The entire tradition of the Church has firmly upheld that a woman must have received the gift of virginity – that is, both material and formal (physical and spiritual) – in order to receive the consecration of virgins.
Unlike nuns, consecrated virgins do not live in enclosed communities or wear special clothes; they lead a secular life, have jobs and support themselves. There is no such male equivalent in the Catholic Church.
The consecrated virgin does not join a religious order or live in community. She does not wear a habit or use the title “Sister.” She lives her life individually under the direction of the Bishop, but is not supported financially by the diocese. As of 2018, there were 254 consecrated virgins in the United States.
Consecrated Virginity is a perpetual commitment, following Christ more closely, consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop, betrothed mystically to Christ the Son of God, dedicated to the service of the Church.
While the numbers of those seeking consecration as widows and widowers appears to be growing, there is not currently a rite in the Western Church for this particular form of consecration. To become a Consecrated Virgin, Widow / Widower, or Hermit, you need to contact your diocesan Bishop.
Lay consecrated women respond to God's call to follow him completely by professing vows or other sacred bonds of poverty, chastity and obedience. Lay consecrated live fraternal life in community according to their proper rule or constitutions.
Some examples of forms of consecrated life are: Monasticism, Religious Life , Secular Institutes, Societies of Apostolic Life, Consecrated Virgins, and Hermits. Each of these forms expresses itself in a variety of different orders.
Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
It is to shake the soul awake into the consciousness that God is calling, so that she may hear, and take his part and punish herself. She reflects, repents and is contrite. It is for this reason that priest and people strike their breasts when they confess their sins at the foot of the altar.
Duties of the Consecrated Virgin
The consecrated virgin prays the Liturgy of the Hours, receives the sacraments regularly and is faithful to private prayer. She prays for the Bishop and clergy, and the needs of her diocese.
Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Cecilia and St. Lucy are among the early saints recognized by the Catholic Church as consecrated virgins.
Most people do not live their entire lives as virgins, and it's good to set clear and reasonable goals for yourself. Think about how long you want to stay a virgin, and know that you can always modify the decision if it no longer works for you. Deciding to be celibate for years is too much pressure for some people.
Within the Catholic Church, clerical celibacy is mandated for all clergy in the Latin Church except in the permanent diaconate.
Modern-day Views. Although the Pope still remains restricted to celibacy, the rule for priests in the Catholic Church is a topic of debate nowadays. With many believers and members of the church believing celibacy should be optional as it is in other Christian churches.
Nuns in the United States are typically practitioners of the Catholic faith, but other faiths, such as Buddhism and Orthodox Christianity accept and support nuns as well. A nun's duties depend on her religion as well as the order she joins.
Nuns of the Roman Catholic, Western Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican traditions often wear a veil as a part of their religious habit. Likewise, Moravian females wear a lace headcovering called a haube, when serving as dieners in the celebration of lovefeasts.
Proverbs 5:18b says “…and rejoice with the wife of your youth.” Verse 19b says, “… Let her breast satisfy you at all times.” This scripture does not say that it is the breasts of only a young girl that gives a man satisfaction.
Proverbs 5:18-19 King James Version (KJV)
Let thy fountain be blessed: And rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love.
The key to what to wear to a catholic wedding is to keep it modest. So, the last thing you want to do is wear something with a plunging neckline that shows too much cleavage.
In life, the most perfect aim is for istishadi through jihad, and the martyr will receive bountiful gifts in paradise. Men will receive 72 virgins in the hadith corpus.
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari mentions that all righteous women, however old and decayed they may have been on earth, will be resurrected as virginal maidens and will, like their male counterparts, remain eternally young in paradise.
It was a custom among the Jews for the bridegroom to come at night to the bride's house, where her bridesmaids attended her. When the bridegroom's approach was announced, these maidens went out with lamps to light his way into the house for the celebration.
The law of consecration is a principle the Lord gives to His covenant people. To live this principle, men and women dedicate themselves completely to building up God's kingdom and ensuring that there are “no poor among them” (Moses 7:18).
It is the fresh act of dedicating yourself—or your home, a relationship, a job, your sexuality, whatever needs God's grace—deliberately and intentionally to Jesus, bringing it fully into his kingdom and under his rule.
Nuns and sisters are what we call consecrated vocations. Consecrated life takes many forms (priests, nuns, monks, etc), but is ultimately a way of life which strives to imitate Christ through chastity, poverty and obedience.