are only CVs brides of Christ?

[GraceUk]

I was wondering if a consecrated virgin then decided the life was not for her would she have to go through dispensation of vows like a religious sister would have to. I don't suppose this would occur very often. I don't really fully understand this vocation because surely the person would just enter a religious order. Unless they had elderly parents or suchlike they were responsible for.  

[Chiquitunga]

Hi GraceUK! So the Consecration of Virgins does not involve taking vows, but being consecrated like a church. So if there was anything like a dispensation, it would be like a deconsecration of a church - but I have heard it is not actually possible, and that this is the opinion of Cardinal Burke who I think oversaw them (correct wording?) as well. This is one aspect that makes their vocation and commitment for life really an extra special and rare gift to the Church. About just entering a religious order instead - these vocations are really very different though. The CV is a witness to belonging to Christ alone as His bride. Religious life has this and other aspects to it as well, like living in community and owning nothing on one’s own in the vow of poverty. Each one of a gift to the Church in a different way. Many saints were espoused to Christ alone and did not live in religious communities. Not living in a religious community also allows a consecrated person to be a witness in a different way that a religious sister can’t. Anyway, just some thoughts; all great callings.

[JHFamily]

1 hour ago, Chiquitunga said:

Hi GraceUK! So the Consecration of Virgins does not involve taking vows, but being consecrated like a church. So if there was anything like a dispensation, it would be like a deconsecration of a church - but I have heard it is not actually possible, and that this is the opinion of Cardinal Burke who I think oversaw them (correct wording?) as well. This is one aspect that makes their vocation and commitment for life really an extra special and rare gift to the Church. About just entering a religious order instead - these vocations are really very different though. The CV is a witness to belonging to Christ alone as His bride. Religious life has this and other aspects to it as well, like living in community and owning nothing on one’s own in the vow of poverty. Each one of a gift to the Church in a different way. Many saints were espoused to Christ alone and did not live in religious communities. Not living in a religious community also allows a consecrated person to be a witness in a different way that a religious sister can’t. Anyway, just some thoughts; all great callings.

[Sponsa-Christi]

3 hours ago, GraceUk said:

I was wondering if a consecrated virgin then decided the life was not for her would she have to go through dispensation of vows like a religious sister would have to. I don't suppose this would occur very often. 

The 2018 Vatican document Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago (ESI) no. 70 talks about a woman leaving the Order of Virgins: 

Quote

70. If a consecrated woman, for very serious reasons evaluated before the Lord in careful discernment, wishes to be dispensed from the obligations arising from consecration, she will approach her diocesan Bishop with a written request. The Bishop must not neglect to offer her appropriate assistance and adequate time for her discernment. He will grant the dispensation only after an in-depth scrutiny of the reasons for her request.

I'm personally inclined to see this mention of being dispensed from "obligations arising from consecration" as indicating that the consecration itself cannot be dispensed. And so I think a CV leaving the Ordo virginum would be more akin to a priest returning to the lay state than a religious being dispensed from her vows. As in, one is still a consecrated virgin, but is no longer obligated to say the Divine Office, to present herself publicly as a CV, to engage in whatever apostolic service she was involved in, etc. 

I have also heard of a case where a brand-new CV decided to leave after less than a year, and the diocese just declared that her consecration had been invalid instead of dispensing her from the obligations of consecration. Which, from the very little I know about this case, seems like it was probably the most appropriate option. 

4 hours ago, GraceUk said:

I don't really fully understand this vocation because surely the person would just enter a religious order. Unless they had elderly parents or suchlike they were responsible for. 

Like Chinquitunga said, consecrated virginity is a different vocation from religious life, with its own spirituality. I was twenty-three when I was consecrated, and religious life was a viable possibility for me, but I still chose to become a consecrated virgin because I felt very strongly that God was calling me to this specifically. 

Among other things, even whole-heartedly granting that religious women can still consider themselves "brides of Christ," spousal spirituality is emphasized much more heavily in consecrated virginity than in any religious Order. Consecrated virgins also have a direct connection with the diocesan local Church, which isn't the case for even religious communities of diocesan right. And being "in the world"--even when living a very outwardly "consecrated" way of life--is a different kind of Christian witness. 

I saw this all the time on VS, but a vocation to consecrated virginity really has to be based on a "first choice," positive attraction to the charism of the Ordo virginum. If a woman was prompted to discern consecrated virginity specifically because it allowed her to care for elderly parents (as opposed to feeling called to consecrated virginity first, with the resulting freedom to care for elderly parents being a happy side effect) I would actually see this as a pretty big red flag. 

[GraceUk]

Thanks very much for explaining Chiquitunga and Sponsa-Christi. I didn't realise that consecrated virgins didn't take vows as such.  And I see why they are free to be more involved in the work of the local church. I had assumed before that it must just be mostly for women who felt called but couldn't enter convents because of family commitments but I see this is not the case. Thanks!

[Anastasia]

I came across a paper that may be useful

‘Lord, You Want Me? All of Me?’ by Fr Michael de Stoop

https://www.vocationcentre.org.au/systems/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Lord-You-Want-Me-All-of-Me-2.pdf

[adoro.te.devote]

On 8/5/2020 at 5:20 AM, Anastasia said:

I came across a paper that may be useful

‘Lord, You Want Me? All of Me?’ by Fr Michael de Stoop

https://www.vocationcentre.org.au/systems/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Lord-You-Want-Me-All-of-Me-2.pdf

Thank you so much! That was an amazing book. (I read the whole thing, it was so interesting and answered some questions I had!). 

[gloriana35]

I know nothing whatever about Detroit, but thought this link may be of interest to some of  you. 

https://detroitcatholic.com/news/gabriella-patti/fourth-woman-commits-to-life-of-consecrated-virginity-in-the-archdiocese-of-detroit

I frankly do not like some of the wording in this article - such as that about wanting to find a way to get to heaven to be with her deceased mother, or about how the rite was a mix between wedding and ordination. But some of you seemed very interested in consecrated virgins, and, apparently, that and a neighbouring diocese have a number of them.

[Sister_Laurel]

There is a fundamental rule in the church, namely, as she prays so does she believe. While I can go into the theological reasons for considering religious as brides of Christ, it is a prayer from the liturgy for perpetual profession of women at the giving of her ring which provides the bottom line answer here: [[Receive this ring for you are betrothed to the eternal King. Keep faith with your Bridegroom so that you may come to the wedding feast of eternal joy.]] The instructions to the choir and assembly during the time the rings are being bestowed recommends the following antiphon: [[I am betrothed to the Son of the Eternal Father, to Him who was born of the Virgin Mother to be savior of all the world.]] As we pray, so do we believe.

Edited November 3, 2020 by SRLAUREL

[adoro.te.devote]

23 minutes ago, SRLAUREL said:

There is a fundamental rule in the church, namely, as she prays so does she believe. While I can go into the theological reasons for considering religious as brides of Christ, it is a prayer from the liturgy for perpetual profession of women at the giving of her ring which provides the bottom line answer here: [[Receive this ring for you are betrothed to the eternal King. Keep faith with your Bridegroom so that you may come to the wedding feast of eternal joy.]] The instructions to the choir and assembly during the time the rings are being bestowed recommends the following antiphon: [[I am betrothed to the Son of the Eternal Father, to Him who was born of the Virgin Mother to be savior of all the world.]] As we pray, so do we believe.

Sr Laurel, are these words for the profession of nuns/Sisters too, not only CVs?

I read an article recently that linked a perpetual vow of chastity to being a bride of Christ, and an encyclical from Pope Pius XII (on Sacred Virginity) seemed to link those two things as well

[Sister_Laurel]

The prayer and rubrics quoted are from the rite of Religious Profession for Women. It is not used for the Consecration of Virgins living in the World. What I quoted is from the same rite I used at my perpetual Profession as a Diocesan Hermit as well. 

Edited November 3, 2020 by SRLAUREL

[adoro.te.devote]

2 hours ago, SRLAUREL said:

The prayer and rubrics quoted are from the rite of Religious Profession for Women. It is not used for the Consecration of Virgins living in the World. What I quoted is from the same rite I used at my perpetual Profession as a Diocesan Hermit as well. 

that's so interesting, thank you for sharing this! Also, I didn't realize that you are a Diocesan Hermit, - and I'm so glad you mentioned this - I've always been interested in this form of religious life, and it's encouraging to me that Hermits (who are women of course) have a spousal spirituality as well as Nuns