Pre-Vatican II rite of consecrated virgins lauded

National Catholic Reporter, June 16, 1995 by Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY -- Consecrated virgins are called to join their lives completely to Christ's by loving him and by loving others the way he did, Pope John Paul II said. During a June 2 audience, the pope marked the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the renewed "Ritual for the Consecration of Virgins," an ancient rite in the church that fell into disuse in the years before the Second Vatican Council.

Consecrated virgins are women who take vows of chastity under the direction of a bishop but do not join religious orders. The papal audience was held in conjunction with an international meeting in Rome of consecrated virgins. The pope told the women that they could fulfill themselves and their feminine identity through their consecration.

"Just as with the woman who follows the way of marriage, the consecrated virgin is able to live and express a spousal love: With such a love she becomes, in the church, a gift for God, for Christ the redeemer and for every brother and sister," the pope said. Wedded to Christ and his church, the pope said, consecrated virgins are called to "share his style of a life -- marked by humility and meekness -- of love and mercy, service and joyful availability, of untiring zeal for the glory of the Father and the salvation of humankind."

Consecrated virgins are a "visible sign of the virginity of the church, an instrument of its fruitfulness and a witness of its fidelity to Christ," he said. They are called to be the "working hand of the generosity of the local church, the voice of its prayer, the expression of its mercy, the rescue of its poor, the consolation of its afflicted sons and daughters and the support of its orphans and widows," the pope said. He encouraged the women to model their lives on that of Mary, truly becoming "virgins in heart and body, brides with a total and exclusive attachment to the love of Christ, mothers for the gift of the Spirit."