You are all invited to attend the Consecration of April Bailey as a virgin living in the world at Mass on Tuesday, August 15th at 2pm. August 15th is a Holy Day of Obligation—the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—and this Consecration Mass does fulfill the obligation. You are also very much invited to a Holy Hour the day before, Monday, Aug. 14th at 5pm, to pray for April and adore Jesus. April is a parishioner of Prince of Peace, employed here as our Director of Faith Formation, and a wonderful example of a disciple of Jesus. Consecrations such as these are pretty unknown to most of us and fairly rare, so don’t miss this opportunity to witness this event and support April! May God bless her on this amazing occasion! Below, I share excerpts on Consecrated Virginity from a Catholic New Agency article, “The Little-Known Vocation of Consecrated Virginity,” dated Nov 10, 2017.
Peace,
Fr. Greg
A consecrated virgin is a never-married woman who dedicates her perpetual virginity to God and is set aside as a sacred person who belongs to Christ in the Catholic Church.
According to the Code of Canon Law, women who are seeking out this particular vocation must be consecrated to God through the diocesan bishop, according to the rite approved by the Church. Upon consecration, they are betrothed mystically to Christ and are dedicated to the service of the Church, while remaining in a public state of life. Consecrated virgins live individually and receive direction from the diocesan bishop. Their consecration and life of perpetual virginity is permanent.
Their call to a secular state of life means that consecrated virgins have jobs and lives much like that of the average person. They provide for their own needs and the local diocese is not financially responsible for them. Unlike most religious orders, consecrated virgins do not have habits or use the title "Sister." They remain in their own diocese to serve the local Church community under the authority of the bishop. A consecrated virgin also has a particular focus on prayer, which is usually lived out through Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, spiritual reading and personal prayer.
One of the primary goals of consecrated virgins is to point towards a bigger reality: Christ is the ultimate fulfillment. As such, consecrated virgins live out their daily lives as witnesses of this radical love of Christ – not as single persons, but as spouses of Christ. Illustrating this point, the consecration ceremony has some similarities to a wedding, with the woman who is entering the vocation wearing a wedding dress and receiving a ring.
References of consecrated virginity can be found in sections of the New Testament, such as Matthew 19:12 and 1 Corinthians 7:25-40. Early church fathers, such as St. Ignatius of Antioch, have also mentioned consecrated virgins as a distinct group within the Catholic Church, dating back to 110 A.D.
Before women were able to enter a religious order, many dedicated themselves as consecrated virgins. St. Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Cecilia and St. Lucy are among the early saints recognized by the Catholic Church as consecrated virgins.
During the sixth century, the practice of consecrated virginity fell by the wayside as the popularity of monastic religious life grew, and became extremely rare the Middle Ages. However, consecrated virginity made a comeback as religious orders began to preserve the "Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity." Vatican II also ensured consecrated virginity's restoration in the modern world when it revised the "Rite of Consecration."
Currently in the universal Catholic Church, there are around 3,000 consecrated virgins, 235 of whom live in the United States, according to the Association of Consecrated Virgins.