Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran

St. John Lateran…pray for us?

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.

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 cathedra of the bishop of Rome, it is therefore the cathedral Church of the diocese of Rome, and thus the Pope’s true cathedral.

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.”

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).

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 Chair of Peter…) 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?

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” (Isaiah 56:7) which foreshadows the holy city of the new and heavenly Jerusalem.

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 Rite of Consecrationto a Life of Virginity.

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.

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.

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:

The Church is fruitful,

made holy by the blood of Christ:

a bride made radiant with his glory,

a virgin splendid in the wholeness of her faith,

a mother blessed through the power of the Spirit.

After Mass in the basilica for today’s feast!

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: 

“… 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.”

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. 

For Our Lady’s Birthday…

Our Lady of Brezje (or Mary, Help of Christians)

Sorry, everyone, for the long silence! The past several months have been very full and busy. Besides my schoolwork—which takes up more time and energy than I would have expected—I’ve had lots of other demands in my personal life.

I’m afraid that blogging in general is still going to have to be fairly light for at least the next year or so. I did consider taking the blog offline for a while, but in the meantime I received several emails from different people who found it helpful. So even if there won’t be much regular new content here, I will be keeping this blog accessible to the public for the time being.

Although I’m not able to write about it as much as I would like, along with all the challenges, my life in Rome has been filled with a number of beautiful experiences—not only in once-in-a-lifetime historical events like Papal transitions, but also in a number of smaller, more personal “adventures.”

Once such adventure that I will share, in honor of today’s feast of Our Lady’s Nativity (or the feast today would have been if it wasn’t a Sunday…) is the quick little pilgrimage I made during Easter week to the shrine of Our Lady of Brezje, in Slovenia. The shrine is a national basilica which houses an image of Our Lady, Help of Christians.

According to a Slovene friend of mine, the image was painted by an artist who was sentenced to death for forgery during the Napoleonic period. Desperate, he promised Our Lady that, if she found a way to rescue him from his fate, he would paint an image in her honor. Of course, the artist survived, and painted the image! Later, many people would report miracles and favors granted through Our Lady’s intercession after praying at the shrine in Brezje.

This is me in front of the basilica.

 If you go to the shrine, the image itself is housed in a sort of side chapel, in a magnificent (and huge!) gilded frame. In a small alcove behind the image, the walls are completely covered in testimonies to prayers answered through the intercession of Our Lady of Brezje. There are countless letters, some photographs, but also some more interesting, concrete offerings, such as hand-made pieces of lace or other traditional crafts. For me, one  of the most touching votive offerings was a full braid of human hair from a young girl, offered in thanksgiving for her father’s safe return from a war—presumably, being poor, this girl offered Our Lady the most beautiful thing she owned.  

To my great joy, after praying about a very special, sensitive personal intention at this shrine, I had my own petition answered in a quite remarkable way. As my own sort of “votive offering,” I decided to do something here to promote devote to Our Lady under this specific title.

And so, on this lovely feast…

Our Lady of Brezje, Help of Christians, pray for us!

Feast of St. Agnes, 2013

In honor of the feast of St. Agnes, here is a section from a speech the Holy Father gave to the seminarians of Rome last year. Especially in this Year of Faith, I like how the Pope connects St. Agnes’ double vocation to virginity and martyrdom with the proclamation of the Gospel.

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St. Agnes is one of the famous Roman maidens, who illustrated the genuine beauty of faith in Christ and friendship with Him. Her dual status as Virgin and Martyr reflect the fullness of holiness’ dimensions. This is a fullness of holiness that is requested also of you by your Christian faith and the special priestly vocation with which the Lord has called you and binds you to Him.

Martyrdom, for St Agnes, meant the generous and free acceptance of giving her own young life, in its entirety and without reservation, that the Gospel might be preached as truth and beauty that illuminate life. In the martyrdom of Agnes, received courageously in the stadium of Domitian, there shines forever the beauty of belonging to Christ without hesitation, relying on Him. Even today, for anyone who steps into Piazza Navona, the effigy of the saint from atop the gable of the church of St. Agnes in Agony, reminds him that our city is based also on the friendship with Christ and witness to his Gospel, of many of its sons and daughters. Their generous surrender to Him and to the good of their brothers is a primary component of the spiritual physiognomy of Rome.

In martyrdom, Agnes also seals the other crucial element of her life, virginity for Christ and for the Church. The total gift of martyrdom is prepared, in fact, by the conscious, free and mature choice of virginity, a witness to the will to belong totally to Christ. If martyrdom is a final heroic act, virginity is the result of a long friendship with Jesus that has matured in the constant hearing of His Word, in the dialogue of prayer, in the Eucharistic encounter. Agnes, still young, learned that being a disciple of the Lord means loving Him by putting all her life at His disposal. This dual qualification—Virgin and Martyr—calls to mind in our reflection that a credible witness of the faith must be a person who lives for Christ, with Christ and in Christ, transforming their lives according to the higher needs of Grace.

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Bonus: a video of the Pope blessing the traditional St. Anges Day lambs this year!

…Because who doesn’t love seeing the Holy Father bless and pet the adorable, flower-decked baby lambs!

Yes, the video is all in Italian (welcome to my world!), but it’s still fun to watch even if you can’t quite catch everything that’s said.



Traditionally, the Pope blesses two lambs at the basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls. Later, these lambs will be shorn, and their wool will be used to make the pallia that new metropolitan archbishops receive from the Holy Father on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

I personally love this custom because I think it’s symbolic of the way consecrated virgins are called to support spiritually the ministry of bishops, through our life of prayer and total dedication to Christ.

“On the Third Day, There Was a Wedding…”

For the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, here is one of my favorite passages in the Office of Readings. (Emphases, in bold, are mine)

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Office of Readings, second reading, Saturday before the Baptism of the Lord

The marriage of Christ and the Church - A sermon by Faustus of Riez

On the third day there was a wedding. What wedding can this be but the joyful marriage of man’s salvation, a marriage celebrated by confessing the Trinity or by faith in the resurrection? That is why the marriage took place “on the third day,” a reference to the sacred mysteries which this number symbolizes.

Hence, too, we read elsewhere in the Gospel that the return of the younger son, that is, the conversion of the pagans, is marked by song, and music and wedding garments.

Like a bridegroom coming from his marriage chamber our God descended to earth in his Incarnation, in order to be united to his Church which was to be formed of the pagan nations. To her he gave a pledge and a dowry: a pledge when God was united to man; a dowry when he was sacrificed for man’s salvation. The pledge is our present redemption; the dowry, eternal life.

To those who see only with the outward eye, all these events at Cana are strange and wonderful; to those who understand, they are also signs. For, if we look closely, the very water tells us of our rebirth in baptism. One thing is turned into another from within, and in a hidden way a lesser creature is changed into a greater. All this points to the hidden reality of our second birth. There water was suddenly changed; later it will cause a change in man.

By Christ’s action in Galilee, then, wine is made, that is, the law withdraws and grace takes its place; the shadows fade and truth becomes present; fleshly realities are coupled with spiritual, and the old covenant with its outward discipline is transformed into the new. For, as the Apostle says: The old order has passed away; now all is new! The water in the jars is not less than it was before, but now begins to be what it had not been; so too the law is not destroyed by Christ’s coming, but is made better than it was.

When the wine fails, new wine is served: the wine of the old covenant was good but the wine of the new is better. The old covenant, which Jews follow, is exhausted by its letter; the new covenant, which belongs to us, has the savor of life and is filled with grace.

The good wine, that is, good precepts, refers to the law; thus we read: You shall love your neighbor but hate your enemy. But the Gospel is a better and a stronger wine: My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors.

Christmas 2012

from the Christmas matyrology:

Jesus Christus

ætérnus Deus,

æterníque Patris Fílius,

mundum volens advéntu suo piíssimo consecráre,

de Spíritu Sancto concéptus,

novémque post conceptiónem decúrsis ménsibus,

in Béthlehem Judæ

náscitur ex María Vírgine factus Homo.

Natívitas Dómini nostri Jesu Christi secúndum carnem.

 

***

(Jesus Christ, Eternal God, Eternal Son of the Father, seeking to consecrate the world by coming into it; conceived by the Holy Spirit, nine months having passed since his conception, in Bethlehem of Judea was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.)

Good Books for Consecrated Virgins (and Those Discerning)

A few people have written to me lately asking for books recommendations for consecrated virgins and those seriously discerning this vocation.

Of course, for consecrated virgins and those discerning this vocation, the most important vocation-specific reading material is the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity itself (I would even say you should meditate in the Rite until you almost have it memorized!), followed by the writings of the Church Fathers on consecrated virginity.

Still, I know it’s always nice to have additional reading material.

In some ways, it’s difficult to come up with a good list, since (aside from a few in-house productions from national or regional consecrated virgins’ associations) there aren’t really any books written about consecrated virginity “in the world” specifically.

However, I have found the following books helpful for gaining a fuller understanding of consecrated virginity as a vocation in the Church.

Currently in print*:

- “And You are Christ’s...”: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life, by Thomas Dubay, S.M. 

If you think you might be called to consecrated virginity, you should definitely read this book! In my opinion, it’s hands-down the clearest, most accessible, and most comprehensive non-scholarly book on the theology of consecrated virginity which is currently in print.

“And You are Christ’s…” is about consecrated virginity in its broadest sense. That is, it deals with the commitment to a life of perpetual virginity in the context of all forms of consecrated life within the Church, and not just “canonical” consecrated virginity—although happily, it does explicitly mention the vocation of consecrated virginity according to canon 604.

Because of this, I think it would be an equally appropriate book for serious aspirants to consecrated virginity as it would be for women who are just beginning to discern a vocation to consecrated life. And naturally, it’s also a good book for those of us who have already been consecrated for several years to revisit from time to time.

- Virginity: A Postive Approach to Celibacy for the Sake of the Kingdom, by Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap.

This slim volume is very similar to the one by Fr. Dubay, although I would say that it’s somewhat more useful as reflective spiritual reading than as a source of hard facts and objective theological information. But it does a great job in conveying the beauty and joy of a life of virginity from an “outward-looking” evangelical perspective.

- Daughter Zion, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Another short but rich little book, Daughter Zion discusses the place of Marian theology in the post-Vatican II Church, relying heavily on scriptural references from both the Old and New Testaments.

Even though this work isn’t about consecrated life in an immediate way, it did a lot to help me understand the significance of Mary’s virginity—and therefore, about the vocation of consecrated virginity in general, since this this vocation is, after all, a reflection of Our Lady’s—in the broader picture of the Church’s theology and teachings.

- Priests for the Third Millennium, by Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Although I do have reason to be a bit biased here, I promise I’m not just including this one because Cardinal Dolan is my bishop!

Priests for the Third Millennium was originally written by the then-Monsignor Dolan as a series of conferences for the seminarians at the North American College in Rome when he was the rector. It discusses not only the virtues to which all Christians are called, but also focuses on the spirituality of the diocesan priesthood and on what is practically necessary in order to lead a healthy and well-balanced priestly life.

However, with just a minimal amount of mental editing (e.g., by substituting “priest” or seminarian” with “consecrated virgin” in your head in the appropriate places), probably about ninety percent of what is written here about diocesan priests could also be applicable to consecrated virgins. In particular, I think the chapters that touch on human formation and on forming good habits are especially helpful.

 - The Virgin Martyrs: A Hagiographical and Mystagogical Interpretation, by Michael J.K. Fuller

To be honest, this book has kind of an unusual goal and premise—the author was looking for a way to read and interpret traditional hagiography (i.e., lives of the saints) in a way that would be more meaningful and make more sense to modern readers, while still respecting these ancient legends and acknowledging that they have their own historical, literary, and theological integrity. In other words, this book seek to answer the question: What can the often fantastic stories on the lives of the Church’s earliest saints teach us in today’s skeptical world?

Borrowing from the Church Fathers’ categories for Biblical interpretation, the author suggests that we should learn to interpret these legends in an “anagogical sense.” To demonstrate how this kind of reading of the lives of the saints might work, he chooses the ancient virgin-martyr saints categorically as kind of a test case. So technically, this book was actually meant to be more about a new academic methodology, rather than primarily about the virgin-martyr saints themselves.

However, this book still provides one of the best discussions on the early consecrated virgin-saints that I’ve ever seen! It does am excellent job of showing how rich and meaningful the lives of the virgin-martyr saints truly are.

I would recommend this book to any educated reader, especially since you don’t need to understand the author’s “real” thesis in order to benefit from his reflections on the virgin-martyr saints.

 - Justice in the Church: Gender and Participation, by Benedict M. Ashley, O.P.

This book is actually about gender roles in the Church. Written from a “searching” yet fully orthodox perspective, it tackles the question of how men and women can be said to be equal in a Church that professes the doctrine of an all-male priesthood. The author’s thesis is that while men and women are of equal dignity in the Church, they have different and complementary roles. In this work, Fr. Ashley identifies consecrated virginity as a vocation that is as unique to women as it is necessary to the life of the Church.

As this book is more scholarly than the other works I’ve listed here, I would probably only recommend Justice in the Church to someone who had at least a basic background in academic theology.

Out of print books:

- Virginity, by Joseph Marie Perrin, O.P.

This book is a lot like the ones written by Fathers Dubay and Cantalamessa, in that it provides a good overview on the nature and spirituality of a vocation to perpetual virginity for the sake of the Kingdom.

One unique benefit of this particular work is that it focuses on what it necessary—both on a spiritual and on a human level—in order to live this life in a healthy way. Fr. Perrin, who was one of the founders of the Caritas Christi secular institute, also spends time discussing the unique challenges of a commitment to virginity lived without the day-to-day support of a religious community.

- Christ in His Consecrated Virgins, by Ludwig Münster (Translated by Basil Stegmann, OSB and Sr. M. Margretta, OSB. Collegeville, MN: St. John’s Abbey Liturgical Press, 1957.)

Christ in His Consecrated Virgins was written as a series of conferences for solemnly-professed Benedictine nuns who were preparing to receive the pre-Vatican II Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity. Even though this book was not written with consecrated virgins “living in the world” specifically in mind, it’s still very worthwhile as a source of spiritual reading—as a far I know, it may be the only published book of reflections ever written on the Rite.

And as an added bonus, this English edition includes a translation of the older Rite of Consecration. (But if you’re like me, after reading it, you’ll wish the Council Fathers would have kept the solemn anathema in the revised version of the Rite!)

- Las Virgines Cristianas de la Iglesia Primativa, by Fransico Vizmanos, S.J. (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1948.)

Although this work has never been translated from the original Spanish, it’s still the “go to” book on consecrated virginity in the writings of the Church Fathers. Fr. Vizmanos includes a bibliography and Spanish translations of the Church Fathers’ writings on consecrated virgins, along with his own extensive commentary.

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Readers, if you can think of any other helpful (and preferably English-language) books that I’ve missed, feel free to add your suggestions in the comment box!

*N.b., I’m linking to Amazon because I think this is probably the best way to identify the books I’m talking about. In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t actually make any money off of this blog!

Thoughts on the Year of Faith

As most readers of Catholic blogs probably already know by now, our Holy Father has declared October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013 to be a “Year of Faith.” In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, the Year of Faith is to be “…a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Savior of the world.”

That is, the Year of Faith is a call for the entire people of God to deepen their knowledge and love of the truths of our Catholic faith as reveled in the Church’s teachings.

 

Specifically, as Pope Benedict further states in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fedei, it is hoped that this Year of Faith will:

 

“…arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope. It will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist, which is “the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; ... and also the source from which all its power flows.” At the same time, we make it our prayer that believers’ witness of life may grow in credibility. To rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed, and to reflect on the act of faith, is a task that every believer must make his own, especially in the course of this Year.”

It certainly has been a blessing to be here in Rome for the opening of the Year of Faith, and to be able to pray for its fruitfulness from the heart of the Church. (In particular, it was especially moving to have been present at the opening Mass for the Year of Faith—classes were canceled at all the Pontifical Universities in Rome just so that the students would be able to attend.) And so, my experiences here have prompted me to reflect on the ways in which the Year of Faith could be especially significant to us as consecrated virgins.

 

First of all, in terms of spirituality, I think the Year of Faith can lead us to a deeper appreciation of the theological affinity between the concepts of faith and virginity. In once sense, virginity is the “evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1) in that consecrated virgins profess their firm hope in the resurrection by their stated resolve to life a life of perpetual, perfect chastity.

 

The concept of virginity also has a profound resonance with “faith” as this word is used to refer to the objective truth of our beliefs about God. The Rite of Consecration itself, in its suggested homily, compares the virginity of consecrated virgins to the virginity of the Church in that both are called in a special way to “keep the faith whole and entire.” That is, just as consecrated virgins are called to live uncompromised in their moral integrity so as to offer Christ and undivided heart, so too are they called to maintain a doctrinal orthodoxy in their beliefs in order to help preserve the “wholeness” of the Church’s teaching, as it has existed unchanged since the time of the Apostles.

 

The Year of Faith is also significant for consecrated virgins in that it commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which restored the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity and the ancient Order of Virgins to the life of the modern Church.

 

Finally, the Year of Faith is pertinent to us in its connection to the New Evangelization (as connected which was highlighted by the very recent Synod of Bishops on the same topic). Consecrated virginity is a vocation which is ordered towards a public witness of Christ’s love for His Church—a witness which has the potential to be especially striking in the modern western world, where the fire of the people’s faith has often grown dim despite a historically Christian culture.

 

Because of these things, I think it would be fitting for us to make a real, focused effort to take this Year of Faith to heart.

 

One concrete thing that I think we as consecrated virgins could appropriately do to observe this Year of Faith is to read (or re-read) the actual documents of Vatican II. These can all be found online, and in a number of languages, on the Vatican’s website. Many of these documents make excellent spiritual reading (a few are even included in the Office of Readings in the breviary), and a working knowledge of them is crucial for understanding the Church.

 

Another thing we could take on in observance of the Year of Faith is to set aside some time to meditate and reflect more deeply on the Creed. Although since we say it every Sunday it’s already very familiar to us, we can always strive to profess it ever more sincerely and enthusiastically, and to let it touch our minds and hearts more fruitfully. (On a personal note, in my house in Rome, we have decided to recite the Creed together every day before Vespers, offering it up for the intentions of the American bishops.)

 

But most importantly, calling to mind the deep connection between the timeless truths of our faith, the teachings of the second Vatican Council, and the New Evangelization, I think that it would be a beautiful thing if we dedicated this year to a prayerful discernment of how we consecrated virgins might better serve as witnesses to the Gospel. In other words, how might we live our lives in such a way as to help re-insight the fire of the Gospel in the hearts of those for whom it has grown cold?

 

We can ask Mary, Virgin of Virgins and Mother of the Church, to pray for us in this endeavor.

 

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Post Script – a few resources:

 

Some great English-language resources for a fuller participation in the Year of Faith are the Vatican’s official Year of Faith website and the section on the Year of Faith at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

 

All of the Vatican II documents can be found online, in a number of languages, on the Vatican’s general website. In reading the Vatican II documents, I think it might be most helpful to focus on the four “big ones” first (that is, the Dogmatic Constitutions). There are:

 

Sacrosanctum Concilium (On the Sacred Liturgy)

Lumen Gentium (On the Church)

Dei Verbum (On Divine Revelation)
Gaudium et Spes (On the Church in the Modern World)

Because it deals with consecrated life—albeit religious life and not consecrated virginity specifically—I think Perfectae Caritatis could also be of interest to consecrated virgins.

 

The Nicene Creed can be found in the new English translation here on the USCCB website (so now you don’t need to steal the pew card from your local parish!).

 

And for those who are interested in learning to chant the Creed in Latin, here’s a very helpful video: