Consecrated Virgin vs. Consecrated Woman

[OneHeart]

On 3/24/2020 at 11:39 AM, Faustina86 said:

@Fr. Scott I came across this thread and as a member of Secular Institute I appreciate you explaining that we are fully Consecrated because this vocation is widely misunderstood. We receive a serious long formation process before vows. So any information that helps others understand this vocation is helpful. 

I'm really trying to understand all this.  I think the Lord wants me consecrated. But what does that mean.  I'm a third order secular Carmelite, and there is an optional vow I could take. But I've been told very clearly that that does not constitute consecration. So I'm looking elsewhere

 So members of secular institutes have the same consecration as religious? Are their vows public? In other words, is it a "terminal" state? That is probably a bad term to use for what I am trying to ask. I'm meaning that in the sense of a "terminal degree" like a PhD.  Is it the end of the line.  I've learned that the OCDS is not a complete vocation. So I'm trying to understand all this.

What is the difference between living public vows, and being consecrated?

 

Thanks,

[Faustina86]

1 hour ago, OneHeart said:

I'm really trying to understand all this.  I think the Lord wants me consecrated. But what does that mean.  I'm a third order secular Carmelite, and there is an optional vow I could take. But I've been told very clearly that that does not constitute consecration. So I'm looking elsewhere

 So members of secular institutes have the same consecration as religious? Are their vows public? In other words, is it a "terminal" state? That is probably a bad term to use for what I am trying to ask. I'm meaning that in the sense of a "terminal degree" like a PhD.  Is it the end of the line.  I've learned that the OCDS is not a complete vocation. So I'm trying to understand all this.

What is the difference between living public vows, and being consecrated?

 

Thanks,

Hi OneHeart,

Good questions, I’m not sure I can answer them fully, but I will do my best to answer them to the best of my my ability. Yes it’s the same consecration as religious just lived out differently. We are not in a religious state because we live “in the world” and most members live separately and not in community, but some do. Yes at final vows it is permanent, either under diocesan or pontifical right. (I don’t know if that’s what you mean by terminal?) We use the term semi-public to describe the vows because they are public and recognized by the church but it does not put us in a religious state because we live out the vow in normal daily circumstances of life with every one else. 
 

 "Secular Institutes, although not religious institutes, do at the same time involve true and full profession of the evangelical counsels in the world and are recognized by the Church. This profession confers a consecration on people living in the world, lay men and women, and clerics. 
Therefore they should make it their chief aim to give themselves to God totally in perfect charity. The institutes themselves ought to preserve their own special character--their secular character. That is to say, to the end that they may be able to carry on effectively and everywhere the apostolates in the world and, as it were, from the world, for which they were founded.” (Decree on Renewal of Religious Life, par. 11)

I suggest you read this letter to the Bishops called: Consecration and Secularity

https://www.cmis-int.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Ingl_1295_cop-merged.pdf

I hope this helps a little...

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Faustina86

[Guest]

On 7/8/2017 at 3:44 AM, Sponsa-Christi said:

HOWEVER, this information is all very technical, and shouldn't necessarily be the factor that takes first place in someone's discernment. Just because someone might not be considered technically "consecrated" in canon law doesn't mean that they're not living out the evangelical counsels in actual fact. 

  

[Pinks]

 

CONSECRATED LIFE. A life consecrated by profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. There are two basic forms of organized consecrated life in the Catholic Church, namely religious institutes and secular institutes.

 

CONSECRATION OF VIRGINS. A solemn rite by which a woman is constituted a sacred person, dedicating her virginity to Christ and his Church. The women on whom the consecration of virgins can be bestowed are both religious women and women living in the world who have never entered into marriage and have not publicly or openly lived in a state contrary to chastity. The one who administers the rite is the local ordinary or his delegate. There is a life-long commitment in the consecration. Moreover, according to the norms of the Holy See, "Christian virgins, each according to her state and her charisms, must spend their time in works of penance and mercy, in apostolic activity and holy prayer."

 

SECULAR INSTITUTE. A society of consecrated life, whether clerical or lay, whose members profess the evangelical counsels in the world. Their purpose is to enable the members to attain Christian perfection and to exercise a full apostolate. They are distinguished in ecclesiastical law from other common associations of the faithful. They were first approved by Pope Pius XII on February 2, 1947, in his constitution Provida Mater, which still contains the guiding norms for their direction. Secular institutes differ from religious institutes or societies of apostolic life because, while their members take vows or promises, these are not technically the public vows of religion, and the members do not live a common life. They are, however, states of Christian perfection, whose apostolate is in the world. The members are to work for the extension of Christ's kingdom in places and circumstances corresponding to people in the secular world.

[GraceUk]

I was wondering if any orders still do the consecrated virgin ceremony. I'm only asking this because in the novel 'in this house of Brede, Cecily has the consecrated virgin ceremony and receives   a crown called a mitre. While Philippa a widow doesn't.  I don't expect this happens these days.

[Sponsa-Christi]

1 hour ago, GraceUk said:

I was wondering if any orders still do the consecrated virgin ceremony. I'm only asking this because in the novel 'in this house of Brede, Cecily has the consecrated virgin ceremony and receives   a crown called a mitre. While Philippa a widow doesn't.  I don't expect this happens these days.

There are some religious communities that do still have the consecration of virgins. Carthusian monasteries still give their nuns the option of receiving the consecration of virgins several years after solemn vows, and some Benedictine monasteries incorporate the consecration of virgins into their solemn profession ceremonies. I believe St. Cecilia's Abbey on the Isle of Wight does this. 

[littlebell]

The Abbey of Regina Laudis had this article on its website:

https://abbeyofreginalaudis.org/ceremonies-Consecration2018.html

[gloriana35]

It would take a canon lawyer to explain all of the specifics, but 'private' vows never meant 'secret.' For example, the Filippini Sisters never were erected as a religious institute - the Daughters of Charity make 'private' vows, as do various other well-known congregations. There are many classifications for religious congregations - 'solemn vows', such as Benedictine monks and Franciscan friars make (though only cloistered Franciscan nuns make 'solemn vows,' where active Sisters make 'simple', though perpetual vows.) Other communities are 'societies of life with semi-public vows.'  I never did know where the idea that solitaries had to keep their vows a secret arose - it seems to be of the modern era (post-French Revolution, perhaps.)

Before the new Order of Mass was developed in the 1970s, a Mass that was not sung was considered to be a 'private' Mass, though there might be hundreds in attendance. 

Yet it is amazing how many priests and religious (I once heard a vicar for religious say this) think that 'private vows' are supposed to be a secret.