Habemus Episcopum!

Yesterday it was announced that Archbishop Dolan is to succeed Cardinal Egan as the Archbishop of my home diocese, the Archdiocese of New York. It’s been very exciting to read about this online and to talk to people back home, even while it is tough to be away studying in another region of the country when all this is going on.

It’s very convenient that the announcement was made just before Lent. Now I definitely know for whom I’ll be offering up a majority of my prayers and sacrifices for the next forty days! (Though I will of course still be praying for Cardinal Egan daily; I’m sure I will be—quite literally—eternally grateful to him for approving my consecration.)

From NYPriest.com:


“His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed His Excellency, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, to the Archdiocese of New York. Archbishop Dolan has served as the Archbishop of Milwaukee since 2002. He will be the 13th Bishop and 10th Archbishop of the See of New York. He succeeds His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, who submitted his letter of retirement upon reaching the age of 75 on April 2, 2007.”

“In a statement, Archbishop Dolan addressed New Yorkers, saying, ‘My brother bishops, priests, religious women and men, seminarians, committed Catholics of this wonderful Church, I pledge to you my love, my life, my heart, and I can tell you already that I love you, I need so much your prayers and support, I am so honored, humbled, and happy to serve as your pastor.’”

St. Scholastica, The Rite of Consecration, and Religious Life

On February 10, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Scholastica. She was the blood sister of St. Benedict, and is most famous for founding the female branch of the Benedictine Order. St. Scholastica was born in Nursia, Italy around the year 480 A.D., and died in a monastery near her brother in Monte Cassino c. 547.

In the time of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica, there were already some forms of consecrated life in existence which could be seen as precursors to religious life, such as the various loosely organized communities of early desert hermits (the sort of which St. John Cassian discusses in his writings). However, “religious life” properly speaking describes a form of life based on adherence to a specific Rule of Life—the word “religious” is even derived from the Latin for “to bind.”

While St. Benedict’s Rule is not the earliest in the history of the Church, it was the arguably the most successful and widely-adopted Rule of its era. In this sense, Sts. Benedict and Scholastica could be considered the father and mother of western religious life as we know it today. We may also be able to call St. Scholastica the original nun.

But unlike many other great female foundresses, in addition to being a nun St. Scholastica was almost certainly a consecrated virgin as well (that is, a woman having received the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity). In the Office of Readings for her feast St. Gregory the Great describes St. Scholastica as having been “consecrated to God from her earliest years,” so from this we may also assume that she was a consecrated virgin prior to her beginning monastic life.

And just as St. Benedict was originally a hermit who sought monasticism as a particular way of ordering his ascetical life, it may not be unreasonable to conjure that St. Scholastica embraced Benedict's Rule primarily as an aid to living out fully her original consecration as a virgin, as opposed to seeing the Rule and the Vows as the constitutive element in her consecrated life. This would be a contrast to later attitudes concerning consecrated virginity vis-à-vis religious life, which saw the Rite of Consecration is something more like the “crowning” of a monastic life well-lived.

Although the Rite of Consecration fell out of use for non-monastic women in approximately the year 1000, it continued to be used for solemnly professed nuns in certain Orders. The Benedictines in particular retained this practice (although perhaps not consistently, judging from the surge of renewed interest in the Rite of Consecration for Benedictine nuns which began in the nineteenth century). Incidentally, one Benedictine monastery in the United States which continues the tradition of celebrating the Rite of Consecration in conjunction with solemn profession of religious vows is the Abbey of Regina Laudis, in Bethlehem, Connecticut. And while the new contemplative community of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles does not use the actual Rite, their description of solemn profession shows a marked influence by the Rite of Consecration.

Feast of the Presentation and World Day of Consecrated Life

February 2, forty days after Christmas, is the feast of Jesus’ presentation in the temple. This is when the Church remembers the events described in Luke 2:22-38, where the prophets Simeon and Anna recognize the infant Jesus as the long-awaited savior.

Yesterday had also been designated by Pope John Paul II as “World Day of Consecrated Life”—my first as an official consecrated person! I believe this is in commemoration of Anna, who “...never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.”

“Roman Catholic Vocations” reprinted this article about the Pope Benedict XVI's address to consecrated people around the world, in this “Year of St. Paul”:

(emphases, in bold, are mine)

VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2009 (Vatican Information Service)

-- Yesterday afternoon in the Vatican Basilica Benedict XVI met with members of religious congregations, institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, at the end of a Mass marking the thirteenth Day of Consecrated Life, an annual celebration established by John Paul II.

At the end of the Eucharistic celebration for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, presided by Cardinal Franc Rode C.M., prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Holy Father greeted those present.

In this year dedicated to St. Paul the Pope focused his remarks on the Apostle “who,” he said, “has always been recognized as father and master of those who, called by the Lord, have chosen to dedicate themselves unconditionally to Him and His Gospel. ... Imitating him by following Jesus is the best way to respond fully to your vocation of special consecration in the Church,” he said.

St. Paul's lifestyle “expresses the substance of a consecrated life inspired by the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. In the life of poverty he saw a guarantee that the Gospel would be announced gratuitously. At the same time, such a life is an expression of real solidarity towards brothers and sisters in need.”

“Accepting God's call to chastity,” noted the Holy Father, the Apostle of the Gentiles “gave his heart entirely to the Lord in order to be able to serve his brethren with greater freedom and dedication. Moreover, in a world in which the values of Christian chastity enjoyed little popularity, he offered secure guidelines of behavior.”

On the subject of obedience, Benedict XVI recalled how St. Paul was “under daily pressure because of his anxiety for all the churches” and how this “inspired, shaped and consumed his life, making it a sacrifice agreeable to God.”

“Another fundamental aspect of Paul's consecrated life was that of mission. He was entirely for Jesus in order to be, like Jesus, for everyone. ... In him, so closely bound to the person of Christ, we recognize a profound capacity to unite spiritual life and missionary activity. In him, these two dimensions support one another.”

The Pope told the consecrated people of his hope that the Pauline Year may “give you further encouragement to welcome the witness of St. Paul, meditating daily upon the Word of God through the faithful practice of ‘lectio divina,’ and singing ‘psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts.’ May the Apostle help you to accomplish your apostolic service in and with the Church, with an unreserved spirit of communion, making a gift of your charisms to others and bearing witness to the greatest charism of all, which is charity.”

Guest Post on “Roman Catholic Vocations”

For those of you who have not yet seen it, I recently wrote a guest post for the blog “Roman Catholic Vocations,” which is run by Brad Watkins, assistant Vocation Director for the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C. (which happens to be the home diocese of a seminarian who was one of my best friends in college, and then the Master of Ceremonies at my consecration Mass!). In the post I wrote (which you can read here) I give a basic overview of this vocation, with special emphasis on the Rite itself.

I think Mr. Watkins does a great job with the overall. In my opinion it’s one of the best on-line resources for people discerning priestly or consecrated vocations, and I wish it would have existed when I first started discerning. Naturally, I’m especially grateful that he takes the time to include information on consecrated virginity—it’s always nice when this vocation is made a little less obscure!

“The Giver of Life Was Her Only Love…”

...from the Office of Readings on the feast of St. Agnes:

From a treatise On Virgins by Saint Ambrose

Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve. The cruelty that did not spare her youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness.

There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Though she could scarcely receive the blow, she could rise superior to it. Girls of her age cannot bear even their parents’ frowns and, pricked by a needle, weep as for a serious wound. Yet she shows no fear of the blood-stained hands of her executioners. She stands undaunted by heavy, clanking chains. She offers her whole body to be put to the sword by fierce soldiers. She is too young to know of death, yet is ready to face it. Dragged against her will to the altars, she stretches out her hands to the Lord in the midst of the flames, making the triumphant sign of Christ the victor on the altars of sacrilege. She puts her neck and hands in iron chains, but no chain can hold fast her tiny limbs.

A new kind of martyrdom! Too young to be punished, yet old enough for a martyr’s crown; unfitted for the contest, yet effortless in victory, she shows herself a master in valour despite the handicap of youth. As a bride she would not be hastening to join her husband with the same joy she shows as a virgin on her way to punishment, crowned not with flowers but with holiness of life, adorned not with braided hair but with Christ himself.

In the midst of tears, she sheds no tears herself. The crowds marvel at her recklessness in throwing away her life untasted, as if she had already lived life to the full. All are amazed that one not yet of legal age can give her testimony to God. So she succeeds in convincing others of her testimony about God, though her testimony in human affairs could not yet be accepted. What is beyond the power of nature, they argue, must come from its creator.

What menaces there were from the executioner, to frighten her; what promises made, to win her over; what influential people desired her in marriage! She answered: “To hope that any other will please me does wrong to my Spouse. I will be his who first chose me for himself. Executioner, why do you delay? If eyes that I do not want can desire this body, then let it perish.” She stood still, she prayed, she offered her neck.

You could see fear in the eyes of the executioner, as if he were the one condemned; his right hand trembled, his face grew pale as he saw the girl’s peril, while she had no fear for herself. One victim, but a twin martyrdom, to modesty and to religion; Agnes preserved her virginity, and gained a martyr’s crown.

Another Consecration Picture

As requested, here is another consecration picture. This one was taken during the consecratory prayer itself.

I can honestly say that, a week and a half later, I have not yet “come down,” despite having been back at school for a few days! With the exception of my Baptism (which I don’t remember) I don’t think I have ever been happier about anything else in my life.

Special thanks to the Georgetown Visitation Monastery’s “blogging Sister” for her congratulations. (Their prayers are among the many that I’m sure helped make my consecration possible.)

And thank you also to everyone who prayed for me in the days leading up to my consecration--I have been very moved by everyone’s kindness.

A Prayer from St. Clare of Assisi

Here is a lovely prayer that one of my friends from school sent me the day after my consecration. It is attributed to St. Clare, although I don't think we know for sure that she herself wrote it.

Still, it captures my own feelings marvelously. Even though I don't think St. Clare was a consecrated virgin in the strict sense of the term (that is, having received the Rite of Consecration--obviously, she was a virgin who was consecrated by religious profession), I have always admired her for the totality with which she “fell in love” with Christ.

***

“My Lord, open the golden coffer, for within it I wish to place my heart. Tonight, I light this eternal flame over the world's censer. I want this flame to flicker forever in the wind, long after the stars fade and disappear.”

“My Lord, my one and only master, stretch your wings over the horizon of my world. I will walk barefoot with you until all the torches of the world are extinguished. For me there is only one voice, one face. Nothing will come between us, save the sword of fidelity.”

“I am young. I know very few things about life. They have spoken to me about autumns. There are no autumns in your spheres. I have heard that love is threatened by the poisons of tedium and routine. They even speak of desertion and indifference, things that are unimaginable to me. I know that the flag of faith will always flutter in your bell tower, and that you will carefully guard my gift in your golden coffer until the end of time.”

“My Lord Jesus Christ, place your seal on my words and graciously accept my consecration.”