He can only do this is He is the only one
we allow to fulfill us in this way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
we try to fill the void with other human things, even other intrinsically good
human things, inevitably such things will come to be seen and understood as trivial
in the at least the big picture. Devoting ourselves to things other than Jesus
Christ and His body, the Church is what will leave us a the sad and gloomy old
maids that Pope Francis warns against (cf. <a href="http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2013/05/08/0284/00641.html" target="_blank">his May 8, 2013 address</a> to Superiors
General) instead of the radiant brides of Christ and spiritual mothers that we
are called to be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Obviously</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, as a newly-consecrated virgin you are far past the question of
discerning your state in life, and thus beyond the concerns and misperceptions
of those who are first inquiring. But sometimes, in the midst of the fatigue
that can come about in the day-to-day life of a consecrated person, it can be
easy to forget about the joy of a total self-gift. When God seems silent or the
Church seems unsupportive, it can be tempting to grasp at consolation wherever
we can find it, even in the passing things of this world. But we need to
remember, as the Prophet Isaiah wrote: “Why spend your money for what is not
bread; your wages for what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
all circumstances of life, including the challenging ones, the surest way to
happiness is to turn your heart ever more intently towards your Divine Spouse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
holy sister St. Agnes was said to have gone to her martyrdom more joyfully than
most people go to their weddings. If we imitate the single-hearted intensity
with which St. Agnes gave herself to the Lord, I am certain that we will also share
in her deep and astonishing joy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">With
love, in Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jenna<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-61688468297885423552019-10-13T17:35:00.000-04:002021-05-09T17:04:28.371-04:00Thoughts on Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, Paragraph 88<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8VnY0Je-ChllZcItldRp3_svmMIg24Nr70MC929HF0P_ljNVkts2ZtkQLRBvvfC7O05sXlYYn3VsTVoWksmGTn2NW1hF3KEKfCpCdgnKPABtsq81N6OtmD_wa7SeOTJxlGoR1dU1vbU/s1600/ecclesia-sponsae-imago.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8VnY0Je-ChllZcItldRp3_svmMIg24Nr70MC929HF0P_ljNVkts2ZtkQLRBvvfC7O05sXlYYn3VsTVoWksmGTn2NW1hF3KEKfCpCdgnKPABtsq81N6OtmD_wa7SeOTJxlGoR1dU1vbU/s400/ecclesia-sponsae-imago.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Overall,
<i><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/07/04/180704d.html" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a></i> (ESI), the fairly recent Instruction from Rome’s
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Life, was a
much-needed document that clarified many aspects of the vocation of consecrated
virginity, ranging from lofty elements of its spirituality to more down-to-earth
questions such as the need for formation. But regrettably, most of the news
coverage from ESI’s publication last year focused on the controversy
surrounding ESI paragraph 88, which supposedly suggested that consecrated
virgins need not be virgins at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reading
this paragraph as a canon lawyer, I believe it is a mistake to interpret ESI 88
in this way. Still, since I occasionally continue to receive questions about ESI
88, I think it might be helpful to have a more in-depth discussion on this
point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some historical context<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
the revised <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://diolc.org/files/consecratedlife/Complete%20Rite.pdf" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to aLife of Virginity</a></i> was promulgated in 1970, the praenotanda of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rite</i> indicated that women are eligible
for the consecration of virgins if they had: “never married or lived in public
or open violation of chastity.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Jenna/Desktop/blog%20notes%202019/Thoughts%20on%20ESI%2088%20DRAFT.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
For a time, this somewhat vague wording led some to suppose that, as long as
there was no danger of scandal, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rite</i>
perhaps only demanded “spiritual virginity” or “second-chance virginity” (i.e.,
in which a non-virgin sincerely repents of her past sexual sin and lives a life
of fervent chastity from that point forward).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Eventually,
at least in the United States, there came to be a more or less general consensus
that literal virginity was a key requirement for becoming a consecrated virgin.
Or in other words, women who have knowingly and freely engaged in an act of
completed sexual intercourse are not eligible, even if they have sincerely
repented or have embraced a devotional practice of “secondary virginity.” There
were some offical-ish, though not absolutely authoritative, clarifications in
this regard, such as letters from Roman Dicasteries addressed to individuals
who had written with this question.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Jenna/Desktop/blog%20notes%202019/Thoughts%20on%20ESI%2088%20DRAFT.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
even more than that, I suspect this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sensus
fideli</i> arose from just plain common sense in reading the pertinent source
material. That is, this vocation is referred to verbatim as “the consecration
of virgins” and “the Order of Virgins.” Likewise, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Code of Canon Law</i> describes the women who embrace this state in
life as “virgins.” (cf. can. 604) Thus, arguably it doesn’t take a great feat
of scholarship to conclude that the Church expects that women in this particular
state in life to be really virgins in the usual sense of the term. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
even with this fundamental distinction more or less settled, the wording of the eligibility requirements in the praenotanda in the <i>Rite of
Consecration</i> still left us with a lot of questions in terms of how to
evaluate certain real-life cases and situations. Specifically, it was not clear
whether the word “public” in this sense was intended to indicate something
along the lines of “widely-known and notorious,” or if it was instead meant to
be read in a more restrictive technical sense of “not being a strictly a matter
of the internal forum.” Or in other words, would it take an exceptionally
well-known lack of chastity for a woman to be disqualified from the
consecration of virgins, or would she be ineligible simply if she had committed
an unchaste act that was outwardly verifiable by a third party? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Similarly,
especially among consecrated virgins themselves, it was often hotly debated
whether the phrase “violation of chastity” was meant as a euphemism for the
completed act of intercourse, or if it referred to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> serious sin against the sixth Commandment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even if one presumed that a “violation of
chastity” encompassed those sins of unchastity which stopped short of “the
marital act” itself, there were still a number of questions regarding exactly
where and how the line should be drawn when determining which specific sins
were grave enough to render an woman ineligible for the consecration of
virgins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What ESI actually says<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
was expected for this long-anticipated instruction on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ecclesiae
Sponsae Imago</i> does indeed provide some elaboration on the requirement of
chastity stated in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rite’s</i>
praenotanda. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">ESI </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">93</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> briefly, but usefully, clarifies that the “public” violations of chastity mentioned
in the praenotanda are those acts which are </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">de facto</i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> widely known, as opposed
to known by only at least one other person. In a lot of way this clarification
is not too surprising, given that a more literal translation of the typical
Latin text of the eligibility criterion in question mentions a “…public or </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><u>manifest</u></i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">”
(“</span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">publice seu manifeste</i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">”) violation of chastity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Manifest”
in a canonical context means something along the lines of “obvious” or “readily
apparent.” When something is manifest in canon law, this generally indicates
that it needs little or no investigation to be proven. And so a manifest
violation of chastity would be one where there was no reasonable doubt that it
occurred. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
ESI’s commentary on this aspect of candidates’ eligibility for the vocation is
most fully—and, as it were, most controversially—set out in paragraph 88. Since
the question at hand is very context-dependent, I’m quoting ESI 88 in full
here, but highlighting the controversial lines in bold:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">88.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> In vocational
guidance and when there is need to describe the characteristics of this
vocation and the requirements for admission to consecration, the condition of
virginity will be presented starting with the rich symbolism of its biblical
foundations, within the framework of an anthropological vision solidly based on
Christian revelation. On this basis the different dimensions, physical,
psychological and spiritual, are integrated and considered in their dynamic
connection to the lived history of the person and in openness to the unceasing
action of divine grace that directs, guides and invigorates her on the path of
holiness.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
a treasure of inestimable value that God pours into clay vessels (cf. <i>2</i></span><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cor</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 4:7), this vocation
is truly an undeserved gift. It encounters the person in her actual humanity,
always in need of redemption and yearning for the full meaning of her
existence. It finds its origin and dynamic center in the grace of God, who
unceasingly acts with the tenderness and the strength of his merciful love in
the often complex and sometimes contradictory events of human life, helping the
person to grasp her uniqueness and the unity of her being, enabling her to make
a total gift of self. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In this context it
should be kept in mind that the call to give witness to the Church’s virginal,
spousal and fruitful love for Christ is not reducible to the symbol of physical
integrity. Thus to have kept her body in perfect continence or to have practiced
the virtue of chastity in an exemplary way, while of great importance with
regard to the discernment, are not essential prerequisites in the absence of
which admittance to consecration is not possible.</b><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
discernment therefore requires good judgement and insight, and it must be
carried out individually. Each aspirant and candidate is called to examine her
own vocation with regard to her own personal </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">history, in honesty and authenticity before God, and with the help of spiritual
accompaniment.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
again, I’ll point out that this paragraph discusses many things other than the “dividing
line” of what makes woman eligible for the consecration of virgins. Namely, ESI
88 begins by highlighting the value of virginity and its centrality to this
vocation, and concludes by strongly emphasizes the importance of individual discernment.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">How this should be
interpreted?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
so, we can see that ESI 88 is actually communicating quite of bit of very nuanced
and valuable information. Unlike the clarifications ESI gives us on other
issues, we can’t reduce ESI 88 to a simple soundbite or yes-or-no answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
in my professional opinion as a canonist, I think the practical bottom line here
is: for women whose virginity is questionable—with “questionable” meaning:
“there really is a sincere question here”—their eligibility for the consecration
of virgins is to be carefully discerned on an individual basis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Practically
speaking, this means that victims or rape or abuse, or conversely, women who
may have repented of sinful sexual acts that stopped short of intercourse, are
not automatically prohibited from discerning this vocation. On the other hand,
this also doesn’t mean that they are to be automatically admitted to the Order
of Virgins, either! Rather, it means that the Church does not exclude them from
an honest and realistic conversation about the possibility that they might be
called to this state in life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what ESI 88 is <i><u>not</u></i> saying is: “virginity is no longer required
for consecrated virgins.” First of all, as per my point above, if a woman can
be readily described as a non-virgin, then her virginity is no longer
“questionable” or a gray area. That is, it’s clear that a non-virgin is not a
virgin, full stop. The virginity of an obvious non-virgin is no longer questionable,
because that “question” is already fully answered in the negative. A woman who has
no need of discerning whether or not she is a literal virgin because she
already knows with certainty that she is not one is clearly not an individual
whose situation ESI 88 was intended to describe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Likewise,
the reaffirmation of the eligibility requirements as originally phrased in the
<i>Rite</i> in ESI 84 already sets a fairly high standard even by itself. While having
“never married or lived in public or open violation of chastity” isn’t absolutely
comprehensive, it seems generally unlikely that a woman who was unquestionably
not a virgin would also somehow measure up to this standard. Granted, scenarios
where something like this might be the case are not impossible and do happen. Yet
it’s still important to note that, unlike what some of the more </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/07/05/ecclesiae-sponsae-imago-punts-on-one-problem-fixes-a-second-but-greatly-worsens-a-third/" target="_blank">provocative</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/07/05/ecclesiae-sponsae-imago-punts-on-one-problem-fixes-a-second-but-greatly-worsens-a-third/" target="_blank"> headlines</a> and <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-consecrated-virgins-no-longer-have-to-be-virgins" target="_blank">media talking points</a> would suggest, ESI 88 is not suddenly
opening the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ordo virginum</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to obvious
non-virgins or to women have repented from lifestyles of manifest sexual sin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
more importantly in my mind, it is clear from the wording of this very paragraph,
let alone the context of the rest of the document, that the Church still sees
virginity as a foundational element of the spirituality of this vocation. ESI
88 begins by stating that “when there is need to describe the characteristics
of this vocation and the requirements for admission to consecration,” the
appropriate way to respond is by presenting and referring to “the condition of
virginity” in light of the “rich symbolism of its biblical foundations.” Here, ESI
88 tells us that virginity with all its meaning and significance </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">must
be</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> presented
as the key for discernment. Since virginity is specifically named as the fundamental
reference point for discerning eligibility, it doesn’t make sense to argue that
ESI 88 is somehow doing away with the requirement of virginity altogether.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A note on some popular terminology<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
this point, it might be good to address one potential point of confusion, which
is the term “physical virginity.” Among English-speaking consecrated virgins,
this term tends to be used as shorthand for something like: “really a virgin in
the true sense of the term, as opposed to the merely ‘spiritual virginity’ of a
repentant non-virgin.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
I find the term “physical virginity” to problematic in discussions like this,
since it ignores the distinction between what I’ll call “literal virginity”
versus a strictly biological virginity. While a woman is biologically virginal
if her body has never experienced sexual intercourse in any way, shape, or
form; she can rightly be called a literal virgin if she has never engaged in
sexual intercourse with full knowledge and freedom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is important, because the Church traditionally understands virginity as a moral
and spiritual state as opposed to a medical or simply biological one. That is,
a woman is a virgin is she intends and has resolved to remain chaste and
continent before marriage; or in the case of dedicated or consecrated virginity,
if she is resolved to remain chaste while forsaking the potential for legitimate
intimacy with a mortal husband, for the sake offering herself more wholly to
God. As such, the Church regards virtuous rape victims as truly and fully virgins,
regardless of whatever traumatic violation their bodies may have experienced.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Jenna/Desktop/blog%20notes%202019/Thoughts%20on%20ESI%2088%20DRAFT.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, physiological bodily integrity is not totally irrelevant to the virtue
of virginity, but we should understand a biologically virginal body as being only
a fitting sign of the spiritual reality of a truly virginal soul. Therefore, as
ESI 88 points out, we can and should appreciate the sign-value of bodily wholeness
without incorrectly reducing the entire concept of “virginity” to this mere
sign. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Also
too, there is a sense in which any literal virginity—i.e. the moral state of virginity,
with or without bodily “intactness”—is also a kind of “physical virginity,”
since a woman’s free choice and perseverance in a life of virginity makes her
body consecrated and holy, regardless of what might have happened to her body
against her will. As St. Augustine notes: “the sanctity of the soul remains
even when the body is violated, the sanctity of the body is not lost; and that,
in like manner, the sanctity of the body is lost when the sanctity of the soul
is violated, though the body itself remains intact.” (<i>City of God</i>, <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120101.htm" target="_blank">BookI, chapter 18</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So,
in some contexts it might be accurate to speak of “physical virginity” when we
are referring to virginity as something like a resolve to persevere in virginal
chastity that is manifested by one’s concrete choices. But at the same time, the
term “physical virginity” is often used in a way that would seem to be
synonymous with “biological virginity,” and we should be mindful that this can
add an inaccurate or confusing note to discussions such as this one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why ESI 88 makes sense<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Turning
back to ESI 88 specifically, speaking personally, like many others I at first
found the vague wording of ESI 88 to be a bit frustrating. But the more I considered
it, the more I realized that ESI 88 probably handled the question of this
specific eligibility requirement in the most sensible way possible. I believe
this is the case for a few reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
of all, as was suggested above, defining virginity can be surprisingly
difficult, even aside from the relatively clear-cut distinction between moral/literal
virginity and strictly biological virginity. This is evident especially in the
fact that our current canon law we have no straightforward definition of what precisely
constitutes “virginity” in even a simple material sense.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Jenna/Desktop/blog%20notes%202019/Thoughts%20on%20ESI%2088%20DRAFT.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
As in, even in scenarios of where we can presume the woman’s full knowledge and
consent to grave sins of unchastity, we don’t have any clearly established
canonical line demarcating the indelicate details of exactly “how far is too
far.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, it does seem clear that willful completed intercourse would establish
an individual as having lost his or her virginity in any scenario, but what
about cases where a couple did almost everything, but stopped just short of the
marital act itself? Or a case where a woman had lived in a sexually active
lesbian relationship? In many such cases, knowledgeable people could have
different reasonable opinions on whether or in what sense the women in such
cases were truly “virgins”—or at least “virgins” in a robust sense of the term,
i.e. in a way that was compatible with the overall vision of the <i>Rite of
Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>. Even if it could be argued that such
women were virgins in a legalistically strict sense, the appropriateness of
women in such situations dedicating themselves to the Lord via a public
commitment to virginity <i>per se</i> remains seriously questionable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Things
get even more complicated when you throw questions of full knowledge and free
will into the mix. For instance, can a fourteen-year-old victim of statuary rape,
who thought she consented at the time, rightly be thought of as having lost her
virginity? Or what about an adult woman who engaged in frequent oral sex, but
did so with the distinct thought that by refraining from intercourse she was
thereby retaining her “technical virginity”? Does such an intention to remain a
virgin modify the spiritual impact of acts that many would see as incompatible
with virginity? And how much weight does one give to certain psychological
states (for example, drunkenness) that may have negatively impacted, but not necessarily
totally destroyed, one’s sense of personal freedom in making sexual choices? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Clearly,
the more one tries to draw a theoretical line, the more difficult and sensitive
the questions become. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
point here is not to propose answers to such questions, but rather to point out
how near impossible it is to come up with a canonical definition of virginity
that would adequately address all hypothetically possible cases. Any attempt by
canonists to do this would not only have to be exceedingly detailed and
extensive, but also quite graphic. And it’s likely that such an attempt still probably
would not address all potential scenarios. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Given
this, I think ESI’s approach to these eligibility questions is actually the
most helpful and appropriate one. And indeed, it may very well be the only one that
is realistically possible. ESI puts the onus on personal discernment in individual
cases, while still underscoring certain principles and re-stating some general
hard boundary lines (e.g., an aspiring consecrated virgin can never have been
married or have lived in manifest unchastity).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Discernment
is not a cop-out <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
suspect that one reason why ESI in general, and ESI 88 in particular, were not always
popularly well-received initially was because many commentators interpreted this
emphasis on personal discernment to be sort of loophole or cop-out; or as sort
of a winking way, stemming from a laxity or lack of zeal, to allow for
non-virgins to be consecrated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
when understood properly, real discernment is nothing like this! Personal
discernment in general is not only a serious spiritual undertaking, but is also
an essential part of Christian life. Many saints in the Church’s history have
written at length about discernment, its necessity, and how to discern serious
life choices properly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s
more, in terms of discerning one’s basic eligibility for consecrated virginity,
ESI and the Church presume that the question will be approached in good faith
and with common sense. That is, ESI was written with the overall expectation
that women aspiring to become consecrated virgins are at least fundamentally
seeking to love the Lord and follow His will for their lives—as opposed to
expecting, for instance, that women considering this vocation will be mostly
something like legalistic connivers intent only on having their own way, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
value of ESI 88</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
reason we can all appreciate ESI 88 is because, if nothing else, it at least
answers a frequently asked practical question. Whether or not we ourselves
would have written ESI 88 in exactly the same way, this clarity is still
helpful in real-life pastoral situations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
I also think ESI 88 has the potential to be helpful on a deeper level, since it
has the potential to promote a healthier understanding of the <i>Ordo virginum</i>’s
central charism of virginity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Underscoring
the essentially moral and spiritual nature of virginity is a good witness to
the dignity of women in general. That is, it supports the truth that women have
intrinsic worth and moral agency; that women’s identities are determined by the
choices we freely make for our lives, rather than what may or may not have be
done to us without our consent; and that the Church never sees us as “damaged
goods” (or “used gum,” or whatever other denigrating terms may have been used
to describe non-virgins.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 323.25pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
for us consecrated virgins, I think it’s helpful to keep in mind that virginity
as such, while a crucial element of our charism and spirituality, is ultimately
only the starting point for a truly consecrated way of life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our call is not simply to virginity by itself,
but a life of virginity that is dedicated to prayer, service, and Christian
witness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Jenna/Desktop/blog%20notes%202019/Thoughts%20on%20ESI%2088%20DRAFT.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> In the typical Latin
edition of the <i>Rite of Consecration</i>—i.e., the “master copy” from which all
translations are made—this is written as: “…<i>ut numquam nuptias celebraverint
neque publice seu manifeste in statu castitati contrario vixerint</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> For example, the USACV website
makes reference to a letter Raymond Card. Burke received from the Congregation
for Divine Worship in April of 2007 which gave an answer to this effect: <a href="https://consecratedvirgins.org/discernment">https://consecratedvirgins.org/discernment</a>
(accessed October 12, 2019) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> As one reference, St.
Augustine discusses this somewhat at length in Book 1, chapters 16-18 of <i>City
of God</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> I have read and heard that
some older canonical commentaries, though not the law itself, have endeavored
to give a exact definition of material virginity in the context of some very
particular technical questions in marriage law (namely, questions of marital invalidity
pertaining to “error of quality of person” when virginity was the quality “directly
and principally intended). From what I understand, they generally tended to indicated
completed intercourse as the canonical dividing line between virgins and non-virgins.
But, right now I don’t have a specific source I can cite—though readers who do
have a handy source are welcome to submit one! Also, I think it is important to
point out that commentaries on marriage law in the now obsolete 1917 <i>Code of
Canon Law</i> aren’t always going to be directly applicable to questions
relating to the post-Vatican II <i>Ordo virginum</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-5046179443107277412019-06-08T20:16:00.000-04:002021-05-09T17:06:24.020-04:00Tenth Anniversary Reflection <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCAfCUr7AIcanS75LT1trLeCol7YXwtS-HnGRlbJCYhiiHlUcRF3dQMDIOQwkR1V0BCmZeDdSoHTY6jPPjnP-QOfu38JKviH9HImPduC4nJQSKDqpKSuKJ0Hmh-bd5QGVxa9Q6Td_Fu4/s1600/Sainte+Genevieve+du+Bois+Roman+Catholic+Church%252C+in+Warson+Woods%252C+Missouri%252C+USA+-+altar+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCAfCUr7AIcanS75LT1trLeCol7YXwtS-HnGRlbJCYhiiHlUcRF3dQMDIOQwkR1V0BCmZeDdSoHTY6jPPjnP-QOfu38JKviH9HImPduC4nJQSKDqpKSuKJ0Hmh-bd5QGVxa9Q6Td_Fu4/s400/Sainte+Genevieve+du+Bois+Roman+Catholic+Church%252C+in+Warson+Woods%252C+Missouri%252C+USA+-+altar+detail.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Better late
than never!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This past
January, I celebrated my tenth (!!!) anniversary of consecrated life. It has
been an interesting ten years—since my consecration day, I have spent three
years living in Rome, finished two graduate degrees, written a book and several
popular articles, served as a parish director of religious education and as an ecclesiastical
tribunal Judge, made numerous wonderful friends, and have grown in many other ways
personally and spiritually. Over all, I am grateful to God for the gift of
perseverance!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Here is the
anniversary reflection I wrote for the </span><a href="https://consecratedvirgins.org/sites/default/files/The%20Lamp%20February%202%202019.pdf" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" target="_blank">February 2019 issue</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> of the U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins' newsletter, “<a href="https://consecratedvirgins.org/newsletters" target="_blank">The Lamp</a>”:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p>***</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">After a
life-long friendship with God, I first felt called to be a bride of Christ when
I was twelve years old. I just fell completely in love, once and for all. At eighteen
I began visiting religious communities, and while I met a number of admirable
nuns and religious Sisters, none of the communities I visited completely
resonated with the specific way I felt called in my heart. When I was nineteen,
a local priest gave me a copy of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rite
of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>, and upon reading it I knew
instantly that this was my vocation. In particular, I was drawn to the central
charism of a spousal relationship with Christ; to the spirituality of
evangelical virginity; to this vocation’s special bond with the local diocesan
Church; toward the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rite</i>’s emphasis on
praying the Liturgy of the Hours; and especially to the fact that this vocation
was a call to follow in the footsteps of the Church’s early virgin-martyr
saints, like St. Agnes and the other women mentioned in the Roman Canon at
Mass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Initially I was
turned away from the consecration of virgins for being too young, but after two
more years of visiting religious communities, I tried approaching my home Archdiocese
of New York again, and at that point I was accepted as a candidate for
consecration. I was solemnly consecrated to a life of virginity at Sacred Heart
Church in Newburgh, NY on January 3, 2009, when I was twenty-three years old
and a recent college graduate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I can honestly
say that I am even happier to be a bride of Christ now than I was on the day of
my consecration. Although there have been many challenges over the past ten
years, they have only made my vocation more precious to me. As I’ve grown older,
I’ve found I have a new sense of glad astonishment that God would be so
gracious as to call me to this kind of relationship with Himself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As I reflect on
my tenth anniversary of consecrated life, one image that has been frequently
coming to mind is the Lamb of God. Most obviously, consecrated virgins are
called to be “the Image of the Church as Bride”; that is, the “Bride of the
Lamb” mentioned in Revelation 21:9. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But more
personally, the Gospel for the actual day of my tenth anniversary was John
1:29-34, where John the Baptist points to Jesus and declares: “Behold the Lamb
of God.” I was reminded by the priest celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving that
day that this is my mission, too—to be a witness pointing others towards Jesus,
who is the Lamb. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I was reminded
as well that as lambs were used for sacrificial worship in Old Testament, Jesus
is the Lamb of God because he offered Himself as a sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the day of my consecration it was very
much my hope and intention to offer myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord in
the same spirit that saints like Agnes offered their lives. It can be easy to
forget the joy that comes with a spirit of radical self-offering, but ten years
after my consecration I’ve realized how important it is to continually renew
this resolve in my heart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Finally, my
consecrated life has brought me to places I never would have guessed, including
three years living in Rome as a canon law student; and then later, an
unexpected but clearly providential call to serve the Church in the Diocese of
Winona-Rochester in Minnesota as a staff canonist and coordinator of the
marriage tribunal. Even amidst the difficulties of leaving home and family for
a new and unfamiliar place, there’s a greater peace in recalling that virgins
are the ones who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” (Revelation 14:4) My
prayer after ten years is that I will always be given the grace to follow the
Lamb wherever He leads me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHuONHnSVR6zPreQE3i7wZXHd6u3nN1owV-_lje-GmZeu2hw03CF27QfQpLsC0Apzm-TNusMFZLKfOQp7779tYoP4AgcjXgQNFpFlLPQGs-ZjpB79rxAKv0pK5zVNWUYUQ19n3Njjrb4/s1600/Accoladea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHuONHnSVR6zPreQE3i7wZXHd6u3nN1owV-_lje-GmZeu2hw03CF27QfQpLsC0Apzm-TNusMFZLKfOQp7779tYoP4AgcjXgQNFpFlLPQGs-ZjpB79rxAKv0pK5zVNWUYUQ19n3Njjrb4/s400/Accoladea.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January 3, 2009</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemgNlyvBrUvYrSd_MhyphenhypheniVldVWjk_15p0NbabF83K7yOt1ImOxCXqW_L20m9O-PykmTtaX4BdEauTfO5Ib9JUce4m2HdErno6QAfjDnc0ULINi63yhsXO1UnBhVIjPU6ChqoL-miTolrM/s1600/IMG_0999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemgNlyvBrUvYrSd_MhyphenhypheniVldVWjk_15p0NbabF83K7yOt1ImOxCXqW_L20m9O-PykmTtaX4BdEauTfO5Ib9JUce4m2HdErno6QAfjDnc0ULINi63yhsXO1UnBhVIjPU6ChqoL-miTolrM/s400/IMG_0999.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January 3, 2019 - after a Mass of Thanksgiving, in the very same Church!<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5z86DjER8Tru00SLBsyw46K0LT2KS2V_QJz-KIXbJ7LsZvuXrp_BMuHpsAoxF0YxedV11OJFSxPZg9d2Xzns-s5xfBfbzfWPzbPKtftgFNg56ptY-9mX4kN5HsbIsuA-OhOXPDBotL0w/s1600/Anniversary+party+priests+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5z86DjER8Tru00SLBsyw46K0LT2KS2V_QJz-KIXbJ7LsZvuXrp_BMuHpsAoxF0YxedV11OJFSxPZg9d2Xzns-s5xfBfbzfWPzbPKtftgFNg56ptY-9mX4kN5HsbIsuA-OhOXPDBotL0w/s400/Anniversary+party+priests+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the feast of St. Agnes, a second Mass of Thanksgiving in Minnesota, <br />
in our Diocesan Office chapel with local diocesan priests.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-891979383130079512018-09-22T01:36:00.000-04:002021-05-09T17:03:44.874-04:00A First Look at Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29ecJ_4JqmvsFeSnjSgGamwdjqll5FnoQpVC5VEQ8oKW-1pF0fTNgTrhpBGdmZAJ97bmzgsk_0mm9YMaVYakEFS9PVwGeMqo3qCqfEPqs3B6U_3n-d0i8CaCNaoNRXPuPenAJCbaHOzg/s1600/ecclesia-sponsae-imago.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29ecJ_4JqmvsFeSnjSgGamwdjqll5FnoQpVC5VEQ8oKW-1pF0fTNgTrhpBGdmZAJ97bmzgsk_0mm9YMaVYakEFS9PVwGeMqo3qCqfEPqs3B6U_3n-d0i8CaCNaoNRXPuPenAJCbaHOzg/s400/ecclesia-sponsae-imago.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
probably anyone familiar with this blog already knows, on July 4, 2018 the <a href="http://www.congregazionevitaconsacrata.va/content/vitaconsacrata/it.html" target="_blank">Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life</a> in Rome published
a new document on the vocation of consecrated virginity, an Instruction titled:
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccscrlife/documents/rc_con_ccscrlife_doc_20180608_istruzione-ecclesiaesponsaeimago_en.html" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a></i> (which roughly translates into English as: “The image of the
Church as Bride.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-instruction-ecclesiae-sponsae-imago-on-ordo-virginum-2/" target="_blank">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</a></span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (ESI) is by far the
longest and more detailed document on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo
virginum</i> that the Church has given us since the second Vatican Council. And
so obviously, there is a lot to unpack here! I do hope to write on specific
facets of ESI in greater detail over the next several months. But to start,
here is a basic overview based on my own first thoughts and impressions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The nature of an
Instruction<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
start, an “Instruction” is a type of magisterial document which provides
clarity on earlier existing laws, especially ones which may have been vague or
may have had disputed interpretations. As such, by their very nature
Instructions aren’t the sort of document that can change or override laws that
already exist. However, as <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P5.HTM" target="_blank">canon 34</a> in the current <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Code of Canon Law</i> states, Instructions can also: “clarify the
prescripts of laws and elaborate on and determine the methods to be observed in
fulfilling them [i.e., the prescripts of laws].” So even while, very strictly
speaking, an Instruction doesn’t create new “laws” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per se</i>, arguably Instructions can and often do create new
obligations, at least insofar as they direct the law to be carried out in a
more substantial practical way than was the case previously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Often
Instructions pertain to the law contained in a single source or document, but
ESI is somewhat exceptional in that it serves as a commentary on the entire
body of existing law on the Order of Virgins, including <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM" target="_blank">canon 604</a> in the 1983 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Code of Canon Law</i>, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://diolc.org/files/consecratedlife/Complete%20Rite.pdf" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i>
and its praenotanda, and the brief references to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> in various other documents such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus.html" target="_blank">Pastor Bonus</a></i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbishops_doc_20040222_apostolorum-successores_en.html" target="_blank">Apostolorum Successores</a></span></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instructions
are technically “given for the use of those whose duty it is to see that laws
are executed and oblige them in the execution of the laws,” (can. 34) rather
than for the direct use of those who are to be bound by the laws. So again,
very strictly speaking, ESI is most primarily meant for the bishops who are
responsible for the guidance and oversight of the consecrated virgins entrusted
to their pastoral care. Yet given that ESI not only spells some of the
specifics of consecrated virgins’ practical obligations, but also delves deeply
into the spirituality and theological nature of this vocation, it’s safe to say
that consecrated virgins themselves should be familiar with this document and
can profit from a careful reading of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Filling in gaps<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2018/01/understanding-canon-law-introduction.html" target="_blank">As has been noted before</a>, in the Church’s body of laws it is possible (if not
somewhat inevitable…) to have gaps, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lacunae</i>,
in the law. Because the drafters of the law, being merely human, cannot always
foresee every question that might be asked or every scenario when a law might
be tested, there can be situations in which law is simply silent on a given
issue. Although the current <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Code</i> does
give us some guidance on how to deal with such situations as they arise (cf.
<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3.HTM" target="_blank">can. 17</a>), occasionally an additional clarifying magisterial document is needed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> has been one of the
most lacunose topics in the Church’s law today, ESI was clearly meant to take
this role. Some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lacunae</i> which ESI now
fills, or at least takes some serious steps forward in filling, are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">•</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ESI clarifies, in at least a fundamental way, the tone and tenor of a
consecrated virgin’s way of life.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> envisions consecrated
virginity as a life informed by the Evangelical counsels, and as an
all-encompassing state in life radically oriented around prayer, service of the
Church, and public witness; as opposed to this vocation being akin to something
like a purely private vow or membership in a secular Third Order. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, ESI 40 tells us that a consecrated virgin should choose her
professional career specifically in light of her vocation and her call to service,
and ESI 28 indicates that a consecrated virgin’s major life decisions should be
co-discerned with her bishop. The Instruction also reaffirms a consecrated virgin’s
duty to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, (ESI 34) and directs consecrated virgins
to attend daily Mass when they are living in locations where this is possible. (ESI
32)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is also noteworthy how ESI 27 indicates that, through their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">propositum</i> of perpetual virginity,
consecrated virgins commit to a way of life that encompasses all of the
traditionally-formulated Evangelical counsels. That is, while in an extremely black-and-white,
literal sense some might regard consecrated virgins as only making a commitment
to evangelical chastity via virginity, the Church sees consecrated virgins as
being called to some form of evangelical poverty and obedience as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">•</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ESI establishes some clearer criteria for the discernment of vocations.</b>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
instance, ESI 82 sets a firm lower age limit of eighteen for women to begin
formation for consecrated virginity, and names twenty-five years as the usual
normal minimum age for receiving the consecration itself. This is significant,
since in the past there were questions as to whether the requirement that
candidates have sufficient maturity (i.e., as per the praenotanda of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rite of Consecration</i>: “…that by their
age, prudence, and universally approved character they give assurance of
perseverance in a life of chastity dedicated to the service of the Church and
of their neighbor”) meant that aspiring consecrated virgins should simply have attained
the level of personal human development necessary to make a responsible adult
life decision, or whether a candidate should actually be relatively advanced in
years—as in, being at least thirty-five or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">forty</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> years old. ESI 82 makes it
clear that consecrated virginity is a vocation which young women are invited to
discern.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
Instruction also sheds additional light on what is required for candidates in
terms of virginal chastity. Previously, it was posited—but not confirmed—that
the prerequisite of “never having lived in public or manifest violation of chastity”
meant that a woman must not have ever committed serious sins against chastity in
the presence of another person. However, ESI 93 clarifies that a life of
“public” unchastity should be interpreted as a widely-known habitual state,
rather than simply an act committed in the presence of a witness. Likewise,
while I believe the document does reiterate, in many places, the expectation
that candidates will indeed be literal virgins, ESI 88 clarifies that rape
victims and women who have committed sins of unchastity that stopped short of
actual intercourse are not automatically prevented from discerning a vocation
to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
I know many consecrated virgins, especially perhaps in the Unites States, are
disappointed with this more “generous” standard—and even while I myself was
more sympathetic to arguments requiring a stricter interpretation of what
exactly constitutes “virginity” for the purposes of receiving the consecration—I
do think that having this greater clarity is a good thing.*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">•</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ESI discusses the importance of formation and gives us an outline of
what this should look like.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Prior
to ESI, it was at least theoretically possible to argue that no formation
should be necessary for consecrated virgins, since this was not mentioned
anywhere in the existing law. Even in those places where the importance of
having some kind of formation program for aspiring consecrated virgins was acknowledged
as common sense, the practical expression of this could vary widely from
diocese to diocese. For example, some dioceses might have an aspiring
consecrated virgin set a date for her consecration less than a year after her initial
request, while other dioceses might have a candidate meet with a structured formation
team for many years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Additionally,
the lack of guidance on what formation for consecrated virginity should look
like often led to some problematic situations, such as the entirely of
formation being entrusted to a confessor or spiritual director (leading to a
potential conflict of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fora</i>); or a
candidate being “in formation” for years on end without a clear timeline, or
even without any sense of whether or not her consecration was actually likely
to happen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
there is still a lot of work to do on the local level in terms of creating
helpful formation programs for consecrated virgins, ESI 92 - 103 gives us some solid
preliminary framework. Specifically, formation is to be carried out in two
stages: a preparation period of one or two years when the aspirant focuses on
learning more about the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i>
and the dioceses learns more about the aspirant; and ordinarily a two or
three-year formation period wherein the candidate is formed in her identity as
a future consecrated virgin. ESI 92 - 103 gives us an overview of the content
of a good formation program, with ESI 102 emphasizing the need for theological
formation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">•</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ESI describes the relationship of a consecrated virgin to her diocese.</b>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
have always thought that it was possible, even based on the limited sources, to
discern that consecrated virginity as a state in life has a uniquely diocesan
character. Yet even if the overall diocesan “flavor” of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> could in this sense be
taken for granted, that still left us with many questions in need of answers. Among
other things, we didn’t have a word to describe a consecrated virgin’s
connection to her diocese (which led some to argue that there was not in fact any
meaningful bond there); and we didn’t have any guidelines for how to handle situations
when a consecrated virgin might need to relocate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Happily,
ESI confirms and expounds on the diocesan nature of this vocation in many
places throughout the document. In particular, in ESI 51we are given a term for
a consecrated virgin’s relationship her diocese, that is: “inscription.” ESI 60
also clarifies that a consecrated virgin may move out of her diocese of
consecration, but only for an appropriately serious reason (“…reasonable and
proportionate motives”); and ESI 61 tells us that a consecrated virgin may
reside in a different diocese without permanently transferring, meaning that
she still maintains her bond with the original diocese of her consecration. But
ESI 62 also does provide for the possibility of a permeant transfer in which a
consecrated virgin is inscribed into a new diocese, and it sets out the conditions
under which this may occur and the appropriate process to be followed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
a related note, ESI 67-68 discusses the possibility of a consecrated virgin
joining a secular Third Order or becoming involved with one of the newer ecclesial
movements. While a consecrated virgin is free to make use of the spiritual assistance
these groups provide, ESI 68 indicates that she must give first priority to her
vocation to consecrated virginity. She does so by discerning the extent of her
involvement in such groups with her bishop, and by only participating in the
group’s activities insofar as those commitments don’t interfere with her obligations
within the local diocesan <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">•
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ESI also discusses departures from the
Ordo virginum,</b> which is a broader category than one might expect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
a preliminary note to this, based on the way the terms are used in ESI, it
seems that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> and the
consecration of virgins <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per se</i> might
be conceived or understood as two slightly different things. That is, the
consecration of virgins is the spiritual reality, while the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> is the term for
consecrated virginity as a juridically-recognized state in life.** Perhaps the
closest parallel would be the way in which a man’s sacramental identity as a
priest is not always the same as his belonging to the clerical state—i.e., a
priest can leave the clerical state and live as a layman while still actually
being a priest in a theological sense. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
all appearances, ESI 75 indicates that that the consecration itself is truly
permanent (“The grace of consecration in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> defines and shapes the spiritual features of the
person in a permanent way”). However, for grave reasons a woman may be
dispensed by her bishop from the obligations of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> (cf. ESI 70). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
my reading of ESI, I take this reference to dispensable obligations to mean the
concrete external obligations inherent in belonging to the Order of Virgins,
such as: the responsibility to be a public witness and present oneself as a
consecrated virgin, the commitment to diocesan service or other apostolates, the
obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and attend daily Mass, and so
forth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">According
to ESI 71-72, a consecrated virgin can also be dismissed from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i>, but only for attempting
marriage, notoriously defecting from the faith, or for obstinately persevering
in “very serious external and imputable crimes or failings against the
obligations arising from her consecration.” In order for such a dismissal to be
valid, a consecrated virgin would need to be given a chance to defend herself
and informed of her right to appeal the decision, and the dismissal would need
to be confirmed by the Holy See in order to take effect.*** <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
question of an already-consecrated virgin potentially discerning a vocation to
religious life, to membership in a secular institute, or to membership in a society
of apostolic life is also treated under the heading of “departures” in ESI 69.
In discerning a new vocation to religious life or to another form of
consecrated life, a consecrated virgin would need to prayerfully discern this
matter in conversation with both her bishop and the superior of the institute
in question. Her bishop would then transmit her request to the Holy See in
Rome, with the Holy See arranging the specifics on a case-by-case basis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Interestingly,
ESI speaks of a consecrated virgin’s potential “transfer” to an institute of
consecrated life, whereas <a href="https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/holland.pdf" target="_blank">previous </a></span><a href="https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/holland.pdf" target="_blank">commentators</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> reasonably presumed a consecrated
virgin would need to enter an institute in the normal way through the
novitiate. It is also interesting that a consecrated virgin can only join a
secular institute by leaving the </span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ordo
virginum</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (even while a </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">1971</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/show/279" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">response</a><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> from the Congregation for Divine
Worship in </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">the
publication <i><a href="http://www.cultodivino.va/content/dam/cultodivino/notitiae/1971/62.pdf" target="_blank">Notitiae</a></i> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">allowed secular institute members to receive the consecration
of virgins),**** as this brings a new perspective to </span><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2015/07/consecrated-virginity-versus-secular.html" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">discussions of exactly how compatible</a><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the two vocations of consecrated virginity and secular institute
membership really are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Going forward<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what do we make of ESI overall? Speaking for myself, although of course ESI
isn’t absolutely perfect—and it would be unrealistic to expect any document of
this nature to be—I think ESI as a whole is a very good thing for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> in the Church today.
Besides the not-insignificant fact that the clarifications on disputed
questions are helpful on a practical level, in my mind the greatest benefit of
this document is how it communicates the idea that a call to consecrated
virginity is a “real vocation” that’s worth taking seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think all too often in the past, consecrated virginity has tended to be
regarded as either a vocational “last resort,” as a kind of pious hobby, as a purely
personal commitment with no real pertinence to the wider Church, or (perhaps
more benignly, but no less inaccurately) as a modified form of religious life designed
to be less demanding. But with ESI’s focus on the necessity of substantial formation,
along with its directives regarding the importance of a real commitment to
prayer, service, and the Evangelical counsels, ESI makes it clear that a call
to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i> is meant to be—even
in the concrete details of a consecrated virgin’s day-to-day lifestyle—just as
much a radical offering of one’s whole self as a call to religious life or
priesthood should be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Undoubtedly,
ESI leaves us with many salutary challenges. Of course, dioceses are challenged
to flesh out the directives of ESI in the practical ways that will best fit the
circumstances of the local Church, which I imagine will be somewhat of an
ongoing journey of learning and discernment for all involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
for those of us who are already consecrated virgins, I think ESI presents more
of a personal challenge. That is, we are now called to consider how well we’re
living up to the newly-articulated high standards of our vocation to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo virginum</i>. The might sound a bit
stern, but I see this as a beautiful season of growth for all of us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In short, it’s
an exciting time to be a consecrated virgin!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrT7pPFvmm5AXPtSLRd_0X7qN-QIJ4m9MFFWxZKaWFvadLQIgtZQ9ErMm93QFPWMyvOk1ZlSzPkN_2hG88wjTiieiYpebzMeVb8mjoZqKUS0eqZQYlnEffDuUwiHbNzG0JqP3z-i5dfo/s1600/ESI+books+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrT7pPFvmm5AXPtSLRd_0X7qN-QIJ4m9MFFWxZKaWFvadLQIgtZQ9ErMm93QFPWMyvOk1ZlSzPkN_2hG88wjTiieiYpebzMeVb8mjoZqKUS0eqZQYlnEffDuUwiHbNzG0JqP3z-i5dfo/s400/ESI+books+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Notes:</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">* I do plan on
commenting on the controversy surrounding ESI 88 at greater length in a later
post. In the meantime, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/read-vatican-guide-to-consecrated-virginity-with-discernment-canonist-says-34049" target="_blank">here</a> is an article with an interview I gave to Catholic
News Agency on this issue: <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/read-vatican-guide-to-consecrated-virginity-with-discernment-canonist-says-34049">https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/read-vatican-guide-to-consecrated-virginity-with-discernment-canonist-says-34049</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">** I had always
assumed that the <i>Ordo virginum</i> properly referred to any woman who had received
the consecration of virgins, including cloistered nuns who received the
consecration as part of the long-standing tradition of their Order. However,
ESI seems to use the term “<i>Ordo virginum</i>” to refer specifically to consecrated
virgins “living in the world.” I’m not sure if this was an intentional change
or a new further specification; or if, alternately, it might have been somewhat
of an oversight due to our lack of a more extensive terminology. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">*** While some
of my canonist colleagues have noted that the rules for dismissal are extremely
minimal, I actually see this as a huge step forward that a we have a process in
the first place—before ESI, there was some thought that a bishop could dismiss
a consecrated virgin at any time for any reason totally at his own discretion!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">**** I have not
seen a copy of this 1971 response, but Sr. Sharon Holland refers to it in her
2002 article “<a href="https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/holland.pdf" target="_blank">Consecrated Virgins for Today’s Church</a>.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>UPDATE 9/24/2018</b>
– Many thanks to reader Gloria ExGana for sharing a link to a digital copy of
the issue of <i>Notitiae</i> where this question is addressed: </span><a href="http://www.cultodivino.va/content/dam/cultodivino/notitiae/1971/62.pdf" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">http://www.cultodivino.va/content/dam/cultodivino/notitiae/1971/62.pdf</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
; and also to reader Bernadette Chen for sharing a link to an English translation
of this response: </span><a href="http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/show/279" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/show/279</a><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-37395008161021369012018-07-06T14:40:00.000-04:002021-05-09T17:03:55.830-04:00Comments to come...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just a quick note to say that I am still around, although I
haven’t had much time for personal writing lately as my day job (I currently work full-time as canon lawyer in a marriage tribunal) keeps me quite busy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">However, I have read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ecclesiae
Sponsae Imago</i>, and am working on writing up my first thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Overall, though, I think in general this new Instruction is a very positive development for
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordo Virginum</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So stay tuned! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll also
put my first thoughts on this blog’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sponsachristiblog/" target="_blank">facebook page</a> once the post is up here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-13713654481754064832018-01-01T21:13:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:05:08.105-04:00Understanding Canon Law: An Introduction for Consecrated Virgins <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjaCNj_4KT5LK8WdTNNmbk1Jak2hee_lG-LYkIvqKCEl1sLAqLdf47vaf4Ykg4VWV_nsRnAz88FP0rHJs5Dusma6bx0BOAW7fWSjxmyeUjaAOgpDfF_KNac4iIAuPKGPiXAT3uwyyzXKw/s1600/Canon+law+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="826" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjaCNj_4KT5LK8WdTNNmbk1Jak2hee_lG-LYkIvqKCEl1sLAqLdf47vaf4Ykg4VWV_nsRnAz88FP0rHJs5Dusma6bx0BOAW7fWSjxmyeUjaAOgpDfF_KNac4iIAuPKGPiXAT3uwyyzXKw/s400/Canon+law+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Since
consecrated virginity is such a “new” vocation, one challenge today’s
consecrated virgins face is ambiguity with respect to how this ancient vocation
can find its best lived expression in the modern world. Because of this vocation’s
“newness,” finding helpful reading material, or even just accurate general
information, can be a challenge. Articles and books written about consecrated
virginity tend to be few and far between, and often the authors of secondary sources
express a variety of different opinions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Because
of this, today’s consecrated virgins (and likewise, young women discerning this
vocation) generally find themselves needing to “do their own work,” or to study
the Church’s primary sources on consecrated virginity. In my own life, I am grateful
to have had the opportunity to pursue formal studies in canon law and its
supporting theology—having an academic background in the sacred sciences has
been a tremendous help in many ways, especially in terms of gaining perspective
and an appreciation of the background principles of how the Church’s legal
system functions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">While
of course it’s not possible to pack a whole degree’s worth of knowledge into a
blog post, here are some fundamental points of reference for we as consecrated virgins
to keep in mind as we seek to better educate ourselves on how the Church
envisions our vocation:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">1. Not all writings on consecrated
virginity are authoritative.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This
first point might be obvious almost to the point of being a tautology, I think
it’s still worth saying: when trying to discern how the Church calls
consecrated virgins to live out our vocation, the resources which should demand
most of our attention are those which come from the Church herself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Not
everything that’s written on consecrated virginity can automatically be counted
as directly representing the mind of the Church. For example, there are many
writings on consecrated virginity which are merely personal reflections or
individual opinions (this very blog being an obvious case in point!) But even
more “serious” sources, such as pastoral writings from local diocesan bishops
or scholarly articles published in academic journals, often ultimately represent
just one person’s point of view. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">With
regard to academic writing, naturally it is prudent to take learned opinions
into account, and it is good to respect the education of those who may better
versed in a particular topic than we ourselves are. However, one scholar’s
interpretation of the vocation of consecrated virginity or of a particular
aspect of this vocation is not the same thing as the Church issuing an official
clarification of a disputed question. We may profit from a scholar’s writings
on our vocation, or we might find that his or her writing helps us better
understand the Church’s teachings, or we could even find that scholar’s
arguments so persuasive that we adjust our own opinions or our way of life accordingly.
But when a scholar writes about canon law or theology in his or her own name,
we cannot take that writing as the definitive last word on a given issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Incidentally,
this is true even if that scholar happens to have an authoritative role within
the Church in other contexts. For example, while a bishop may have the ability
to establish proper laws or determine certain concrete policies within his own
diocese, this does not mean that an individual bishop can issue an
interpretation of the law which is binding on the whole Church. Similarly, even
if, for instance, a Cardinal at the Vatican published a canonical commentary or
a theological treatise on the <i>Ordo
Virginum</i>, his thoughts would not become the equivalent of binding law
simply by virtue of the fact that he is a Cardinal. In fact, even if the
Cardinal who was head of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life in
Rome were to write a paper on the <i>Ordo
Virginum</i>, it would only become authoritative if it was published in an
official capacity on behalf of the Congregation—but again, not if he were just
writing in his own name or on his own behalf.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">2. Not all laws are in the
<i>Code</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Now
that we have considered how not all materials consecrated virginity are
authoritative, let’s talk about which ones are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Often
when Catholics think of “the Church’s laws,” the first thing that comes to mind
is the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM" target="_blank">1983 <i>Code of Canon Law</i></a>. But
while the <i>Code</i> is indeed law, and is
therefore certainly authoritative, it’s not the be-all and end-all of law in
the Church. In fact, the <i>Code</i> itself notes
its own limitations in its first few canons. Keeping in mind that there are
other sources of law besides the <i>Code</i>,
the trick is to know what other sources are “out there” and pertinent to
whatever question is at hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">For
example, liturgical laws are binding, but they are not generally covered in the
<i>Code of Canon Law</i>. Relating this to consecrated virgins
specifically, we can recall that the <i>Code</i>
contains only one canon (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM" target="_blank">can. 604</a>) which explicitly addresses the Order of
Virgins. But one other significant source of law for consecrated virgins apart
from the <i>Code</i> is the<i> <a href="http://diolc.org/files/consecratedlife/Complete%20Rite.pdf" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i> itself. In addition
to the text of the liturgy and notes on how it should be properly celebrated,
the <i>Rite</i> also contains a rather
extensive praenotanda. The praenotanda—i.e., the instructions at the beginning
of the <i>Rite</i>, which are technically
liturgical law—actually give us most of what we know definitively regarding the
Church’s specific expectations on consecrated virgins’ way of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
Holy See can also issue documents that set out additional or more specific
norms than what is included in the <i>Code</i>,
whether this be a document created by the Holy Father on his own personal initiative
(what we call a “<i>motu proprio</i>”) or
one written by the appropriate and duly-authorized offices of the Roman Curia.
These kind of “extra” legislative documents from Rome can take a variety of
forms. For example, “Apostolic Constitutions” stand by themselves in creating
universal laws for the Church (a recent example of an Apostolic Constitution is
the document <i><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/07/22/160722a.html" target="_blank">Vultum Dei Quaerere</a></i>,
which sets out updated norms for communities of cloistered nuns), while “Instructions”
are documents which authoritatively clarify earlier official writings or which
spell out additional and more specific rules. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But
alluding to my first point, not all documents from Rome automatically serve as literal,
actual laws. For instance, at times a document will be issued in order to
clarify a disputed point of Catholic doctrine or theology (e.g., <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19761015_inter-insigniores_en.html" target="_blank">Inter Insigniores</a></i> on the question of
women’s ordination, or <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html" target="_blank">Humanae Vitae</a></i>
on the issue of artificial contraception). Although such documents are clearly
authoritative, they simply articulate the theological foundations of our laws
rather than serving as the black-and-white rules themselves. Similarly, some
papal documents, such as Apostolic exhortations like <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031996_vita-consecrata.html" target="_blank">Vita Consecrata</a></i>, are meant to teach, encourage, and inspire the
faithful to greater virtue rather than to set out new or additional juridical
norms. But even though these non-legislative documents cannot be taken as law <i>per se</i>, often they have significance to
our interpretation of the law, insofar as they can provide helpful background insight
as to the “mind of the legislator”—or in other words, insight into the Church’s
intentions when drafting laws related to those issues addressed by the non-legislative
documents in question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In
addition to legislative documents coming from Rome, there is also such a thing
as binding “proper law,” or laws specific to a particular local Church or group
of people. The statutes of a religious community are a good example of proper
law, as they detail the specific rules which bind specifically those members of
a particular community rather than all religious in general. As far as
consecrated virgins are concerned, it is possible that local bishops could
establish proper diocesan laws pertaining the consecrated virgins of his
diocese, provided that these proper diocesan laws would not conflict with the
universal laws of the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">3. The Church’s laws
follow theology</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">On
a more theoretical level, it’s good for us to keep in mind that, unlike secular
civil law, canon law is based on the Church’s theology and doctrinal teachings.
That is, we should realize that as a general principle the Church’s laws are
not arbitrary rules, nor are they solely a set of utilitarian policies based
purely on convenience or expediency. Rather, they are practical responses to
what the Church understands as objective supernatural realities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">To
be sure, there is such a thing as “positive ecclesial law,” or laws that the
Church essentially invents in order to ensure the practical good ordering of
the Christian community. The concept of positive ecclesial law is particularly
evident in the Church’s procedural law (i.e., the laws governing ecclesiastical
trials and other processes) and in some of our sacramental disciplines (e.g.,
the obligation for Catholics to attend Mass on Sunday), although positive
ecclesial law can certainly be found in other areas of the law as well. Yet even
though positive ecclesial laws can be dispensed occasionally, or changed and
updated by the proper authority as is necessary according to contemporary
pastoral situations, positive ecclesial laws still aren’t truly arbitrary. Even
the least theologically significant law does at least reflect the Church’s
teachings in some important way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But
with that being said, the upshot to all this is that it is not the actual verbatim
wording of a particular law which somehow determines the objective nature of
the theological reality being referenced, but instead it’s the other way
around. This principle of “law follows theology” is perhaps most obvious when
we are discussing areas in which canon law and morality overlap—that is, we’re
presumably all aware that a legal rule prohibiting an immoral act is not that the
thing which actually makes the act immoral, but is rather a reflection of the
act’s pre-existing, objective nature. Still, this principle is also applicable
to matters of theology and doctrine. For instance, canon law often describes
the effects of the sacraments, but it would be absurd to suggest that
sacramental grace only exists because the 1983 <i>Code of Canon Law</i> mentions it! (Fun fact: there is an actual term
for what happens when people lose sight of this principle and “miss the forest
for the trees,” or become legalistic to the point of absurdity. It’s called
“legal positivism.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">It
especially is important to remember this principle when considering the Order
of Virgins, because it is only possible to interpret the few existing laws by
considering the rich theological identity that consecrated virginity already
has. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As
an illustration of this, we can recall that it is a matter of law that only
women are eligible to receive the consecration of virgins. Some have argued
that this is unfair to men, whom they believe should also have this vocation
path open to them, and they have expressed their hope that the Church will re-write
the eligibility requirements so as to allow males to become consecrated
virgins. What this sort of argument overlooks, however, is that the restriction
of the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of
Virginity</i> to women is not due to some baseless custom or random historical
accident which somehow later became enshrined in the law, but rather because on
a foundational theological level the call to be a bride of Christ is an
intrinsically feminine reality. The question of whether or not men can become
consecrated virgins is not a simple matter of the Pope potentially deciding to
change the wording of the law, but is instead a question which relates to the
essential nature of the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">4. The Church’s laws are
often (and at times, necessarily) vague.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Similarly,
occasionally consecrated virgins might tend to feel frustrated by how vague the
laws pertaining to the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>
are, insofar as many, if not most, practical concerns are left untreated, and
often even the few specific directives that are given are general enough to
admit a wide scope of varying interpretations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Sometimes,
this vagueness is the result of a real and problematic “gap” in the Church’s
law. The possibility of a gaps or unintentional gray area in the Church’s law
is a well-recognized phenomenon, and it even has its own official technical
term: a <i>lacuna</i>, or <i>lacunae</i> in the plural. <i>Lacunae</i> come about because the drafters
of the law, being merely human, cannot always foresee every question that might
be asked or every situation in which a law might be tested. While the <i>Code</i> itself gives us some directives on
how to deal with <i>lacunae</i> as they
surface (cf. <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3.HTM" target="_blank">can. 17</a>), in general these kinds gaps in the law are those questions
for which the Church is obliged to work towards finding answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Often,
too, laws are only refined or further specified in response to abuses. For
example, the seminary system and the concept of canonical requirements for
priestly formation developed relatively late in the Church’s history, arising
out of the Council of Trent in the late sixteenth century in response to the
many problems occasioned by a lack of necessary education and vocational
earnestness that had become chronic among the clergy of the preceding
centuries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But
on the other hand, sometimes the Church’s laws are vague out of necessity, and
this can be for several reasons. First of all, the Church’s universal laws must
be truly universal. That is, they must apply equally to every country around
the world today, despite the wildly different pastoral circumstances that can
exist across different nations and cultures. Often, it is the local situations
and circumstances which determine the practical ways a particular law can be acknowledged
or carried out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">For
example, although the <i>Code</i> identifies
consecrated virgins as women “dedicated to the service of the Church,” the
specifics of how this is to be observed in one’s day-to-day life is still
technically left to the discretion of the local bishops. Even presuming that we
should interpret “dedication to the service of the Church” in a literal
way—that is, meaning that consecrated virgins are categorically called to devote
the better part of their time and energy to work which directly and explicitly
advances the Church’s mission—there are a number of concrete ways in which this
can be expressed. Naturally, determining the most fruitful and suitable ways
for the consecrated virgins of a given place to devote themselves to serving
the Church is going to depend on a number of factors such as: the specific
needs of the diocese, the presence or absence of Catholic institutions, the
local cultural expectations for women in general and consecrated women in
particular, the overall education level and professional ability of candidates
aspiring to consecrated virginity, the attitude of the local civil government
towards the Catholic Church, and so forth. Because of all these variables, if
the Church’s law were to get overly specific, it might wind up inadvertently
legislating against viable and appropriate practical arrangements for consecrated
virgins’ serving the Church, thus thwarting the very thing it was intended to
promote. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Likewise,
because consecrated virginity is such a “new” vocation, some practical
questions can only be answered through trial-and-error and lived experience.
The question of formation programs for aspiring consecrated virgins is a good example.
Currently, beyond the very basic prerequisites for candidates stated in the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>,
the Church’s universal law doesn’t state any specific official discernment or
formation process for those candidates for the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>. While arguably it would be desirable for the Church eventually
to develop some more concrete guidelines, I can imagine that a pre-set and
overly specific formation program created at the time of the promulgation of
the revised <i>Rite</i> might have done more
harm than good. That is, in the long there may be some real benefit in a
generation of consecrated virgins and bishops having had the opportunity to
reflect on their own insights and lived experience with the <i>Ordo Virginum</i> when determining what kind
of formation is most helpful and necessary, rather than having a pre-convinced
model imposed before the practical nuances of this vocation were fully
understood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
idea that the Church’s laws might at times be intentionally and appropriately vague
brings us to our next point, namely that…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">5. The Church’s laws
presume good faith and common sense.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">One
way in which the Church’s legal system is markedly different from secular systems
of civil law is that the Church’s law, for better or worse, generally favors
trusting the good will and common sense of its subjects. For example, the <i>Code</i> presumes that its adherents already
know and accept the basic tenets Christian morality, and thus does not take
pains to re-legislate the Ten Commandments. Because of this, most grave sins
aren’t technically canonical crimes, as the Church trusts the faithful to avoid
sin on account of their sincerely held faith and not merely due to a fear of
“breaking the law.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Often
times as well, canon law leaves the practical application of generally-stated principles
to the good judgement of individuals. For example, clerics are directed to “foster
simplicity of life and are to refrain from all things that have a semblance of
vanity” (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">can. 282 </a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">§</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">1</a>) and to “refrain
completely from all those things which are unbecoming to their state,” (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">can.
285 </a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">§</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">1</a>) even while the <i>Code</i> does not give us any specific,
concrete, black-and-white definitions for what exactly constitutes “vanity,” or
what qualifies something as “unbecoming to the clerical state.” Of course, the
subjective nature of these canons’ wording leaves plenty of potential
rhetorical loopholes for a legalistic cleric to justify at least certain
components of a <i>de facto</i> worldly or
unbecoming lifestyle. Still, the <i>Code</i>
does seriously intend that these admonitions are to be observed and taken
seriously, for if they were meant as merely pious devotional aspirations, the
drafters would not have not have bothered to include them in the first place! Therefore,
the law itself can be understood as trusting individual clerics to be both honest
and sensible enough to discern for themselves what specific lifestyle choices
are or are not appropriate for their vocation in the cultural context in which
they serve. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">6. The Church’s legal
system prefers to exhort rather than demand.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">On
an overlapping note, another distinctive feature of the Church’s legal system,
especially in our most recent <i>Code of Canon
Law</i>, is the law’s preference to exhort rather than demand. That is, although
the Church’s law is perfectly capable of binding strictly, it would generally prefer
to encourage us to works of prayer, asceticism, and pastoral charity rather
than mandating such things under direct pain of sin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">There
are a couple reasons for this fundamentally exhortative stance. First of all,
recalling once more the necessarily universal scope of the Church’s law,
exhortations allow the Church to declare what she desires to be normative,
while still making an allowance for unusually difficult circumstances where the
norm in all its fullness may not be possible to realize. But perhaps more significantly,
this also reflects a certain ideological orientation of the magisterium
post-Vatican II—namely, a desire to shepherd the faithful to a more mature
understanding and lived expression of their faith. By exhorting rather than compelling,
the Church arguably gives the faithful more liberty to grow in virtue, insofar
as they are permitted to embrace certain ideals of the Christian life more
freely and to assume some of their obligations out of a greater sense of
personal responsibility and devotion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">These
canonical exhortations can take many a few different forms, and might be
thought of as running across a scale of earnestness and seriousness. At the low
end of the “earnestness” scale would be instances where the law invites the
faithful or certain portions of the faithful to that which is praiseworthy, yet
truly optional. One example of this would be how the lay faithful are invited
to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P49.HTM" target="_blank">canon 1174 </a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P49.HTM" target="_blank">§</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P49.HTM" target="_blank">2</a>.
This canon in no way obligates the laity to participate in the Divine Office,
nor does it suggest that this is something a layperson really ought to be doing
in order to be a practicing Catholic. Rather, it is truly an invitation in the
plainest sense of the word. The Church is recognizing that laypersons’ praying
the Divine Office is a good thing, and she welcomes the laity to participate in
this facet of her liturgical life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">A
middle case might be those situations in the law where individuals are clearly
asked to do something or to refrain from something, but where the law envisions
and tolerates certain foreseeable exceptions. For instance, unlike laypeople
who are merely invited to participate the Liturgy of the Hours, in the praenotanda of the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>, consecrated virgins
are “strongly advised” (<i>vehementer suadetur</i>)
to pray the Divine Office. While this phrasing means that consecrated virgins
who are genuinely unable to pray the Office for serious reasons (perhaps such
as illiteracy, a severe learning disability, or living in a country where
Christians were violently persecuted) would not need a formal dispensation to
omit the Office, at the same time it also does not portray the Liturgy of the
Hours as something which is truly optional for the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">On
the most serious end of the spectrum are those places in the law wherein
individuals are definitely called to fulfill what is identified as a
fundamental obligation of their state in life, but without specifying these
obligations in a close enough way so as to make them juridically enforceable. Some
of the examples listed above illustrating the law’s presumption of common-sense
would certainly also apply here. Similarly, there are also places in the law
where an obligation is certainly imposed, but without any stated penalties
attached to a failure to fulfill that obligation. For instance, clerics are
required to observe celibate chastity in “perfect and perpetual continence” (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM" target="_blank">can. 277</a>). While the law does not impose a specific canonical punishment for every kind
of priestly sin of unchastity, this does not mean that clergy are any less
required to fulfill the promises they made at Ordination. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">7. There is such a thing
as “moral obligation.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">An
important corollary to these last two points is that the Church’s legal system
relies heavily on the concept of moral obligation, especially in those areas
that relate to carrying out the duties of one’s state in life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">A
moral obligation, as distinct from a legal or juridical obligation, is an
obligation which one is in justice bound to observe even without said
obligation being spelled out in explicitly in the form of a law. A secular
textbook example of a moral obligation would be the obligation to return stolen
property even after the stature of limitations for prosecuting the theft has
passed. In a Catholic worldview, we might think of moral obligations as those responsibilities
which, if we fail to fulfill them, would leave us as having committed a sin
even if in a very technical sense we were not disobeying the strict letter of
the law. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">For
consecrated virgins specifically, our most central moral obligation might also
be the most obvious one—i.e., the obligation to remain in a perpetual state of
dedicated virginity. At the time of this writing, reception of the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>
is not actually listed in the <i>Code of
Canon Law</i> as an impediment to a valid Catholic marriage, despite the fact
that both perpetual religious profession and Holy Orders are identified as
such. Although it is exceedingly reasonable to suppose that this omission is
merely a problematic <i>lacuna</i> (i.e., a
gap that should be corrected), clearly, we can also speak of a consecrated
virgin being authentically obligated to a life of virginity based just on the theological
nature of her commitment, even without having the verbatim words of a canon to
back up this assertion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">8. The Church’s laws are
not the fullness of Christian life</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Finally,
it’s important to keep in mind that the Church’s laws are not meant to be a
step-by-step handbook to growing in holiness, but are instead more like
guardrails meant to keep us from falling too far off the road. When seeking to
live ones’ vocation well and fully—whether that be one’s baptismal vocation as
a Christian or a more specific vocation to a particular state in life, such as
consecrated virginity—it is not sufficient merely to follow the letter of the
law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Christian
life in general demands a certain generosity of spirit, one that doesn’t merely
keep score based on how well one fulfills the most basic requirements. This is
doubly true for those Christians called to a life of radical observance of the evangelical
counsels in consecrated life. Obeying the Church’s laws is an important first
step on the road to a fruitful consecrated life, but it is only the first step. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-14386960216772277252017-02-26T17:47:00.001-05:002021-10-06T02:10:07.323-04:00Consecrated Virginity and Religious Life<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhQAtACFOoZd8BIoAKvEr5Ucq5qJjA8C0_Zo49RCOeQMz3vke8C4Zj-TyJKo9anXGQttzN2Bv57dRUCso571DGQWBpQXa-vCwv44VcVBOvALOL5aS9fvxdYDq9nuseYw3LmdX4-4Pv3M/s1600/Redemptoristine+Clothing+Ceremony1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhQAtACFOoZd8BIoAKvEr5Ucq5qJjA8C0_Zo49RCOeQMz3vke8C4Zj-TyJKo9anXGQttzN2Bv57dRUCso571DGQWBpQXa-vCwv44VcVBOvALOL5aS9fvxdYDq9nuseYw3LmdX4-4Pv3M/s400/Redemptoristine+Clothing+Ceremony1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An
old photo of the clothing ceremony of a Redemptoristine nun. <br />
Although the Redemptorists
are a relatively modern religious family <br />
whose nuns do not have a tradition of receiving
the consecration of virgins, <br />
their “borrowing” from the spirituality of the
ancient <i>Ordo Virginum</i> <br />
is evident in
the use of bridal imagery and customs. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
discussions on consecrated life or of women’s vocations in general, one type of question
which often arises is how consecrated virginity is different from the more
familiar vocation of women’s religious life. For basic instructional purposes,
a quick answer to this question would be: a religious Sister is a woman who
professes vows within a religious community, and a consecrated virgin is a
woman who has received the <i><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/p/rite-of-consecration.html" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i> from a bishop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
of course, a short answer such as this fails to convey the beautifully nuanced distinctions
between the two vocations, and it also overlooks the significant “family
resemblances” between consecrated virginity and religious life. This kind of
purely technical answer also doesn’t answer some of the more probing usual
follow-up questions, such as: Why would a woman opt to become a consecrated
virgin when she might have been accepted into a number of vibrant religious
communities? Why would the Church re-introduce consecrated virginity as a
“new,” separate category when we already have such a rich tradition of women
dedicating themselves to God as nuns and Sisters? Or why can’t we just regard
today’s religious as fulfilling the role of the early <i>Ordo Virginum</i> in the life of the Church today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
it is possible to find some simple compare-and-contrast charts online, I think
a proper appreciation of both vocations and demands some more in-depth
consideration. To that end, in this post we will look at this question in four separate
sections dealing with: 1. what consecrated virginity and religious life have in
common; 2. elements which are specific to consecrated virginity; 3. elements
that are unique to religious life; and finally, 4. a brief consideration of why
these distinctions are important in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
can start by considering first of all…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I. What religious life
and consecrated virginity have in common</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A common historical
origin.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Consecrated virginity is the oldest recognized form of consecrated life in the
Church today, arguably dating from Apostolic times. Before the existence of
religious life as we understand it today, women who desired to dedicate their
lives entirely to Christ would resolve to persevere in a life of perpetual virginity. At
some point during the Church’s first few centuries a solemn liturgical ritual
for the consecration of virgins was established, which eventually would become
our <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Based
on various <a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/p/church-fathers.html" target="_blank">Patristic writings</a>, it seems that the members of the ancient <i>Ordo Virginum</i> lived (or were at least
called to live) a relatively contemplative lifestyle focused on prayer,
penance, and study. The Church Fathers frequently exhorted consecrated virgins to
associate with each other for the sake of mutual support, and often this translated
into consecrated virgins sharing residences. Naturally, in a common living
situation it is simply to be expected that some sort of practical organization
occur, and eventually “Rules” came to be written for houses of consecrated
virgins. Such Rule-governed houses for consecrated virgins can rightly be
considered some of the earliest precursors to women’s religious life, although this
form of living was still different from our modern concept religious life in
many key respects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- The possibility of a
dual vocation. </span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Continuing
with our historical considerations, we can note that in the Roman Catholic
Church the earliest instance of “religious life” according to today’s definition
of the term would be the Order of St. Benedict. Originally a hermit, St.
Benedict wrote a rule for the fruitful and healthy running of a cenobitic
monastery sometime around the year 530 A.D., with his sister <a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2009/02/st-scholastica-rite-of-consecration-and.html" target="_blank">St. Scholastica</a>
subsequently starting a female branch of the Order. The biographer Pope St. Gregory
the Great describes St. Scholastica as “consecrated to God from her earliest
youth,” which strongly suggests that she was a consecrated virgin even prior to
the beginning of her monastic life. Eventually, western women’s monasticism
would evolve from a regular way of life for (presumably) already-consecrated
virgins to a vocation where women would receive the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i> only after making their
final monastic vows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2IiR-vrZX-NQV6js5mzvB3f5fXQeHqFjZhKnykhhDF6jzcTDI9ARwy-uKlGiXFzMYQIWi8n4EmNKte7WxFtscUXKexvuIZye9oN21QqPPhdL1UVP0LH8mz3MQ4NVQk4hQEf2uxyE3mE/s1600/Carthusian+nuns+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2IiR-vrZX-NQV6js5mzvB3f5fXQeHqFjZhKnykhhDF6jzcTDI9ARwy-uKlGiXFzMYQIWi8n4EmNKte7WxFtscUXKexvuIZye9oN21QqPPhdL1UVP0LH8mz3MQ4NVQk4hQEf2uxyE3mE/s640/Carthusian+nuns+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Carthusian
nun receiving the consecration of virgins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
European civil society became less organized and more chaotic following the
final collapse of the Roman Empire, the practice of consecrating virgins living
“in the world,” or outside of monasteries, gradually became less and less
frequent until it was functionally obsolete. Still, cloistered women’s monastic
life continued to flourish during this time, and it remained the venerable custom
of some religious Orders, most notably the Benedictines and Carthusians, to
offer the privilege of receiving consecration of virgins to their solemnly
professed nuns. This custom was maintained up through the time of the second
Vatican Council, and remained in place even after the 1970 revision of the <i>Rite of Consecration</i> re-established the
non-monastic Order of Virgins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
to sum up, since the very beginnings of organized monastic life it has always
been possible for a woman to be both a religious and a consecrated virgin, and
this remains the case today. In those religious communities which maintain the
practice of the consecration of virgins, a nun may receive the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>
either at the time of her solemn profession of religious vows or at some point
afterwards. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
incidentally, because of the essential compatibility of the two vocations, is
also at least theoretically possible for an already-consecrated virgin “living
in the world” to discern a later vocation to religious life. In this sense, one
helpful parallel for understanding the relationship between the consecration of
virgins and religious profession might be the relationship between Holy Orders
and religious profession for male religious who are also priests. That is, while
religious life and priesthood—like religious life and consecrated virginity—are
two distinct vocations, it is possible that one may be called to both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A shared spiritual heritage.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> As women’s religious
life continued to grow and develop from the time of the early Middle Ages and
on through the centuries, many practices originally associated specifically
with the <i>Ordo Virginum</i> were
“borrowed” by women religious, even within Orders which did not have a tradition
of using the <i>Rite of Consecration to a
Life of Virginity</i>. Elements such as bridal imagery in profession ceremonies,
the formal reception of the veil, and committing oneself to the evangelical
counsels in the presence of the local bishop often remained as customs in
women’s religious life in general. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
this borrowing is especially evident in cloistered contemplative Orders, echoes
of the consecration of virgins can be found even in many modern, non-cloistered
“active” women’s religious communities. For example, many active Sisters receive
a “wedding” ring at their final profession. Some active communities invite the
local bishop to preside as the main celebrant at their profession Masses, even
though the presence of the bishop isn’t strictly necessary since it is the
religious superior who receives a Sister’s vows. And of course, the veil which
is a part of most Sisters’ habits was originally a sign of consecrated
virginity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- Belonging in the same
basic category of “consecrated life.”</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> As a
result of Vatican II, the Church saw some developments and clarifications to
the theology of consecrated life, particularly in terms of understanding
“consecrated life” as an inclusive category. While in the centuries prior to
Vatican II the Church tended to use the terms “religious life” and “consecrated
life” practically as synonyms, the 1983 revision of the <i>Code of Canon Law</i> acknowledged consecrated life as an umbrella
category encompassing a variety of distinct forms. While “religious life” technically speaking
was recognized as one specific form among others, the <i>Code</i> also explicitly acknowledged non-monastic consecrated
virginity as a form of consecrated life in its own right in <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM" target="_blank">canon 604</a>. Other
vocations identified in canon law as forms of consecrated life include secular institutes,
societies of apostolic life, and diocesan hermits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While
these distinctions highlighted the variety of the different expressions of committed
evangelical life in the Church, the acknowledgment of “consecrated life” as an
inclusive category also served to underscore the fundamental unity of the
various forms of consecration. While there are still some overarching
theological and canonical gray areas that have yet to be worked out (e.g., in
some contexts </span></span><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2015/07/consecrated-virginity-versus-secular.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">the exact nature of secular institute members’ consecration</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> still </span>remains<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> somewhat of an open question), the Church has clarified that consecrated
virgins and women religious should be regarded as equally “consecrated.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- Overlap in theological
identity. </span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Consequently,
given that consecrated virginity and religious life are both rightly considered
forms of consecrated life, the Church’s teachings on the essential theological
nature and purpose of consecrated life can be understood as applying to consecrated virgins as well as women religious. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, both consecrated virginity and religious life involve a call to live
as an “eschatological sign,” or a living anticipation of the kind of life all the
faithful in heaven will enjoy. Likewise, both vocations are considered to be
<a href="http://aleteia.org/2016/06/23/why-charismatic-gifts-are-so-important/" target="_blank">charismatic gifts</a> of the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church as a whole. And
membership in the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>, like
religious life, is a fully public state of consecrated life, meaning that
consecrated virgins as well as women religious are called to a public
evangelical witness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
moving on to consider the vocation of consecrated virginity specifically, we
can reflect those things which are…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">II. Unique elements of
consecrated virginity <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- The call to be a bride
of Christ.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Consecrated virginity is most fundamentally a call to a spousal relationship
with Christ. That is, the call to live as a bride of Christ is a central and
non-negotiable aspect of a vocation to the Order of Virgins, and consecrated
virgins are the only ones whom canon law explicitly describes as “mystically
betrothed to Christ.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, as was mentioned above, many women’s religious communities that do not
use the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of
Virginity</i> still have a venerable tradition of employing bridal imagery in
their profession ceremonies and broader spiritual life. However, on a canonical
level bridal spirituality is more or less optional for religious, in the sense
that the incorporation of such spiritual imagery is entirely dependent on the
specific charism of a particular community. Therefore, it is entirely possible
to be a fervent religious, following Christ in the evangelical counsels,
without necessarily understanding this as a specifically nuptial call. While a
consecrated virgin by definition is called to relate to Christ as her Spouse, a
woman religious might legitimately feel called to see her commitment to Christ
in other terms—perhaps such as relating to Christ primarily as a friend,
brother, or teacher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">(For
a more detailed discussion of this concept, see my earlier post: “<a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2015/03/who-can-be-called-bride-of-christ.html" target="_blank">Who Can Be Called a Bride of Christ?</a>”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A vocation only for
women.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Consecrated
virginity is the only vocation in the Catholic Church which is restricted to
women. Just as only men are called to Holy Orders and the priesthood, only
women can receive solemn consecration to a life of virginity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
makes consecrated virginity intrinsically different from religious life as a
category. Although individual religious communities are either male or female, religious
life in general is open to both men and women. Furthermore, in our current
canon law, the laws governing religious communities for the most part apply
equally to both male and female communities, which indicates that unlike Holy Orders or consecrated virginity, a vocation to
religious life <i>per se</i> is not directly
connected to one’s gender. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A requirement of
literal virginity.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Consecrated virginity is also unique among the various forms of consecrated
life recognized by the Church in that it is the only one to have literal
virginity as a prerequisite. A religious vow of chastity is future-oriented in
that it is a commitment to live in evangelical chastity from that point
forward, regardless of whatever sins have been committed and repented from
previously. In contrast to this, a candidate for the </span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ordo Virginum</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> professes her resolve to continue on in the state of
virginity in which she has already been persevering throughout the </span>entire<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> course of
her life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A “passive” rather
than “active” consecration.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> A woman becomes a consecrated virgin when she receives the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>
at the hands of a bishop. It is true that a candidate for consecration makes
public promises during the course of the <i>Rite,
</i>and that in doing so she actively states her resolve to persevere in a life
of virginity and service to the Church. Still, the defining element in the
consecration of virgins is not the making of these public promises, but rather the
<b><i>reception</i></b>
of the central consecratory prayer. Technically speaking, the consecration of
virgins is a solemn constitutive blessing, which makes a virgin a sacred person
through no action of her own—similar to the way in which a Church building is
made into a sacred place when it is consecrated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the other hand, religious are consecrated through their active profession of religious
vows. While there is certainly a “passive” dimension in religious profession
insofar as a religious’ vows must be received by the competent authority in the
Church, religious can be described as essentially consecrating themselves by
means of their promises to God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
a consequence of this dynamic, it is possible for the Church to dispense a
religious from her vows in certain rare cases, because the Church has the power
to release members of the faithful from the obligation to fulfill promises they
have previously made. But since a consecrated virgin is made consecrated not
through her own promises but rather through the solemn constitutive blessing of
the <i>Rite</i>, it is not possible for the Church
to “un-consecrate” her. Therefore, while the Church might be able to release a
consecrated virgin from some of the non-essential obligations of her state, her
consecration itself is absolutely permanent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A special connection
to the local Church.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
As the <i>Rite of Consecration</i>
identifies consecrated virgins as the “spiritual daughters” of the diocesan
bishop who are admitted to consecrated under his authority; and given that the <i>Rite</i> also envisions consecrated virgins
as those who often “take part in the
good works of the diocese”; we can rightly describe consecrated virgins as belonging to
their home dioceses in a special way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While
religious undoubtedly contribute a great deal to the dioceses where they are
present, a religious’ first and most primary bond is always with her religious
Order or community. As a result, an apostolic religious might be sent on
mission to any number of places according to the needs of her institute, but a
consecrated virgin is free to remain as a more stable presence within a
particular local Church. And while a religious
is called specifically to those works of the apostolate which harmonize with
her community’s charism, whether or not these apostolic words directly relate
to the perceived needs of any particular diocese, a consecrated virgin is able
to serve the local Church in whatever ways her bishop discerns is most </span>necessary<span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A special affinity
with the early Church.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> As noted above, the <i>Ordo Virginum</i> can trace its origin back
to Apostolic times, pre-dating the development of religious life by several
centuries. Our earliest reference of consecrated virgins as forming a distinct
group within the Church goes back to St. Ignatius of Antioch’s greeting to the
“ever-virgins called widows” in the Church at Smyrna written around 100 A.D.,
and there are references to a specific liturgical ritual for the consecration
of virgins in the fourth-century writings of St. Ambrose. Our current text of
the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of
Virginity</i> contains several antiphons traditionally attributed to St. Agnes,
and the virgin-martyrs listed in the Roman Canon are generally considered to be
members of the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
of this, the spirituality of consecrated virgins today might rightly be called
the spirituality of the early virgin-martyrs. While naturally the virgin-martyr
saints can and do inspire the spirituality of many women religious as well,
religious primarily share in the charism of their own proper founders who lived
in later periods of the Church’s history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">III. Unique elements of
religious life<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Turning
now to religious life, we can note that religious life is different from
consecrated virginity in that religious life necessarily involves…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A call to follow the
spirituality of a particular founder or foundress.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> In our modern
understanding of religious life, religious are considered the spiritual sons or
daughters of a particular founder or foundress. The Church currently speaks of
the founders of religious communities as having been granted the charism—i.e.,
a special gift of grace from God for the good of the Church as a whole—of a foundational
spirituality and unique purpose within the Church. When a religious joins her
specific Order or congregation, she is accepting a call to share in the
specific charism that was originally rooted in a particular time and place with
a particular person or group of persons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
I believe we can indeed regard the <i>Ordo
Virginum</i> as having a distinctive spirituality of its own, consecrated
virginity was not literally “founded“ in the same way as a religious family, but
rather developed organically along with the infant Church. Therefore, we might
say that a consecrated virgin is called to a more universal or even “generic”
vocation than a religious Sister would be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- The following of a
rule and constitutions.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Just as religious are called to follow in the footsteps of
a particular founder, they also commit to following a particular rule and
constitutions (with constitutions being a more concrete interpretation of a
Rule’s broader spiritual vision). In fact, the very term “religious” comes from
a Latin word meaning “to bind,” as religious freely bind themselves to observe
a Rule. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
might think of a Rule as being somewhat like an instruction book for growing in
holiness. As a consequence, religious life as a vocation is much more oriented
towards the guidance and personal spiritual benefit of the individual religious
than membership in the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>
would be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
is, a stated purpose of many religious communities, and an implicit mission of
all of them, is to provide actively for the sanctification of their members.
While it is certainly to be hoped that the reception of <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i> would contribute to a
newly-consecrated virgin’s personal holiness, the <i>Ordo Virginum</i> as a state is not fundamentally ordered to the same
kind of personal spiritual assistance as religious life according to a Rule
would be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- Community life.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Religious life is also,
by its very nature, a call to live in community with other religious. Community
life for religious is not only the shared vision and purpose that comes about
from belonging to an intentional group, but it also includes the day-to-day
sharing of a truly common life lived under the same roof. Because of this,
religious give a unique witness to the value of fraternal charity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
do think it’s important to note that consecrated virginity is certainly not
anti-community, as consecrated virgins are part of the larger community which
is their diocese. Consecrated virgins also can and do form associations, and
they are even free even to share residences with other consecrated virgins if
they wish. Still, unlike women religious, a consecrated virgin is consecrated
as an individual and is not required to observe any form of common life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- A more radical and
explicit call to poverty and obedience.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Community life also allows religious to observe
the evangelical counsels of poverty and obedience in a much more concrete way
than most consecrated virgins are able to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
a consecrated virgin is called to live in a spirit of evangelical obedience in
terms of accepting the guidance of her bishop, a bishop will not have exactly
the same role in her daily life as the community superior of a woman religious.
This allows religious to live out the virtue of obedience in a much
more intense and immediate way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Likewise,
while a consecrated virgin is called to observe the virtue of evangelical
poverty through a simple way of life, consecrated virgins are capable of owning
personal property and administering their own financial resources. This is very
different the religious vow of poverty, which obligates a woman religious to
hold all material goods in common with her Sisters in community, and which
therefore for most intents and purposes prevents her from owning anything herself.
Sharing all good in common also gives individual religious a level of freedom
from material concerns which is meant to foster an interior prayerful serenity,
whereas consecrated virgins (like the laity and secular clergy) need to be proactive
in all the mundane tasks involved in prudently providing for their own
practical needs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- Separation from the
world.</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Religious life has its roots in the eremitic monasticism of the Desert Fathers,
and this heritage rightly influences, to at least a certain extent, all forms
of religious life today, from cloistered contemplative life to the most active
apostolic communities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Church’s earliest monks and nuns “left the world” by retreating to deserted
places, which often meant literal deserts. This was for the very pragmatic
purpose of freeing themselves from the distractions of day-to-day life in human
society for the sake of being free to focus on spiritual things. Yet, this
iconic “<i>fuga mundi</i>” also had a more symbolic
dimension of renouncing all things for the love of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Eventually,
literal deserts were replaced by the metaphorical “desert” of the architectural
enclosure of a monastery building. With the advent of apostolic women’s
communities, various community customs and practices (such as restricted home
visits, keeping silence at certain times, carefully selection in media
consumption, always leaving the convent with a companion, etc.) came to act as
a sort of substitute for the strict cloister observed by nuns. Even today, while many apostolic religious
have a great deal of engagement with human society outside of their community, religious
are always called to maintain at least a core spirituality of separation from
the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
I would argue that, in keeping with our vocation to be eschatological signs,
consecrated virgins are called to embody a profound sense of detachment from
even the good things of this world, virgins consecrated according to canon 604
are not called to the same concrete and radical separation from the world that
religious are. This naturally gives consecrated virgins a greater freedom to
relate to the ordinary faithful in their diocese, but it also means that they have to contend with many of the same temptations and distractions as anyone
else who “lives in the world.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">IV. Why is all this
important?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what should we take away from these distinctions? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
of all, I believe that a failure to appreciate the ways in which religious life
is different from consecrated virginity can cause unnecessary spiritual
difficulties for women religious. For example, it would be wrong for a nun or
Sister who was not a virgin to suffer from a crisis of conscience in this
regard, since she should be at peace knowing that God is pleased with her
resolve to life in chastity from the moment of her profession forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Expecting
women’s religious life to fulfill the role of the Order of Virgins also has the
potential to hinder women religious from fulfilling their charism in even
practical ways. Many examples of this can be found in the history of the Church
in the United States, when at certain points women religious were often
expected to abandon the work for which they were founded in order to attend to
what the local bishop determined as the more pressing needs of the diocese.
Often this took the form of, for instance, a teaching community adding nursing
to their apostolate; but at times even solemnly-professed cloistered nuns were
pressured to abandon their fully contemplative life in order to engage in an
active apostolate. While consecrated virgins might legitimately be at a
diocesan bishop’s disposal in this regard, the charism of a religious community
generally has certain restrictions which cannot be disregarded without putting
the very identity of the community at risk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Similarly,
wrongly conflating the two vocations could conceivably lead to the imposition upon
consecrated virgins of certain characteristic obligations of religious life (i.e.,
those obligations to which consecrated virgins are not necessarily called), such
as making it a strict requirement for consecrated virgins to live in community or
compelling consecrated virgins to adopt the spirituality of a particular
religious Order. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
conversely, there is also, in my opinion, a real danger that a less-than-fully
informed understanding of the relationship between religious life and the Order
of Virgins could lead to consecrated virginity being mistakenly understood as a
sort of “watered down” version of religious life. Without an appropriate understanding
of the distinctive dignity of consecrated virginity, it can be easy to overlook
the lofty goals to which consecrated virgins are indeed called by virtue of their
vocation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
be more specific, confusion regarding the differences between consecrated
virginity and religious life can lead to wrongly allowing certain concessions
for consecrated virgins—that is, “concessions” which might be perfectly acceptable
for religious, but which would cut at the heart of a vocation to the <i>Ordo Virginum</i>. Examples of this could include
encouraging struggling consecrated virgins to seek a “dispensation from their
vows”; advising non-virgins to discern a vocation to consecrated virginity;
suggesting that select private devotional prayers could take the place of some
or all of the Liturgy of the Hours for a consecrated virgin; guiding a
consecrated virgin to find her primary spiritual “home” within a lay ecclesial
movement rather than within her parish and diocese; or de-emphasizing the
importance of a nuptial spirituality in a life of consecrated virginity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But on the other hand,</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> while it is important
to understand the ways in which consecrated virginity and religious life are distinct
from each other, I would also propose that it’s equally critical to keep in
mind the deep affinity that actually does exist between to the two forms of
consecrated life. That is, regarding the Order of Virgins and religious life as
two entirely unrelated entities can cause us to lose out on a great deal of
spiritual richness and theological insight, which could prevent all of us
consecrated women from living out our respective vocations to the fullest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, the spousal call of consecrated virgins represents, in at least an
analogical way, the goal of total union with Christ towards to which all the observances
of religious life are ultimately directed. Even if not every woman religious will
personally experience the grace of relating to Christ in explicitly spousal
terms, this does not mean that religious should automatically dismiss traditional
bridal imagery as outdated sentimentalism. Rather, I would say that refection
on religious life’s overlapping history with the <i>Ordo Virginum</i> can provide nourishing food for thought for Sisters
in all kinds of communities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Likewise,
while consecrated virginity is much less structured than religious life, it is
crucial not to fall into the mistaken assumption that consecrated virgins are therefore
somehow not called to devote themselves quite as radically to the Lord as women
religious are. We should keep in mind that, when lived properly, the
consecration of virgins should require just as much of a complete self-gift as
the profession of religious vows. While consecrated virgins (and those
responsible for their formation and guidance) should be careful to avoid
attempts to fit themselves into the “mold” of religious life, with careful discernment
the lives of fervent women religious can still be very instructive to those of
us called to consecrated virginity. At a time in history when the restored <i>Ordo Virginum</i> is still very much “finding
itself” in terms of practical lived expressions in day-to-day life, we consecrated
virgins should not be afraid to look to our Sisters in religious life for
inspiration in living out a life informed by the evangelical counsels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-25383762344968919622016-02-23T16:43:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:05:20.809-04:00My Writing in Other Places<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unfortunately, I’ve been letting the blog slide a quite bit
lately (though I do hope to have some new posts up soon.) Part of the reason for the lack
of posts here is that I’ve been busy with <a href="http://aleteia.org/author/jenna-m-cooper/" target="_blank">other writing projects</a>. Here are some
articles of mine, which I think will be of special interest to “Sponsa Christi”
readers, that have recently been published in other places:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://aleteia.org/2016/02/11/the-oldest-form-of-consecrated-life-is-also-the-newest-and-its-growing/" target="_blank"><b>The Oldest Form of Consecrated Life Is Also the Newest,and It’s Growing!</b></a> (February 11, 2016, on <a href="http://aleteia.org/">Aleteia.org</a>) – Some of my reflections
on the recent international symposium for the <i>Ordo Virginum</i> held in Rome to celebrate of
the closing of the Year of Consecrated Life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/in-lieu-of-female-deacons-a-proposal" target="_blank">In Lieu of Female Deacons, a Proposal</a></b> (November 11, 2015
in <a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/" target="_blank">Crisis Magazine</a>) – Wherein I opine that, rather than spending time and
resources discussing the possibility of instituting some sort of female diaconate, it might
be more fruitful if the Church focused instead on promoting and supporting the
<i>Ordo Virginum</i>, as consecrated virgins could easily fulfill many of the perceived
pastoral needs which tend to prompt discussion of women deacons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="http://www.leonieslonging.org/the-vocation-to-consecrated-virginity/" target="_blank">The Vocation of Consecrated Virginity</a></b> (February 18, 2015
for <a href="http://www.leonieslonging.org/" target="_blank">Leonie’s Longing</a>) – Some information and advice for former religious Sisters
who may be considering becoming consecrated virgins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For more frequent links and short updates, you can
also check the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sponsachristiblog/" target="_blank">facebook page</a> I created for this blog.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-7219574839189312172015-07-26T14:49:00.001-04:002021-10-06T02:10:39.141-04:00Consecrated Virginity versus Secular Institutes <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5f-CMmc_6KKB8KwZvUSb7d0i3D5QcK2fo0ZuCT_fLo0DBRbo_OJvF5qY8gQxMJx2xI4cPj1ACPIQoGp7WKaSyY4CtaIcARKUCGgQqugY3HlQOlnGzZ1h8rgN4Gso2121VvJFuzqysO4/s1600/Wheat-Field-with-Cypresses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5f-CMmc_6KKB8KwZvUSb7d0i3D5QcK2fo0ZuCT_fLo0DBRbo_OJvF5qY8gQxMJx2xI4cPj1ACPIQoGp7WKaSyY4CtaIcARKUCGgQqugY3HlQOlnGzZ1h8rgN4Gso2121VvJFuzqysO4/s400/Wheat-Field-with-Cypresses.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
already well-known to readers of this blog that, as the Order of Virgins is a
form of consecrated life which has been only fairly recently re-introduced into
the life of the modern Church, there are still a lot of open questions
regarding the more concrete aspects of how this vocation is to be lived out.
For instance, we might ask: what is the life of a consecrated virgin supposed
to “look like?” How does she present herself in public? What sort of formation
should she have had? How is her relationship with her bishop and her diocese
supposed to function? And what exactly does it mean for her to be “dedicated to
the service of the Church?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
way that canonists often try to resolve these kinds of ambiguities is by
looking for parallel situations in the Church. When we find ourselves needing
to contend with gaps in the Church’s law—whether the <i>lacunae</i> pertain to
consecrated virginity specifically, or to any other challengingly vague
circumstance in the life of the Church—we can begin to address these gaps by considering
other approved ways of life (or circumstances with adequate legislation) which
are fundamentally similar in some important respect. Then once we have identified
how the Church approaches these better-understood situations, we can adapt and
apply the rules governing those situations to the circumstances which are still
in question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
this end, I’ve noticed many commentators tend to assume that secular institutes
provide the closest parallel to the Order of Virgins, based primarily on the
fact that both secular institute members and consecrated virgins “live in the
world.”* However, I believe that looking at secular institutes as the
interpretive key for understanding the revived Order of Virgins is a mistake,
for several reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1. The Church is still
somewhat unclear on the canonical and theological nature of secular institutes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
reason why I believe secular institutes really do not provide a good model for
understanding consecrated virginity is because, at this point in time, there is
still a lot about secular institutes which the Church can’t yet fully
categorize or articulate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Church does give us a basic working definition of secular institutes in <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2F.HTM" target="_blank">canon 710</a> of the <i>Code of Canon Law</i>. Here, a
secular institute is identified as: “…an institute of consecrated life in which
the Christian faithful, living in the world, strive for the perfection of
charity and seek to contribute to the sanctification of the world, especially
from within.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
know that, like religious, secular institute members make a profession to
observe the evangelical counsels (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2F.HTM" target="_blank">cf. can. 723 §1</a>). But unlike religious, the
vows of secular institute members are not considered “public.” Secular
institute members are also similar to religious in the sense that they are
consecrated specifically as part of a particular community with its own founder
and charism. Yet in contrast with religious, they usually do not share a
household or live together. Secular institute members are often described by
the Church as called to be a “leaven in the world,” (cf. <a href="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/929.htm" target="_blank"><i>CCC</i> 929</a>) and as such they
generally work in secular jobs and refrain from adopting any special dress,
titles, or customs which would outwardly distinguish them as consecrated
persons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
even in light of these basics, there is still a great deal of variety among the
different secular institutes. For example, secular institutes can vary widely
in how they understand the practice of “discretion.” Some institutes encourage their
members to share their special ecclesial identity openly whenever it could be
pastorally helpful (at least <a href="http://www.schsrsmary.org/" target="_blank">one secular institute</a> even has special identifying
dress which members wear in some circumstances), while other institutes have
the tradition of keeping their members’ vocation much more hidden. <a href="http://www.ccinfo.org/" target="_blank">Some secular institutes</a> have a very strong emphasis on the “secularity” and specifically
“lay” character of their vocation, while other institutes were <a href="http://theleaven.org.uk/Our%20story.htm" target="_blank">at least originally founded</a> with the intention of their members living what was
essentially a modified form of religious life. In many secular institutes, the
members may only see each other once or twice each year; but on the other hand,
some secular institutes do allow for or encourage <a href="http://www.secularinstitutes.co.uk/grail.htm" target="_blank">a certain level of common life</a> among their members.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
perhaps more significant to my point here, the Church’s writings on secular
institutes are often confusing, or even seemingly self-contradictory. For
example, the Church describes secular institutes as being institutes of
consecrated life, with the subsequent implication that members of secular
institutes are thus truly consecrated. The Church also describes consecrated
life as being a different state from that of laity (cf. <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM" target="_blank">can. 588 §1</a>). However,
in <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2F.HTM" target="_blank">canon 711</a>, secular institute membership is described as something which
“does not change the member’s proper canonical condition among the people of
God, whether lay or clerical.” So it would seem to be currently a bit of
conundrum as to how secular institute members can be truly consecrated, and
truly lay (i.e., not having changed their canonical condition to “consecrated”)
at the same time!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
similar confusing gap in the Church’s understanding of secular institutes is
the question of precisely what kind of vows secular institute members make.** Secular
institutes are distinct from religious institutes in that their vows are not
public. And since their vows are not public, then it would seem to follow
logically that their vows would therefore have to be considered private. One
characteristic of private vows <i>per se</i>
is that they are a personal initiative, and not something officially received
in the name of the Church. Yet it would seem that secular institute members’
vows are indeed received in the name of the Church when they are received by
the moderator of their institute. Some commentators have tried to resolve this
inconsistency by calling secular institute members’ vows “semi-public”—but this
is also problematic, since “semi-public vows” are not a concept which is
actually mentioned anywhere in our current canon law. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Naturally,
since secular institutes are a newer form of consecrated life, it is
understandable that there are still questions which have yet to be resolved,
and so these observations of mine are certainly not meant to undermine the life
and vocation of current secular institute members. However, it does still stand to reason that
all these unanswered questions would make secular institutes a
less-than-helpful interpretive key for other forms of consecrated life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2. Secular institutes
have many fundamental differences from consecrated virginity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even
apart from the above-mentioned ambiguities, when we consider what we actually do
know about secular institutes, it becomes clear that secular institutes are
structurally, fundamentally different from the Order of Virgins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
one thing, as was just noted, secular institute members’ profession of the evangelical
counsels is private (or at least less-than-fully public), whereas consecrated
virginity is very much a public state of consecrated life. In fact, we could go
so far as to say that a woman enters into the Order of Virgins in the most
public way possible, via a liturgical ritual to which all the faithful are to
be invited. This element alone carries implications which make secular
institutes inappropriate a parallel for understanding the Order of Virgins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Another
very significant canonical difference is that consecrated virginity is a non-institutional
form of consecrated life, in the sense that virgins are consecrated as individuals
rather specifically as members of a special group or community. A consecrated
virgin remains under the direct authority of her bishop, and her only “institutional”
affiliation within the Church is her connection to her diocese. Likewise,
consecrated virgins do not have a special call to follow the charismatic
spirituality of any particular founder or foundress. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
contrast, secular institutes are by definition institutional. One becomes
consecrated as a secular institute member specifically by joining a community
which is a secular institute. A secular institute member has his or her
profession of the evangelical counsels received by the moderator (the word used
in lieu of “superior” for secular institutes) of their institute, and the
concrete ways in which they observe the counsels is determined by the
constitution, customs, and spirituality, of their particular institute. And
like religious—but unlike consecrated virgins—secular institute members are
called to live out the unique charism handed down to them from the founder or
foundress of their institute. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Additionally,
there are many essential elements of the vocation to consecrated virginity
which the Church does not ascribe to secular institutes, and vice-versa. For
example, only consecrated virgins are explicitly identified as “<a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/2015/03/who-can-be-called-bride-of-christ.html" target="_blank">brides of Christ</a>.” While bridal spirituality is absolutely central to the vocation of a
consecrated virgin, it would seem to be, at most, optional for a woman secular
institute member. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the other hand, while secular institute members are given a specific mission “to
order temporal things according to God and to inform the world by the power of
the gospel,” (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2F.HTM" target="_blank">can. 713 §2</a>) and are explicitly directed to “lead their lives in
the ordinary conditions of the world,” (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2F.HTM" target="_blank">can. 714</a>) this sort of language and
“leaven” imagery <a href="http://www.sponsa-christi.blogspot.it/2010/07/what-does-it-mean-to-be-in-world.html" target="_blank">is never used</a> in magisterial documents to describe the Order
of Virgins. In fact, consecrated virgins are arguably given the very opposite
vocation of serving as an “eschatological sign of the world to come” (cf. the
praenotanda of the <i>Rite of Consecration</i>).
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">3. The issue of anachronism<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is an issue of anachronism. Today’s Order of Virgins was intended as a revival
of an ancient Patristic form of consecrated life, (cf. <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031996_vita-consecrata.html" target="_blank"><i>Vita Consecrata</i>, 7</a>) whereas secular institutes are almost overwhelmingly
a twentieth-century development. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Secular
institutes are the newest form of consecrated life in the Church. While it
could be argued that various earlier associations in the Church history served
as precursors to today’s secular institutes (the earliest Ursuline Sisters and
French Daughters of the Heart of Mary are <a href="https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/RSS/RSSDailyTakeBlog/TabId/975/ArtMID/14186/ArticleID/8577/Secular-institutes-are-leaven-in-the-world.aspx" target="_blank">often cited as examples</a> of this), secular
institutes as such were not formally recognized and endorsed by the Church
until 1947, when Pope Pius XII promulgated the Apostolic Constitution <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19470202_provida-mater-ecclesia.html" target="_blank">Provida Mater Ecclesia</a></i>. What’s more, the
central defining charism of secular institutes—i.e., an apostolic mission to
order the sphere of temporal affairs in accord with Christian values—is very
recent development in the life of the Church. It was virtually unheard of
before the twentieth century to have a distinctive spirituality ordered
specifically around the call to be “leaven in the world.” (That is, prior to
the twentieth century, it’s difficult to find any examples of the Church
promoting “ordinary Christian life in the world” as a vocation to be embraced
through a special, recognized form of dedicated evangelical life. “Leaven”
imagery, being scriptural in origin, was of course still used before the modern
era. However, this tended to be a description of Christian life in general,
rather than as a distinctive charism in its own right.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, the “newness” of secular institutes should not be automatically written
off as a bad thing. It is very reasonable to believe that the Holy Spirit would
inspire a new form of consecrated life to meet the specific needs of the modern
world, just as different forms of religious and consecrated life were inspired
at different points in the Church’s history to meet the needs of the Church and
human society as a whole.***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
this newness does make secular institutes an unhelpful parallel for
understanding consecrated virginity, which was meant as a restoration of the
ancient, Patristic-era Order of Virgins. To say that consecrated virgins should
look to secular institutes for guidance in understanding consecrated virginity
would be to anachronistically superimpose a distinctively modern charism onto
what is really an ancient vocation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One other point…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
address one final point, I’ve occasionally seen it argued that, because secular
institute members are at least officially permitted to receive the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>,****
we can deduce that secular institute members and consecrated virgins “living in
the world” are meant to be living similar ways of life. Or in other words,
because a vocation to consecrated virginity and a vocation to a secular
institute can theoretically co-exist in the same person (just as a nun in
certain religious Orders could have a twofold vocation to religious life and to
consecrated virginity), we should therefore assume that the Church intended
non-monastic consecrated virgins to a live fully secular lifestyle in the
strongest sense of the term. According to this train of thought, since a
secular institute member can supposedly live out her distinctly secular
vocation even after receiving the consecration of virgins, it must thereby
follow that consecrated virginity isn’t something which could conflict or
overshadow this call to a strongly secular way of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
first observation I have here is that, even after researching this topic fairly
extensively, I am not aware of any actual documented cases of a particular
secular institute encouraging its members to seek the consecration of virgins.
So to being with, it would seem that the issue of a woman needing to harmonize
her twin vocations to consecrated virginity and secular institute membership is
a primarily hypothetical one at this point in time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
more substantially, to me this line of reasoning also seems to be based on some
not-yet-justified assumptions. Namely, how do we know that secular institute membership
should be the “dominant” spirituality in a woman who is called to both
vocations? Why should we think of consecrated virginity as merely a possible
facet of a vocation to secular institute membership, rather than the other way
around? Instead, might it possibly make more sense to think of secular
institute membership as being more like a secondary support to a “primary”
vocation to consecrated virginity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
look at one potential parallel on this, we do have examples of diocesan or
secular priests (i.e., priests “living in the world”) who are also secular
institute members. In a few cases, these priest-secular institute members are
actually incardinated into their institute. However, most of the time, priests
who are members of secular institutes are diocesan priests who are incardinated
into their diocese in the normal way. While they share in the spirituality and
limited community life of their institute, these priests still owe their
primary obedience to their bishop, and remain dedicated to priestly ministry in
their dioceses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even
if they belong to a secular institute which includes lay members, such priests
still fulfill their specifically priestly obligations, and continue to dress
and present themselves publicly as priests. That is, such priests do not strive
to live as laypeople, even though most secular institutes put a heavy emphasis
on “lay spirituality.” Secular institute membership among the clergy is seen as
an affirmation and support of their priesthood, rather than a negation of the
“specialness” of their priestly vocation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Similarly,
I think the theoretical possibility of female secular institute members
becoming consecrated virgins might say more about the nature of secular
institutes than it does about the nature of consecrated virginity. And so I
would go so far as to argue that—insofar as consecrated virginity and secular
institute membership aren’t <i>de jure</i>
incompatible—consecrated virgins who are members of secular institutes should see
consecrated virginity as their principal vocation, and should give this primary
vocation pride of place in terms of the way they order their exterior lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">notes: <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">*
For example, Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM makes this very point in her famous article
“<a href="http://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/holland.pdf" target="_blank">Consecrated Virgins for Today’s Church</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">**
And to make this even more confusing, some secular institutes profess the
evangelical counsels not through vows, but rather through some other “sacred
bond”—i.e., a commitment which is technically something other than a vow <i>per
se</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">***
Earlier examples of different forms of consecrated life developing in order to
respond prophetically to the needs of the Church and contemporary society could
include: organized monasticism arising just in time to preserve western culture
and learning after the fall of the Roman empire, or the foundation of the
mendicant Orders in the Middle Ages serving to bring renewal to the
comfortably-established medieval Church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">****
Sr. Sharon Holland also discusses this in “<a href="http://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes/holland.pdf" target="_blank">Consecrated Virgins for Today’s Church</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-14690698367026922412015-07-22T15:38:00.003-04:002021-05-09T17:06:59.285-04:00Feast of St. Mary Magdalen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31mN5hIBpNxD6EVgaRM2Yw6rTKo-R56TY2wvVTG27yVVvK7JnfMNUnEn_ZtYeajT7C-TAMaisd-DA487iqHnNZ7-FovIzubEfvBv-R7zyOp1YvgpC7pxdTh4P3CUBW8bLqFtSTci3Tcg/s1600/Appearence-to-Mary-Magdalene-%2528Noli-me-tangere%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31mN5hIBpNxD6EVgaRM2Yw6rTKo-R56TY2wvVTG27yVVvK7JnfMNUnEn_ZtYeajT7C-TAMaisd-DA487iqHnNZ7-FovIzubEfvBv-R7zyOp1YvgpC7pxdTh4P3CUBW8bLqFtSTci3Tcg/s400/Appearence-to-Mary-Magdalene-%2528Noli-me-tangere%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
blessed feast of St. Mary Magdalen to all my sisters in Christ around the world!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
there is a long-standing tradition in the Latin Church of regarding her as a penitent
sinner, I still find St. Mary Magdalen to be an especially meaningful saint for
me in my life as a consecrated virgin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Gospel accounts portray St. Mary Magdalen as one of Christ’s closest follows. She
was one of the small handful of Jesus’ friends who remained with Him during His
passion and death on the cross, and she was privileged to be the first disciple
to announce the good news of the Resurrection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Church expresses the depth of St. Mary Magdalen’s love for Christ in the almost
bridal overtones in the liturgy for her feast day. For example, one of the antiphons
for Lauds (Morning Prayer) reads:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>“My
heart burns within me; I long to see my Lord; I look for him, but I cannot find
where they have put him, alleluia.”</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
perhaps most strikingly, one of the options for the first reading at today’s
Mass is taken from the Song of Songs (and this is one of the very few instances
where the Song of Songs is included in the lectionary):</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
my bed at night I sought him</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">whom
my soul loves—</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
sought him but I did not find him.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Let
me rise then and go about the city,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">through
the streets and squares;</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
me seek him whom my soul loves.”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
sought him but I did not find him.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
watchmen found me,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">as
they made their rounds in the city:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Him
whom my soul loves—have you seen him?”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hardly
had I left them</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">when
I found him whom my soul loves.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">(<i><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/songofsongs/3" target="_blank">Songof Songs 3:1-4a</a></i>)</span></blockquote>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-86147593999168645732015-03-01T16:10:00.000-05:002021-10-06T02:10:55.219-04:00Who Can Be Called a Bride of Christ? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIk2quokI9XavIRIcmbAqkrd3r_DO1xt2ZreUC-e1T0rmCZcSh6sz81pFZfY0M7gndS9R-Yp-DiyF8ya2DEbJIdoFkoaL6LKx_Y8fMDVXmKjDsS7E92q2xXg8_gg5dP2s1oaFi47795k/s1600/caterina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIk2quokI9XavIRIcmbAqkrd3r_DO1xt2ZreUC-e1T0rmCZcSh6sz81pFZfY0M7gndS9R-Yp-DiyF8ya2DEbJIdoFkoaL6LKx_Y8fMDVXmKjDsS7E92q2xXg8_gg5dP2s1oaFi47795k/s1600/caterina.jpg" height="392" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Whenever
I’m asked what is the most central element of a vocation to consecrated
virginity, without hesitation I always answer: the call to be a bride of
Christ. All other aspects of this vocation revolve around this core identity
and specific form of self-gift. The centrality of this vocation’s spousal
element is clearly stated in both the <i>Code
of Canon Law</i> as well as in the <i><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/p/rite-of-consecration.html" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i> itself. It’s also very evident in
the personal vocations stories of most consecrated virgins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
I’ve found that sometimes people are still confused by the spousal dimension of
consecrated virginity, perhaps owing to the fact that this sort of bridal
imagery has so often been associated with nuns and religious Sisters. For
example, at times some Catholics will assume that only women religious can be
“real brides of Christ.” In other cases, I’ve heard it argued that the Church
intended to discourage the use of bridal spirituality altogether among
consecrated women in general after Vatican II. Much more rarely, I’ve even
encountered some consecrated virgins who have maintained (quite mistakenly, in
my opinion) that it would be wrong for women religious who have not received
the <i>Rite of Consecration</i> to identify
themselves brides of Christ, based on the notion that only consecrated virgins
have the right to regard themselves this way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Given
the potential for misunderstandings, I thought it would be good to have a
discussion about what it means to be a bride of Christ, who is called to this
role within the Church, and the ways in which such a special vocation might be
received.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some preliminary
clarifications<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
before anything else, let’s be clear on exactly what we’re talking about. The Church
uses the term “bride of Christ” to describe a number of different (albeit often
overlapping or inter-related) concepts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
and foremost, the title “bride of Christ” belongs to the Church herself in the
fullest and truest sense. We know this is true from a wide number of scriptural
references, and also from the Church’s constant theological tradition. As the <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> puts
it: “The Church is the Bride of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over
for her. He has purified her by his blood and made her the fruitful mother of
all God's children.” (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P28.HTM" target="_blank"><i>CCC</i> 808</a>) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
the Church is also the people of God, formed from the countless number of
baptized members, I believe we can say that all of the faithful—both on
collective and individual levels—share in the Church’s “brideship.” Therefore,
I don’t think it would be wrong to say that there is a certain sense in which
each and every baptized Christian is called to be a “bride,” insofar as they
are incorporated into the body of Christ’s bride, the Church. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
can also speak of Christ as the true Bridegroom of each individual soul, since
He is ultimately the source of all fulfillment for every human heart. This is
why spousal or bridal imagery is regularly employed in a metaphorical or
analogical way by theologians who write about the spiritual life. Some good
examples of this can be found in the writings of St. John of the Cross or St.
Bernard of Clairvaux. In the Carmelite tradition especially, the expression
“mystical marriage” is used almost as a technical term to describe the most
advanced stages of contemplative prayer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Bridehood” as special
call <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
of the above-mentioned ways of being a bride of Christ apply in a general way
to all of the faithful. For instance, our participation in the brideship of the
Church can be thought of as a universal, “automatic” consequence of baptism.
And on a more personally specific level, even while the spiritual phenomenon of mystical
marriage might be a rare occurrence in actual reality, this kind of call to
complete union with God is God’s intended destiny for all His children. That
is, it’s not a state He wants to reserve only for a chosen few, but is rather
the culmination of each and every Christian vocation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
in addition to these more general ways of using bridal imagery, I think we can
also speak of a call to be a bride of Christ in a more restricted, special
“vocational” sense—i.e., the sense in which some women are called to live as a
bride of Christ in a much more radical way, as their state in life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since
Apostolic times, there have always been some Christian women who felt called to renounce the possibility of an
earthly marriage in order to dedicate themselves Christ in as complete and
total a way as they could. Or in other words, they were offering Christ all the
love and devotion that they would have otherwise given to an earthly husband
and children. In relation to the rest of the baptized faithful, such women can
rightfully be considered espoused to Christ in a more radical, concrete, and
literal sense. They could be appropriately regarded as being “brides of Christ”
in a special way, as their spirituality and way of life is, for fairly obvious
reasons, not something to which the baptized in general are all called. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, men categorically are not called to be “brides of Christ” in this
particular sense, since this kind of more-or-less literal “bridehood” is an essentially
feminine reality. That is, a man in his masculine nature is not able to relate
to Christ as his Bridegroom in the same strong sense as a woman can in her
femininity. Similarly, a married woman cannot take Christ as her spouse in this
same direct way, since she has already committed herself to a mortal husband. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Brides of Christ” from
a historical perspective<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Historically,
the Church first formally acknowledged this special call to live as a bride of
Christ through the consecration of virgins. From all appearances, in the
Church’s first few centuries, the call to be a consecrated virgin was
considered one and the same with call to be Christ’s bride. However, in
subsequent centuries, as the Roman persecution of Christians subsided, other
forms of consecrated life in the Church began to develop. This included the
earliest versions of what we today would know as “religious life,” or a vowed
consecrated life lived in community according to a specific Rule and a
particular foundational spirituality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
religious life properly so-called was (and is) distinct from consecrated
virginity <i>per se</i>, some of the first
precursors to women’s religious life were communities of already-consecrated
virgins who chose to live together in order to receive mutual support in living
out their vocation. But with the rise of organized monastic life in late
Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, laywomen would enter monasteries and then
subsequently receive the consecration of virgins at a later point, often in
conjunction with their solemn profession of religious vows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
of this, the consecration of virgins came to be closely associated with religious
life for women. Many ritual or liturgical elements which originally pertained
specifically to the consecration of virgins—such as the reception of the veil,
or committing one’s life to Christ in the presence of the local bishop—later
became more strongly identified with women’s religious life, especially as the
custom of consecrating non-monastic virgins was gradually falling out of
practice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even
while the newer medieval women’s religious Orders (e.g., the Poor Clares and
Dominican nuns) did not continue the custom of bestowing the consecration of
virgins upon their solemnly professed nuns, they continued to identify with the
title “spouse of Christ.” Likewise, once the more modern congregations of
active Sisters began to develop, the traditional use of “bridal” imagery
continued to be a common theme in the spirituality and theology of women’s
religious life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Towards the mid-twentieth century, it was to the point that,
rightly or wrongly, the call to be a bride of Christ was considered more or
less synonymous with the call for a woman to become a religious—especially
since non-religious consecrated virgins had become little more than a distant
memory in life of the Church at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">After Vatican II<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
the Second Vatican Council certainly did not introduce any true doctrinal
changes, it did clarify several theological points related to the Church’s own
inner structure and nature. Because of
this, after the Council the Church began to approach many elements of her
theology on consecrated life from a somewhat different (or perhaps we could say
a renewed) point of view. That is, the Church sought to promote a fuller
understanding of the history, fundamental nature, and the original inspirations
behind the various expressions of consecrated life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
renewed perspective would later be reflected in the Church’s legislation,
especially in the new <i>Code of Canon Law</i>
which was to be promulgated several years later in 1983. It would also be
evident in many magisterial documents, such as John Paul II’s 1991 post-synodal
exhortation <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031996_vita-consecrata.html" target="_blank">Vita Consecrata</a></i>, as well
as in many of the revised liturgical rites. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Concretely,
some of the results of this renewal were:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-
the 1970 revision of the <i>Rite of
Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>, which also effected the
re-establishment of the ancient Order of Virgins as a recognized form of
consecrated life in its own right;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-
religious life being recognized as a vocation which is essentially the same for
both men and women (unlike the earlier 1917 <i>Code
of Canon Law</i>, the canons on religious life in the post-Vatican II Code make
virtually no distinctions between men’s and women’s institutes);<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-
the expression “consecrated life” no longer being considered a strict synonym
for “religious life”—it was clarified that “consecrated life” is an umbrella
term encompassing a wide variety of forms, with religious life properly
so-called being just one particular expression among others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The question at hand<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So,
if consecrated virginity is the vocation which is explicitly identified with
the call to be a bride of Christ, and if religious life <i>per se</i> is understood as something different from consecrated
virginity, is it still appropriate for religious Sisters and nuns who aren’t
consecrated virgins to call themselves brides of Christ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think the answer here would have to be a qualified “yes and no.” That is, a
general “yes” for most practical purposes, and a more limited “no” when we’re
dealing with precise technical theological and canonical issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
start with the “no” part of the answer, it can be noted that consecrated
virgins are the only ones whom the Church’s law describes as being “mystically
espoused to Christ” (“<i>Christo Dei Filio
mystice desponsantur</i>,” cf. <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM" target="_blank">can. 604</a>). And as is clear from even a cursory
reading of the <i>Rite of Consecration, </i>consecrated
virginity as a vocation is directly ordered around the call to be a bride of
Christ. That is, the call to be a bride of Christ is absolutely essential to
the call to become a consecrated virgin; the vocation cannot be understood
apart from this central call. A spousal call is not just a non-negotiable
element of consecrated virginity, but it is also its single most defining
element.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the other hand, canon law never once identifies the call to be a bride of
Christ with religious vows as such. Religious life, for both men and women, is
not understood as being fundamentally a literal spousal relationship with
Jesus. Rather, it is an approved way of life centered around following Christ
more closely through vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In contrast with
consecrated virginity, the basic concept of religious life can be grasped
without referencing a call to be a bride of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
difference can be seen not only in the Church’s law, but also in the two
vocations’ respective liturgies. In the <i>Rite
of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>, nearly every single prayer
explicitly references the spousal dimension of this vocation. In comparison,
the “generic” liturgy that the Church provides for profession in women’s
religious community contains relatively few bridal references. And when the <i>Rite of Religious Profession for Women</i>
does allude to bridal spirituality, these bridal references tend to be much
more abstract and general in their tone (so abstract, in fact, that virtually all of
these references could reasonably be applied to all Christians in our common
baptismal consecration).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Different
religious communities typically have their own proper customs, liturgies, and
vow formulae for profession. Some communities do choose to employ abundant
bridal imagery in their vow ceremonies, while other communities opt not to
include any sort of nuptial language at all in their profession liturgies. That
is, individual religious communities are free to emphasize or de-emphasize
spousal imagery according to their own unique spirituality and charism. The
fact that communities have this sort of freedom would seem to suggest that
while a call to identify as a spouse of Christ can harmonize with a religious
vocation, it would not seem to be absolutely essential to religious life as an
overall category.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Additionally,
in a handful of cloistered communities, nuns not only make religious
profession, but also receive the consecration of virgins. Since the Church has
these two different rituals which are both permitted to be received by the same
person, it would follow that these two liturgies are meant attain different
ends. Since we know that the consecration of virgins is explicitly intended as
a betrothal to Christ, we can therefore gather that religious profession in and
of itself must have something other than espousal with Christ as its direct
object.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
to sum it up a bit roughly, bridal imagery is more or less optional for
religious, but is absolutely necessary for consecrated virgins. Therefore, it
might be right to say that consecrated virgins are brides of Christ in a
special strong sense, insofar as they are the only ones who are officially
recognized as brides of Christ as a direct consequence of their particular
vocation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
now we move on the “yes” part of the answer. Even while consecrated virgins may
be the only “canonical” spouses of Christ, it would be wrong to ignore the
Church’s venerable and extensive custom of using bridal imagery in reference to
professed religious women. We also have the witness of countless faithful women
religious—whether they be great mystics of the Church like St. Teresa of Avila
or the more ordinary Sister serving at the local school or parish—who have
experienced their calling and vocation in a distinctly spousal way.
Additionally, we should remember that many canonized lay women, such as St.
Kateri Teckawitha and St. Catherine of Siena, saw themselves as responding to a
very real call to be a bride of Christ through the making of a private vow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
if we’ve already established that it is specifically the consecration of
virgins, as opposed to religious vows or any other kind of commitment, which
formally marks a woman as a bride of Christ, how could we then consider
non-members of the Order of Virgins as being brides of Christ as well? Wouldn’t
this seem a bit inconsistent? Or could we even reasonably ask whether or not
calling all consecrated women “brides of Christ” runs the risk of emptying the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>
of its meaning and significance? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps
the key here is to frame the questions properly by making some more nuanced
distinctions. In particular, it would seem that we can distinguish between: 1.
the objective theological reality of being interiorly called to relate to
Christ as one’s spouse; and 2. the Church’s public, canonical recognition of
this. While of course there is certainly significant overlap between these two
concepts, it might be helpful if we could recognize that they are nevertheless
slightly different things. Working from this premise, it would be reasonable to
conclude that actually living as a bride of Christ may perhaps be something
which can happen even apart from officially receiving the title “<i>Sponsa
Christi</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
this end, perhaps it is possible to resolve the apparent conflict over who can
be called a bride of Christ by acknowledging the grace to relate to Christ as a
spouse as a charism, with the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</i>
being the Church’s way of strengthening and confirming that charism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What is a charism?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
charism is a spiritual gift, granted directly by God to an individual for the
benefit of the wider Church. Scripture often speaks of charisms (for example,
see <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/12" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 12:4, 7</a>), as does the <i>Catechism
of the Catholic Church</i> (cf. <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P28.HTM" target="_blank"><i>CCC</i> 798 – 801</a>). Since Vatican II, the Church has also used the word “charism” to
describe the foundational spirituality of a religious family—a terminology which
expresses that idea that the inspiration which prompted the start of a
religious family is a grace initially granted as a gift to the community’s
founder, and then carried on as an inheritance by the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">community’s
vowed members down through time</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
defining characteristic of a charism is that it is truly a supernatural gift.
I.e., it is not something which can come about through human effort or
achievement. It therefore results in something which is quite above our natural
human capabilities. The call to be a bride of Christ certainly fits this
description. Not all women have this calling, and the spiritual capacity to see
Christ as one’s spouse is not something that a woman can attain simply by
desiring it. Rather, it is something that comes directly from God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like
all gifts, I think this bridal charism is something which needs to be
definitely accepted by the women to whom it is granted. Naturally, I would
think that an acceptance of this bridal charism would have to take the form of
some sort of definite resolution to renounce earthly marriage. Of course, for
some women, their acceptance of this the charism of takes the form receiving
the <i>Rite of Consecration to a Life of
Virginity</i>. But since it would seem that God grants this charism to
individual women in a wide variety of circumstances, it is reasonable to
suppose that many women’s acceptance of this spousal charism may come through an exclusive commitment to Christ made by means of religious profession. Other
women may accept this charism in a more hidden way through the making of a
private vow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think we can consider the consecration of virgins to be an especially
privileged way of accepting and living out the charism to be a bride of Christ,
since it is through only the consecration of virgins that the Church confirms
this specific charism explicitly. This is a notable difference from religious
profession, in which the Church confirmations a call to live a more generally
evangelical way of life in the context of a particular religious community. It
is even more different from a private vow, which is simply a personal response
to the Lord which doesn’t involve the Church’s formal confirmation in any
official sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
while the Church tells us authoritatively through the consecration of virgins
who <i><u>is</u></i> a bride of Christ, we
should keep in mind that she does not thereby tell us definitely who is not
one. We can say with certainty that consecrated virgins are indeed called to be
brides of Christ. But on the other hand, even though a woman religious (or a
woman with a private vow of virginity) may not have this same kind of direct
confirmation of a bridal call, this does not mean that she has not been granted
this charism in actual fact. We need to have a certain humility in remembering
that God calls whomever He wills according to His good pleasure, and that from
an outsider’s point of view we don’t always have the clearest insight into the
graces God has wrought in a particular soul. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The upshot<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what are the practical consequences to all of this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
of all, I think we as a Church should treasure the distinctive spousal vocation
of the Order of Virgins, as it’s ultimately meant as a gift for the entire
Church. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We
should also respect the spirituality of women religious who understand their
own vocation in bridal terms. Even if bridal </span>spirituality<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> isn’t absolutely
essential to religious life, it can still be beautiful and very fitting in this
context. Many religious communities do consider bridal imagery as part of their
foundational spirituality, so we might think of bridal spirituality a sort of
“charism within a charism” in these instances. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
on the other hand, we also shouldn’t negatively judge women religious who for
whatever reason do not identify with bridal imagery. We should keep in mind
that a woman can live out the essential elements of religious life—i.e., an
evangelical life of prayer, service, community, and public witness—in a full
and fervent way, even if she best relates to Christ in a way other than as His
bride. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
a woman discerning a vocation to consecrated life feels most strongly drawn to
a spousal relationship with Christ (rather than feeling primarily attracted to community
life or the mission of a particular religious family) then it might be good for
her at least to investigate consecrated virginity. But if a discerner realizes
that Order of Virgins is not where she is called, she shouldn’t feel that she
therefore cannot be a spouse of Christ in any sense.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-74446175626094529462015-02-05T22:03:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:07:50.965-04:00A Homily for the Feast of St. Agatha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsi62ZX6-1ESxdhPhzq93Uwhs4DMMq8-lr68ooUzGfVp8youq2WD_EiYduo5331aTcLGBI_vyA5cK6QbxZa0MgZTaU5Mpt8U26jKNPi3tb59rNQfQCkdp9WiQ4crLnrAnv2sMka-tudv4/s1600/f_martyr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsi62ZX6-1ESxdhPhzq93Uwhs4DMMq8-lr68ooUzGfVp8youq2WD_EiYduo5331aTcLGBI_vyA5cK6QbxZa0MgZTaU5Mpt8U26jKNPi3tb59rNQfQCkdp9WiQ4crLnrAnv2sMka-tudv4/s1600/f_martyr.jpg" height="400" width="302" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>For
today’s feast of St. Agatha, consecrated virgin and martyr, here is a lovely homily
preached by Fr. Hugh Clifford to the students of the <a href="http://www.irishcollege.org/" target="_blank">Pontifical Irish College</a>
in Rome (where Irish seminarians receive their priestly formation while
studying at Rome’s Pontifical Universities). </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
could say that, in a way, St Agatha is a former patroness of ours! The Irish
College was at the Church of Sant’Agata dei Goti from 1836 to 1926 before it
moved here, so our predecessors as the Irish College community no doubt turned
often to the intercession of Saint Agatha. So maybe it would be a good thing
for us to rekindle that devotion today on her feast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">She
was held in great veneration in the Church of Rome, so much so that her name is
among the Saints mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I, the Roman Canon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Agatha,
like St. Agnes whom we celebrated in January, died rather than allow her
virginity to be violated, because she had consecrated it to God. In choosing to
accept death, and in choosing virginity in the first place, she was placing her
trust in God that this world is not the full of reality. She was putting her
faith in the heavenly Jerusalem. Today’s <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020515.cfm" target="_blank">first reading from Hebrews</a> puts this
vision before our eyes, to be our motivation too, “what you have come to is
Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the
millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in
which everyone is a ‘first born son’ and a citizen of heaven.” St. Stephen was
someone else, also mentioned in Eucharist Prayer I, who accepted martyrdom and gazed
into heaven seeing a vision of the glory of God before he died.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Agatha
lived up to Jesus’ teaching on evangelization in today’s Gospel. Her influence
didn’t arise from purses and haversacks and coppers. She sent strong waves
through Christian history by her steadfast faith. The mighty Roman Empire had a
deeply ingrained attitude to sexuality which certainly didn’t resemble the
purity of heart demanded by Jesus. Yet, the witness of people like Agatha to
higher values amazingly turned that around. The Christians succeeded in
changing the sexual outlook of the Romans. It’s something we should keep in
mind when we try to figure out the best pastoral approach to matters of
marriage and the family today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">St.
Agatha can help us in our own commitment to celibacy too, so that we can make
it a pointer to the heavenly Jerusalem—forsaking marriage, something very good,
in view of that festival with the millions of angels gathered. People’s view of
that motivation for celibacy can be obscured by legalistic wrangling about
whether celibacy should be compulsory or not. If we embrace celibacy in a
spirit of love for God and his Church, so that this pure love flows out from us
to the sheep of God’s flock, then our celibacy will be fruitful and it will
make more sense to people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbs1qP_ZBc51_J2gxy0E8_74NCXhLz1jarf6IcPgDeUT_aiegMkW0RZtGrBkvTpHBH7CafAytWnp9OoJaEwX2C1MD33q0W88QrPBaAueSZQFdyMAlqzJKjd5UczG-wINa4YEH3hTPdXQY/s1600/St.+Agatha+di+Goti+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbs1qP_ZBc51_J2gxy0E8_74NCXhLz1jarf6IcPgDeUT_aiegMkW0RZtGrBkvTpHBH7CafAytWnp9OoJaEwX2C1MD33q0W88QrPBaAueSZQFdyMAlqzJKjd5UczG-wINa4YEH3hTPdXQY/s1600/St.+Agatha+di+Goti+2.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The above-mentioned <span style="text-align: start;">Church of Sant’Agata dei Goti in Rome</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-40872109964864849422015-01-21T15:29:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:09:31.138-04:00Feast of St. Agnes <div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
blessed feast of <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01214a.htm" target="_blank">St. Agnes</a>, virgin and martyr, to all my sisters in Christ
around the world!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
many of you already know, in Rome there is a special custom for the feast of
St. Agnes. Two lambs are blessed during Mass at the basilica of <a href="http://www.santagnese.com/" target="_blank">St. Agnes Outside the Walls</a>
(which was built on the site of St. Anges’ parents’ home). Later, these lambs
will be shorn, and their wool will be used to make the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallium" target="_blank">pallia</a></i> that
new metropolitan archbishops receive from the Holy Father on the feast of Sts.
Peter and Paul.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This tradition is especially meaningful for me in my own spirituality, since it’s beautifully symbolic of consecrated
virgins’ call to provide spiritual support for the ministry of bishops through
our life of prayer and total dedication to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
of my favorite memories from my three years in Rome was last year on this date,
when I was able to attend the lamb blessing ceremony. Unfortunately, at the
time I was too busy with my academic work to take the time to write about it
here! But in the spirit of “better late than never,” I thought I would at
least share last year’s photos today:</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAoZX66-iGfiE8h6ol6HPyfH_avgH_DY4yY7hUUXLslyAQJzFXvTIhcfr2zSaKwKUexVL7NytER7PRedy0H3O6y5NUdaIwaaRpNyWprw6-S78BHL3v8lO4ZU-uDVM43e_Y6QOCAkzz1o/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2BJenna%2Bin%2Bcourtyard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAoZX66-iGfiE8h6ol6HPyfH_avgH_DY4yY7hUUXLslyAQJzFXvTIhcfr2zSaKwKUexVL7NytER7PRedy0H3O6y5NUdaIwaaRpNyWprw6-S78BHL3v8lO4ZU-uDVM43e_Y6QOCAkzz1o/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2BJenna%2Bin%2Bcourtyard.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here I am in the courtyard of the basilica before Mass.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYR-CbOhIkrHWd2Eq50rOjOliaiNpNwDXGTo0Y_kgA84tgOVgaForluocDi-6blZuRxFWm8bNwniTp2dyfhqqf071-r63FymFaCJr1d_MA5NPIWKfLGaacCW-yGRT_AdUiE7jPWivhgg/s1600/Sant'%2BAgnese%2B-%2Blamb%2Barrives.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYR-CbOhIkrHWd2Eq50rOjOliaiNpNwDXGTo0Y_kgA84tgOVgaForluocDi-6blZuRxFWm8bNwniTp2dyfhqqf071-r63FymFaCJr1d_MA5NPIWKfLGaacCW-yGRT_AdUiE7jPWivhgg/s1600/Sant'%2BAgnese%2B-%2Blamb%2Barrives.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The lambs arrive!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAbq1iSNITgI_j9qG2ZYgEsJvgZUZ246t6hcwmd2OGDoYqrOa_uZyFT-2osydJb10nyTfCkpYCl62k-1uiWu_LYtw99u5TZmF2FPVXv70BvVRMp1WHReIrRe70JCdlOw27bDBKKzSmTg/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2BJenna%2Bwith%2Blamb%2Bwithout%2Bflash.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAbq1iSNITgI_j9qG2ZYgEsJvgZUZ246t6hcwmd2OGDoYqrOa_uZyFT-2osydJb10nyTfCkpYCl62k-1uiWu_LYtw99u5TZmF2FPVXv70BvVRMp1WHReIrRe70JCdlOw27bDBKKzSmTg/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2BJenna%2Bwith%2Blamb%2Bwithout%2Bflash.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Me with the lambs. Before Mass, the lambs are set out in one of the hallways, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and you can go up and pet them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are two lambs: one decorated in red silk roses and one decorated with white ones. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is meant to represent both the virginity and the martyrdom of St. Agnes.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDG0T4LIdv3sHSQUyfxGtI7SCO7U4Phc017NeszAugoqod-PctXrpgx7gs39j2EKnubmfeEh3nIfP-49YQOGZ2B2itEISj5Yj6r-7L76tGwuTIzn6cYean9DIa0rduSFbiCcQr1bVAfU/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2BHugh%2Bwith%2Blambs%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDG0T4LIdv3sHSQUyfxGtI7SCO7U4Phc017NeszAugoqod-PctXrpgx7gs39j2EKnubmfeEh3nIfP-49YQOGZ2B2itEISj5Yj6r-7L76tGwuTIzn6cYean9DIa0rduSFbiCcQr1bVAfU/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2BHugh%2Bwith%2Blambs%2B2.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other people petting the lambs, including my friend Fr. Hugh and some local Italian school children on a field trip.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgYTP3XlQ1YyZ7cYqXHCgHWf6UxPeboi7NYj4aT_QnHIYF7mTG50COEzZXzi_s6-NXNKZOlmvVMBEI1yFLVntNRzNvPUA6YgdsFRxIXxCetW5yG40NFEy_9stSF0Xvnu1jZlz_BlKyzI/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2Btomb%2Bof%2BSaint%2BAgnes%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgYTP3XlQ1YyZ7cYqXHCgHWf6UxPeboi7NYj4aT_QnHIYF7mTG50COEzZXzi_s6-NXNKZOlmvVMBEI1yFLVntNRzNvPUA6YgdsFRxIXxCetW5yG40NFEy_9stSF0Xvnu1jZlz_BlKyzI/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2B-%2Btomb%2Bof%2BSaint%2BAgnes%2B2.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Praying at the tomb of St. Agnes. From early records, we know that her body was buried under what is now the high altar of the basilica. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Her head is believed to be in a different Church in central Rome.)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And finally...<br />
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4qhyphenhyphenZwzyDAAzphr_iwmeQ2QvSy54L6-UY1dzFqQLbFV62-Cdva89hpoOEDPSt5JqvMSDrxKEI0pgrIOm6UpvQLiL6kheYIBoCu9fLwmJvMShEVPPhcZ4JPRf0YNmmUL3bMwRcKn92to/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2BPope%2Bpoem.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4qhyphenhyphenZwzyDAAzphr_iwmeQ2QvSy54L6-UY1dzFqQLbFV62-Cdva89hpoOEDPSt5JqvMSDrxKEI0pgrIOm6UpvQLiL6kheYIBoCu9fLwmJvMShEVPPhcZ4JPRf0YNmmUL3bMwRcKn92to/s1600/Sant'Agnese%2BPope%2Bpoem.JPG" height="400" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In front of the poem from Pope St. Damasus.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the basilica, there is a sort of marble plaque with a Latin poem composed in
honor of St. Agnes by Pope St. Damasus (who lived from 304 – 384). This is
actually one of our earliest written sources on the life of St. Agnes. The
plaque was actually lost for several centuries, but was found again in 1728. It
had been used as a paving stone (inscription side down, luckily!), which is why
it had been preserved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Latin inscription reads: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">FAMA
REFERT SANCTOS DUDUM RETULISSE PARENTES </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">AGNEN CUM LUGUBRES CANTUS TUBA CONCREPUISSET</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">NUTRICIS GREMIUM SUBITO LIQUISSE PUELLAM</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">SPONTE TRUCIS CALCASSE MINAS RABIEMQUE TYRANNI</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">URERE CUM FLAMMIS VOLUISSET NOBILE CORPUS</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">VIRIBUS INMENSUM PARVIS SUPERASSE TIMOREM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">NUDAQUE PROFUSUM CRINEM PER MEMBRA DEDISSE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">NE DOMINI TEMPLUM FACIES PERITURA VIDERET</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">O VENERANDA MIHI SANCTUM DECUS ALMA PUDORIS</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">UT DAMASI PRECIBUS FAVEAS PRECOR INCLYTA MARTYR</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">(</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/01/21-january-st-agnes-of-rome-virgin-and-martyr/" target="_blank">Fr.Z’s blog</a> gives an English translation:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is told that one day
the holy parents recounted that Agnes, when the trumpet had sounded its sad
tunes, suddenly left the lap of her nurse while still a little girl and
willingly trod upon the rage and the threats of the cruel tyrant. Though he
desired to burn the noble body in the flames, with her little forces she
overcame immense fear and, gave her loosened hair to cover her naked limbs,
lest mortal eye might see the temple of the Lord. O one worthy of my veneration,
holy glory of modesty, I pray you, O illustrious martyr, deign to give ear to
the prayers of Damasus.”)</span></div>
</div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-25257817245284852982014-12-25T17:01:00.001-05:002014-12-25T17:01:20.065-05:00Christmas 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlTzH2fWfhAhT1pLT2uO8W8Bl80U9ke90zxrTR6QBFPqPEr2Qah81lx6JF3jxbPhCCuF0NOsSiKzuksBfbefXTf42CHXqEyfWUz7C_7OCg7lgHM5wn4EG6_S1XIVEbrE__BnFbX8O_38/s1600/Giotto+nativity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlTzH2fWfhAhT1pLT2uO8W8Bl80U9ke90zxrTR6QBFPqPEr2Qah81lx6JF3jxbPhCCuF0NOsSiKzuksBfbefXTf42CHXqEyfWUz7C_7OCg7lgHM5wn4EG6_S1XIVEbrE__BnFbX8O_38/s1600/Giotto+nativity.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Today,
indeed, He was born after the manner of men, of a Virgin, but was
begotten of the Father before all things, resembling His mother in body, His
Father in power. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Only-begotten on earth, and Only-begotten
in heaven. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">God of God, born of a Virgin, Righteousness
from the Father, Power from the Mighty One, Light of Light, not
unequal to His Father; nor separated in power, not confused by extension of
the Word or enlargement as though mingled with the Father, but
distinguished from the Father by virtue of His generation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is your Brother, (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/songofsongs/5" target="_blank">Song of Songs 5:1</a>) without Whom neither
things in heaven, nor things in the sea, nor things on earth consist.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">–St.
Ambrose, in <i><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/34073.htm" target="_blank">De Virginibus</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-57094944113197844722014-12-13T20:25:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:08:05.660-04:00Back to Blogging<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
honor of the <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/11/29/pope_issues_letter_for_year_of_consecrated_life/1112885" target="_blank">Year of Consecrated Life</a>, I’ll be making a more conscious effort
to resurrect the blog!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
few updates on my life since I last posted…in Rome this past June, I
successfully completed my license degree in canon law along with my </span><a href="http://fatherjerabek.com/2014/06/26/juris-canonici-licentiatus/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">classmates</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHvceiwsE-xr6qVIHrWiABMn6fVL_XHAkRw3JxV6plGDToquk5ZTodSl0CBrUDgRwAFx9EVLTOjRFmHo4-HCjg9woa5krsxVKMzoDur-UFBCUlvX-IQfNyJFnw49KqRU38ME-Imofn00/s1600/Graduation+(large).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHvceiwsE-xr6qVIHrWiABMn6fVL_XHAkRw3JxV6plGDToquk5ZTodSl0CBrUDgRwAFx9EVLTOjRFmHo4-HCjg9woa5krsxVKMzoDur-UFBCUlvX-IQfNyJFnw49KqRU38ME-Imofn00/s1600/Graduation+(large).jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This
photo was taken at a little graduation ceremony we had right after our
comprehensive exams. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I had been officially a canonist for about three hours at
this point!</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
returned to the Unites States over the summer, and have since been serving once
again as Director of Religious Education for a mid-size parish in New York
state. That is, I am now responsible for the catechetical formation and
sacramental preparation of about 500 schoolchildren ranging in age from five to
fourteen years old. I’m very happy to have the chance to “labor in the
vineyard” again, though I will admit to getting nostalgic for Rome every now
and then!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">While
I was in Rome studying, I didn’t have much time or mental energy to blog, since
my coursework was very demanding. For a while, I even thought of
discontinuing the blog altogether. But after being blessed to be in touch over
the past few years with a surprising number of young consecrated virgins and
young women discerning this vocation, I realized that there is still a great
need for accessible resources to help consecrated virgins and aspiring
consecrated virgins to support each other and reflect more deeply on our
vocation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
that note, a few housekeeping considerations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First,
I am going to be much stricter about enforcing my “respectful comments only”
policy. Honest questions and even friendly debates are still welcome, but snide
remarks or outright nastiness are not. Readers should feel free
to share their thoughts without having to worry about being torn down, as <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">“Sponsa Christi” is meant to be a friendly and encouraging corner of the internet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Also, in the interest of sharing resources and </span>perhaps<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> building a sense of community more </span>effectively<span style="font-size: 12pt;">, I’m going to experiment with having a facebook page for this blog. Check it out here: </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sponsachristiblog">https://www.facebook.com/sponsachristiblog</a> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-71159083865318335242014-01-03T14:37:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:08:47.521-04:00Anniversary Reflection<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3T-_6SQJcV9S0j2HSrOW5ynwu2PxGsbz3_8chlzkIvg3Yue7WEDgkTUM6XCKnYs9gON4LCSSqaS2QacqCHHfc3lV36IHQxyTNNv_wh1QiA33VOpdShYnr0Zl0naOnmQYHuMqZMjs1WA/s1600/Holy+Name+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3T-_6SQJcV9S0j2HSrOW5ynwu2PxGsbz3_8chlzkIvg3Yue7WEDgkTUM6XCKnYs9gON4LCSSqaS2QacqCHHfc3lV36IHQxyTNNv_wh1QiA33VOpdShYnr0Zl0naOnmQYHuMqZMjs1WA/s1600/Holy+Name+6.jpg" height="400" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">“IHS”
is a </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">traditional</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> symbol for the Holy Name of Jesus</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">January
3, 2014 is the fifth anniversary of my solemn consecration to a life of
virginity. Even after five years it’s still hard for me to find the words to
write a reflection on the day. So instead, I’ll just share one small memory:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
originally chose January 3 as my consecration day, because I knew I wanted to
be consecrated during the Christmas season, and that year January 3 happened to
be the eve of the Epiphany. And January 3 is also my <i>onomastico</i>—that is, the
feast of my patroness St. Genevieve, who herself was a consecrated virgin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
I was not totally aware of at the time was that January 3 is also the feast of
the Holy Name of Jesus. But what might have been simply a liturgical happy
accident instead led me, providentially, to see a new shade of meaning within
my vocation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
night before my consecration, a local Poor Clare monastery let me spend the
night in their guestroom, so that I could spend that last night under the same
roof as Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, so as to then be more recollected for my
consecration day. In the morning, I joined the nuns in their chapel for their
early prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since,
as I then found out, the Holy Name of Jesus is an important feast for
Franciscans, the nuns had a special commemoration of the day in their
celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours. Their Franciscan Office books had all
the beautiful proper prayers, readings, and antiphons which I didn’t have in my
own “standard-issue” Roman breviary. So although I had not planned it this way,
I found myself meditating specifically on the significance of the Most Holy
Name in the final hours leading up to my consecration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
I sat in the chapel, singing the Office along with the nuns, it came to my mind
that if I were marrying a mortal spouse that day, I would be changing my last
name to my new husband’s—and therefore “losing” my own name in a certain sense.
It reminded me of how, when I was a very young, it used to strike me as a bit
unfair that women generally took their husbands’ surnames, and were sometimes
even addressed by their husbands’ name alone (as in: “Mrs. John Smith”). To be very honest, when I was a little girl I used
to marvel at how much you would have to love somebody to allow your own name to
be basically taken over by his!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
that bright winter morning, I suddenly thought: how happy I would be if my name
could be hidden under Jesus’ in the same way that a wife’s is hidden under her
husband’s! In Jesus, I had truly found the one whom I loved enough so as to be
willing to lose my own name. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, it should go without saying that
God, who deliberately created us as unique individuals, doesn’t will that we
should give up our own personalities when He calls us to consecrated life. And
naturally it would sound a bit silly if I took to calling myself something like
“Mrs. Jesus.” Still, at that moment, I couldn’t think of a greater joy or
privilege than to be known simply as Jesus’ spouse.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sacred
Scripture and the Church’s teachings paint us a stunning picture of the power
and majesty of the Holy Name of Jesus: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">“<i>…God greatly exalted him and bestowed
on him the name</i></span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><sup> </sup></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">that is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bend,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><sup> </sup></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">of those in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><sup> </sup></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><sup> </sup></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>to the glory of God the Father.</i>”</b> (</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://usccb.org/bible/philippians/2" target="_blank">Philippians</a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://usccb.org/bible/philippians/2" target="_blank"> 2:9-11</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But I am also grateful that
every year this feast also gives me a chance to savor this mystery in a
personal and more intimate way, as I remember my consecration day and how I felt
that joyful longing to give myself over entirely to the one who bears the Most
Holy Name.</span>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-24704986639017970152013-12-31T18:46:00.001-05:002013-12-31T18:46:31.036-05:00A Few Brief Thoughts for Christmastime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXXQwy28voWMexlY8eda-ZBlD2AdXyNcN92aSHkVvlvS_dtw2C5hcTiHbMGanT6v6LWhPtwoiMAYUFwMq6SSguTi3N-gOiv8tt3O7_DHkbATiL71Wktf5DOLc3J7k7fR_FqBMYJ61MtM/s1600/Fra+Angelico+Mary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXXQwy28voWMexlY8eda-ZBlD2AdXyNcN92aSHkVvlvS_dtw2C5hcTiHbMGanT6v6LWhPtwoiMAYUFwMq6SSguTi3N-gOiv8tt3O7_DHkbATiL71Wktf5DOLc3J7k7fR_FqBMYJ61MtM/s400/Fra+Angelico+Mary.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
<i><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.com/p/rite-of-consecration.html" target="_blank">Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity</a></i> reminds us in its suggested homily
about the connection between the vocation of virginity and the wonder of the
Incarnation:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>“…When
the fullness of time had come, the almighty Father showed, in the mystery of
the incarnation, his love for this great virtue [of virginity]. In the chaste
womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word was
made flesh, in a marriage covenant uniting two natures, human and divine.”</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With
each passing year, I’m coming to understand more and more how we consecrated
virgins should savor the Christmas season as an especially spiritually nourishing
time for us. The brief but beautiful Christmas season, from the Octave of
Christmas through the feast of the Epiphany, gives us the time and liturgical “space”
to envelope ourselves in the great truth of God’s spousal love for His people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">During
this time, I think it’s good for us to reflect on how consecrated virginity, although
it may seem fruitless in the eyes of the world (or even to our own eyes in some
of our more difficult moments), is truly meant to be a state wherein we are specially
blessed to encounter God in a privileged way, so that in us He can show forth
His love and presence to the world that longs for Him. The coming New Year
gives us a chance to resolve to embrace and live out the indescribable mystery
of this love ever more fully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
warmest Christmas greetings to all my sisters in Christ around the world!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984186295935598389.post-902545452560070542013-11-09T11:10:00.000-05:002021-05-09T17:09:02.952-04:00Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nugzeCtKeG2hK5wIASAom9PzU7tRuHmA2Qn10gkhIXcC-0-do9C-tb9zvoyUbyaD7ZOQqxvc9QoxyTgnbmVrfCzL2QNGYgkmxEWa6J9q9gvu0ub5qjWcJEvI7koduUPDXNLbLl63pII/s1600/basilica-st-john-lateran-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nugzeCtKeG2hK5wIASAom9PzU7tRuHmA2Qn10gkhIXcC-0-do9C-tb9zvoyUbyaD7ZOQqxvc9QoxyTgnbmVrfCzL2QNGYgkmxEWa6J9q9gvu0ub5qjWcJEvI7koduUPDXNLbLl63pII/s400/basilica-st-john-lateran-9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">St.
John Lateran…pray for us?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today,
November 9, is the feast of the dedication of the basilica of St. John Lateran
in Rome. According to the breviary, the Church building was originally
established by the emperor Constantine (though naturally there have been many
additions and changes to the original structure over the course of the ages),
and the memorial of its dedication has been celebrated on this date since the
twelfth century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">St.
Peter’s is the only major basilica which is within the boundaries of the Vatican
City State, and so is naturally the one most closely associated with the Holy
Father in the popular Catholic imagination. However, it is the basilica of St.
John Lateran which is actually home to the Pope’s cathedra, or seat of Office.
Since St. John Lateran is home to the <i>cathedra</i>
of the bishop of Rome, it is therefore the cathedral Church of the diocese of
Rome, and thus the Pope’s true cathedral.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
as we all know, while the Pope is indeed the bishop of Rome, he is not merely
the diocesan bishop of a local Church, but also the head of the Church throughout
the whole world. Likewise, St. John Lateran is not simply an ordinary diocesan
cathedral on the same level as, say, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York—it is rather
the “mother Church of Christendom.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is why the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran is a feast for the
Universal Church, and not just for one diocese (as would be the case for the
anniversary of a normal diocesan cathedral’s dedication) or for one parish (as
would be the case for an ordinary Church).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Back
when I first became “liturgically aware” in a more serious adult way, I was
often puzzled why the dedication of Churches would be commemorated with as much
celebration as the feast days of saints. It seemed odd to me that an inanimate
object like a building (let alone a chair, as in the <a href="http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-02-22" target="_blank">Chair of Peter</a>…) should
have its own place on our calendar. How could mere bricks and mortar possibly
compare with the glorious living witness of the saints and martyrs?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
as I got older I realized that in our sacramental, incarnational faith, a Church
building isn’t just about the architecture. As is evident in the prayers we use
to dedicate it, and in the liturgy and scripture we use to commemorate the
anniversary of its dedication, a Church structure is meant to point beyond
itself towards the greater mystery of the Church. A physical Church building is
“a house of prayer for all peoples” (<a href="http://usccb.org/bible/isaiah/56" target="_blank">Isaiah 56:7</a>) which foreshadows the holy
city of the new and heavenly Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
feasts of the dedication of Churches also became especially meaningful to me
once I began to approach my own consecration as a virgin. I started to notice the ways in which the rite
for the dedication of Churches shared striking liturgical and theological
parallels with the <i><a href="http://sponsa-christi.blogspot.it/p/rite-of-consecration.html" target="_blank">Rite of Consecrationto a Life of Virginity</a></i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
both these sacred rituals, the bishop as Christ’s representative sets apart and
consecrates something (that is, either a building or a person) exclusively for
God’s purposes. In being consecrated, both Churches and virgins become “sacred
spaces,” and signs of God’s presence to the whole world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like
Church buildings, we consecrated virgins are called to be houses of prayer, a
praise of the Lord, places of sacrifice though out continual and total gift of
self, a “home” for God’s people, and a dwelling place for Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s
more, in some places, even the actual words of the two rituals can be seen to
mirror each other quite closely. For example, in the central consecratory prayer
for Churches, the bishop prays:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Church is fruitful,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">made holy by the blood
of Christ:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">a bride made radiant
with his glory,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">a virgin splendid in the
wholeness of her faith, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">a mother blessed through
the power of the Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyQCR17MXZxLXLs2ixB4ffgMbhVZrQcZZQZubU9Eqxra8l3XVJV4rx9UlC6M3ObprX0VvxqpGZ24GsCiueEmRAo0K5AByHPEs-zQHOws-ysqPJvuUcGNF-zJAN4-2cggxwWKmYM2wKGc/s1600/Lateran+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyQCR17MXZxLXLs2ixB4ffgMbhVZrQcZZQZubU9Eqxra8l3XVJV4rx9UlC6M3ObprX0VvxqpGZ24GsCiueEmRAo0K5AByHPEs-zQHOws-ysqPJvuUcGNF-zJAN4-2cggxwWKmYM2wKGc/s400/Lateran+2.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">After
Mass in the basilica for today’s feast!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
strongly calls to mind the exhortation given to the candidates in the bishop’s
suggested homily in the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity, wherein
the virgins-to-be-consecrated are shown that they, like the Church herself, are
called by Christ to be: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>“… a virgin, a bride, and a mother: a virgin,
to keep the faith whole and entire; a bride, to be one with him forever; and a
mother, to raise up the family of the Church.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">These prayers, which point
to the mystery of the Church—first of all as the bride of Christ, as well as
the holy city and the people of God—remind me of the way that we as consecrated
virgins are also called to be incarnations this same mystery. </span>Sponsa Christihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07520407168481380210noreply@blogger.com3