On Consecrated Virginity as Having an Objective Nature

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

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

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

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

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

Consecrated virginity as a public state of consecrated life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The absolute essentials of the Ordo virginum 

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

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

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

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

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

Fundamental obligations of consecrated virgins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Characteristic spirituality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Things outside the vocation of consecrated virginity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why does all this matter?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Notes:

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

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

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