Penitent Sinners Who Offered Their Lives To Christ And Became Saints

[MarysLittleFlower]

Hello,

 

I've been wondering something... I know that there are many very inspiring examples of Saints who were lived very virtuous lives and offered their virginity to God. I read that offering virginity to God is something very special and beautiful and gives the soul a special beauty.

 

however are there Saints (or Blesseds, etc) who lived sinful lives and were not pure in the past, but then converted and still made a vow of chastity or became nuns... ? the Saints who lived very pure lives and offered themselves fully to God often called Him their Spouse... I can't figure out if this is because they offered their virginity to Him specifically, or if it's the same if someone (like a widow, or a penitent), would offer their chastity and make a vow of chastity, though they are not a virgin.

 

I have lived a sinful life and now I feel drawn to religious life or making a private vow of chastity, and I have so much sorrow and pain over my past sins. I often get doubts that essentially come down to what would my offering be worth, if I haven't lived a pure life.. I read about how beautiful it is to offer virginity to God, but if someone can't do that, what would be the meaning of them making a vow of chastity? can they still have like a spousal relation to God (not as souls generally do, but as the consecrated do) or is that only for virgins who offered themselves to God? (I don't even specifically mean Consecrated Virgins, but ANY consecrated person (ie Sister) who is a virgin too). I'm just trying to understand because I've been feeling very drawn to some sort of consecration and not marrying, but I don't  know how to understand it. I thought if I read about some of the Saints, that could help. I'm really drawn to St Mary Magdalene but I wonder if there's another similar Saint, who made a vow of chastity. I know about some penitents (St Margaret of Cortona for example) but I don't know if they made such a vow or private promise, or if they were nuns. Thank you!

[Sponsa-Christi]

I for one do think it's possible to be called to a special spousal relationship with Christ even if one is not a virgin. My thought is that in vowing chastity, a woman could offer her heart entirely to Christ from that point forward. 

 

I'm sure plenty of people here could think of non-virgin or penitent woman saints who lived out a spousal relationship with Christ.

 

One saint that springs to mind for me is actually St. Teresa of Avila. Even though she was a virgin, she was filled with worldly desires until she entered the convent. And then for years AFTER she entered the convent, she lived her religious life in a fairly shallow way until she had a conversion experience when she was around age forty. But her writings make it clear that she did relate to Christ in a very spousal way.

 

And even if you just had St. Mary Magdalene, she's already such a wonderful saint! She was one of the few people who stayed with Christ through His entire passion and death, and was the first person to announce the good news of the Resurrection. Her "vocation story" could give anyone enough to meditate on for a lifetime!

[MarysLittleFlower]

Thank you for the reply! :) I wish I could speak to my confessor about this but I'm in another city right now and I thought I'd ask here meanwhile, before speaking to him... it's just been something that's been confusing me. I agree that St Mary Magdalene is so inspiring and there's so much to learn about from her life! My favourite story from the Gospels is how she anointed Jesus' feet and He accepted her love and worship though others criticized it. I have a book about her life from TAN and it's about the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, and I learned so much from it. I sometimes wonder what life she had after Christ ascended to Heaven... I read that she lived sort of like a hermitess in a cave. She did a lot of penance too. I wonder if she made a vow of chastity but it really sounds based on the descriptions at least that she didn't marry anyone and gave her heart only to Jesus.

[corban711]

I know he wasn't a nun, but one of my very favorite saints (or almost saints) is Bl. Charles de Foucauld.  He is a very special friend of mine and his life and writings are a constant inspiration for me.

 

He had lead a very sinful life in the world and was definitely not a virgin prior to his conversion.  He was still able to make a vow of chastity, live a hidden life of prayer and adoration as a hermit, and ended his life as an extremely holy man.   His story is definitely worth reading.

 

He was also very devoted to St. Mary Magdalene.  You are correct about the hermitess in a cave thing as well   :)

Edited August 11, 2014 by corban711

[Chiquitunga]

you may be inspired to read about the life of Alessandra Di Rudini who become Mother Mary of Jesus. I still need to read her life myself. here's an old conversation we had on her with a couple books in English on her mentioned, http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/121149-discalced-carmelite-nun-communities/?p=2600640

[Chiquitunga]

to answer your question specifically though, I would say YES, of course they can have a spousal relationship with God!!

 

I read about how beautiful it is to offer virginity to God, but if someone can't do that, what would be the meaning of them making a vow of chastity? can they still have like a spousal relation to God (not as souls generally do, but as the consecrated do) or is that only for virgins who offered themselves to God? (I don't even specifically mean Consecrated Virgins, but ANY consecrated person (ie Sister) who is a virgin too)

 

I understand your desire to find a consecrated religious saint, or one who made a private vow of chastity, though, to relate to. The first one that comes to my mind just now is Blessed Angela of Foligno. She was a Third Order Franciscan and I believe took a vow of chastity. I visited her body last year. It was amazing! She lead a very scandalous life, but after her conversion had an extremely intense mystical life full of visions, and I am very sure that she had a spousal relationship with God 

 

 

 

 

p.s. actually she is just like St. Margaret of Cortona! we'll have to research about whether she took a vow of chastity as well

 

Edited August 11, 2014 by Chiquitunga

[Egeria]

Well, the classic example would be St Mary of Egypt: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Egypt

 

Her life, which is read every year during the Lenten services in the Byzantine tradition, is here:

http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/patristictexts/182-life-of-mary

[Egeria]

P.S. You might also be interested in Benedicta Ward's book, Harlots of the Desert, which focuses on penitent women in the early monastic tradition.

http://www.amazon.com/Harlots-Desert-Repentance-Monastic-Cistercian/dp/0879076062

[marigold]

Well, the classic example would be St Mary of Egypt: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Egypt

 

Her life, which is read every year during the Lenten services in the Byzantine tradition, is here:

http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/patristictexts/182-life-of-mary

 

 

P.S. You might also be interested in Benedicta Ward's book, Harlots of the Desert, which focuses on penitent women in the early monastic tradition.

http://www.amazon.com/Harlots-Desert-Repentance-Monastic-Cistercian/dp/0879076062

 

Both great suggestions, seconded by me! 

[veritasluxmea]

Saints for Sinners is a good book, it discusses one of the best converts, St. Camillus de Lellis. He had a horrible start to life, had a conversion experience and tried to join a monastery, was denied, went back to his old ways, converted and tried to join a religious order again, then went back to his old ways, and then finally converted for good and ended up becoming a priest and founding a religious order. A really interesting and kind of funny story. 

 

The whole book is online for free:

https://archive.org/details/SaintsForSinners

Edited August 11, 2014 by veritasluxmea

[krissylou]

Dorothy Day came to my mind (see the image I use as a profile pic!)

 

She was always a laywoman and never made vows (I think she was an oblate of a Benedictine monastery as a supplement to her vocation with the Catholic Worker) but certainly lived a life devoted to God and the service of God's people.  It seems to me that the impulses that led to the Catholic Worker have a lot in common with the impulses that led to a lot of religious orders.  So I think she counts.  She is currently a Servant of God.  (So, okay, according to iconography she shouldn't be shown with a halo until she gets a couple more promotions.  Oh well.)

 

And she came to the Church in her 20s with the baptism of her daughter (born out of wedlock) and she was particularly joyous to have her daughter because after an earlier abortion she thought she wouldn't be able to have children.

 

Her autobiography The Long Loneliness tells that whole story.

[MarysLittleFlower]

Thank you so much for the replies! :) that is so encouraging to me, you have no idea :) I'm going to look into all of those Saints and holy people...

 

I somehow thought Blessed Angela of Foligno always lived a very virtuous life and then became a nun, but now I see she converted from a sinful life and then joined a Third Order! (though she lived in community with other Sisters in the Third Order). I need to read more about her!

[beatitude]

The simple answer to your question is all of them. ;)

 

That may sound strange, but just remember: there is not one person who has ever lived who did not need Christ's blood on Calvary. He had to die for the St Thereses of this world as well as for the St Augustines. (Augustine's prayer used to be, "Lord, make me chaste, just not yet!") No one's life is made less valuable to God because of what they may or may not have done in the past. Remember Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard - they all got paid just as much, the ones who arrived last and the ones who arrived first. That is because they all gave just as much, even though the ones who arrived to work first struggled to see that. Sometimes people who are very ashamed of themselves struggle to see it too - they don't understand why they would be worth as much as someone who hasn't done the particular bad things that they did. But God uses a different standard and it takes all our faith to know that. We must pray for our faith to increase, so we can see it always.

Edited August 12, 2014 by beatitude

[seamoylantd]

Most Catholic Saints were Priests and Nuns. Its easy for them to be saints, especially if they were young when they dedicated their lives to Christ. Its hard to relate to them. Its  like an obese person aspiring to  runway-modeldom.  Dorothy Day and Matt Talbot were not Religious. They were people who lived in the twentieth century. Matt was an alcoholic. Dorothy had bad taste in men and had an abortion. How inspiring they are today.

[OnlySunshine]

Another saint that was not mentioned on here is the one that I have for the patron saint of the year - St. Margaret of Cortona.  She was a Third Order Franciscan who converted from her former way of life. 

Margaret's mother died when she was very young and her father remarried.  Her stepmother despised her and treated her poorly.  She left her father's house when she was very young and lived with a nobleman and had a child out of wedlock.  Her lover was killed and she realized that her life was not what she wanted it to be.  She tried to return home, but her stepmother did not agree with her choices and did not want the child living in her home.  Margaret felt a call to become devoted to Christ, so she and her son went to the nearby Franciscan friary where she put herself entirely in the hands of the friars.  She gained a spiritual director and was clothed in the TOR habit.  She experienced mystic visions of Christ and was often in ecstasy over the visions.  She is one of the incorruptible saints, too.  You can find more about her here:

http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/saint-margaret-of-cortona.html