Back Verge consagrada Catalan Zasvěcená panna Czech Geweihte Jungfrau German Konsekrita virgulino Esperanto Virgen consagrada Spanish Vierge consacrée French Perawan hidup bakti ID Vergine consacrata Italian 処女の祝別 Japanese Virgo consecrata Latin

Consecrated virgin

The Coronation of the Virgin by Neri di Bicci, c. 1470

In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite.

Consecrated virgins spend their time in works of penance and mercy, in apostolic activity and in prayer, according to their state of life and spiritual gifts. A consecrated virgin may live either as a nun in a monastic order or in the world.[1] under the authority of her bishop, to the service of the church.

The rite of consecration of virgins for women living in the world was reintroduced in 1970, under Pope Paul VI, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.[2] It is based on the template of the practice of the velatio virginum going back to the Apostolic era, especially the early virgin martyrs. The consecration of virgins for nuns who made their final profession of vows outlasted times in various forms and without discontinuation in bestowal.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law and the 1996 Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata by Pope John Paul II speak of the reflourishing Order of Virgins (Ordo Virginum), the members of which represent an image of the church as the Bride of Christ. Estimates on the number of consecrated virgins derived from diocesan records range at around 5,000 consecrated virgins living in the world as of 2023.[3][4][5]

In view of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the reintroduction, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life issued the instruction Ecclesia Sponsae imago in July 2018.[6]

  1. ^ "CONSECRATION TO A LIFE OF VIRGINITY FOR WOMEN LIVING IN THE WORLD" (PDF). Consecratedvirgins.org. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. ^ Ordo Consecrationis Virginum (31 May 1970), AAS 62 (1970) 650 = EDIL 2082-2092 = DOL 294 no. 3352. English translation: The Rites of the Catholic Church 2 (n. 29, p. 81), 132-164, DOL 395 nos. 3253-3262. The Rite of consecration of virgins who belonged to monastic communities without their own proper Rite was revised and published as the variant of the Rite of consecration to a life of virginity in the 1970 Roman Pontifical. See also: "Ordo Virginum-The Order of Virgins". Office for Religious- Archdiocese of Dublin. 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  3. ^ Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL), September 2015 survey. "A September 2015 survey sent to the 114 episcopal conferences around the world indicated that there are around 4,000 consecrated virgins in the Catholic Church, living in at least 78 countries. (It is worth noting that less than half— 42%— of the countries known to have consecrated virgins responded to the survey, so the actual numbers are likely higher.)" A Consecrated Virgin, July 2017 Archived 2018-07-18 at the Wayback Machine)
  4. ^ Bernadette Mary Reis, "Church reproposes Order of Virgins 50 years after its restoration", Vatican News, 4 July 2018.
  5. ^ Register, Southern Nebraska (2023-11-03). "Consecrated virgins living in the world". Catholic Diocese of Lincoln. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ESI2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by Nelliwinne