Male Consecrated Virgins?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LadyLillian
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Cloisters said:
If I could actually be heard as to what I’m trying to say about accommodating virgin males who wish to consecrate their virginity to the Lord I’d appreciate it

All of this can be done as a lay association and dedicated laity. And if that’s the way we have to go to do this, then so be it. I will assist these young men who are desirous of a dedicated life of virginity in the world. Who knows where the Lord will take them afterward? As I said above, one young man was led to his wife

So, please, enough of the lambasting. Thank you
Click to expand...
I think the term you have chosen – lambast – is wholly and completely wrong in the context of people trying to explain to you why the concept you advance – “consecrated virgin” – is entirely at variance with the mind of the Church in the circumstances in which you are trying to use it

I also, frankly, do not understand If I could actually be heard as to what I’m trying to say about accommodating virgin males who wish to consecrate their virginity to the Lord I’d appreciate it. No one has either stopped you from saying what you have expressed or from hearing it – for my part I have tried to explain to you the realities of Consecrated Life and of New Ecclesial Movements as they exist in 2018

As I have had occasion to say when someone advances something that can in no way be realised by the authority I am answering on behalf of: “The fact that the answer is no does not in any way mean that I have not heard you or understood you. It means I have understood what is being asked and, in fact, cannot be granted”

Words have meaning. The term “consecrated virgin” has as specific a meaning as “vowed Religious” or “ordained cleric”. They cannot be rendered elastic beyond what they specifically mean

Any Catholic can undertake, in whole or in part, to live an eremetical life, for example. Surely with discernment. They could – again surely ONLY with the advice and help of a competent spiritual director – pronounce private vows. But that is an entirely separate thing from one who lives this vocation by the intervention – and under – the Bishop. The former are not in consecrated life and the latter are. That distinction must not only not be lost, it must be always made abundantly clear. Person A is a diocesan hermit. Person B is not a diocesan hermit
Can. 603 §1. In addition to institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through a stricter withdrawal from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance

§2. A hermit is recognized by law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, and observes a proper program of living under his direction
Click to expand...
The two sentences I bolded in your last paragraph are a cause for great concern
 
Yes. The bolded sentences give rise to concern. Sacred virgins are in a vocation, a lifelong vocation just as serious and valid as being a priest or being in a human marriage. The Rite of Consecration of Virgins is not a cute blessing on someone who is trying to keep pure while she is discerning her “real” vocation or is hunting for a husband. For many centuries the consecration of virgins was considered a sacrament. That’s how serious it is. Nor is a real consecrated virgin someone who despairs of getting a “real husband” simply because she doesn’t find someone locally who meets her values. It is not a “fallback” vocation.
 
Last edited:
SerraSemper said:
Yes. The bolded sentences give rise to concern. Sacred virgins are in a vocation, a lifelong vocation just as serious and valid as being a priest or being in a human marriage. The Rite of Consecration of Virgins is not a cute blessing on someone who is trying to keep pure while she is discerning her “real” vocation or is hunting for a husband. For many centuries the consecration of virgins was considered a sacrament. That’s how serious it is. Nor is a real consecrated virgin someone who despairs of getting a “real husband” simply because she doesn’t find someone locally who meets her values. It is not a “fallback” vocation.
Click to expand...
I affirm what you write, @SerraSemper – but it is even stronger, actually. I assume most priests who have worked in chanceries have had files cross their desks regarding clerics being released from the clerical state, with dispensation from the commitment to celibacy, as well as Religious being dispensed from vows.

There is no provision – neither through the Bishop nor through CIVCSVA – for a consecrated virgin to be “de-consecrated.” And that is a critical aspect that is on the mind of the Bishop when it comes to this particular vocation and why the discernment needs to be long, thorough and involved…there is no remedy for this Consecration should someone want to leave this state of consecrated life.

I shall have to keep my eye out for your thesis, when it’s published.
 
I would PM you but it says Don_Ruggero is not a valid username. I agree with you, but the CEI does not (and given your username, I believe you belong in the CEI’s territory!).
 
SerraSemper said:
I would PM you but it says Don_Ruggero is not a valid username. I agree with you, but the CEI does not (and given your username, I believe you belong in the CEI’s territory!).
Click to expand...
Yes, unfortunately I was receiving emails that were…problematic, to use a neutral word, and I asked the forum’s managers to please disable the system in my regard so as to end that unpleasant occurrence

I am pleased that the scope of your thesis research has included the CEI. Is it for a pontifical STD?
 
@Don_Ruggero
@SerraSemper

I would like your opinions on something I heard a priest say in regard to men being consecrated singles (I don’t think ‘virgin’ was used.) I think the discussion originated with Canon 604 and he said he didn’t think that men would ever receive consecration as singles because men did not need reasons to avoid the responsibilities that come with marriage, ordination, or religious life, that it was too easy for them to avoid growing up. He went on to say that women by their nature are inclined to making sacrifices and would continue to be generous “in the world” as CVs. It’s been probably 15 or more years since I heard that but it stuck with me. I know it is an incomplete idea but does it have any veracity?
 
There are a lot of problems with the idea of “consecrated singles”, but the thought that men would be less diligent than women seems a bit unfair to me.
 
Full disclosure: He was speaking to a group of single women.

ETA: Can you discuss the reasons that the idea of consecrated singles are problematic?
 
Last edited:
I can’t discuss the reasons at the present. Dissertations are supposed to deliver “new scientific developments”. This is very much a part of the insight I provide. I should be finished and defend within 12 months, God willing.
 
If I remember correctly, you yourself are a CV. What drew you to this particular topic, if you don’t mind me asking?
 
I thought so but I thought I’d ask. I await its publication.
 
Once in a while I look at this online forum. Saw the thread and as a CV decided to respond. A lot of people are confused by the vocation and part of the reason is that the vocation itself is not explained very well by many CVs…
 
In defense of myself, I received from the same person – a vowed religious – the information that there was no provision for private vows in canon law, and that consecrated male virgins would be a New Movement.

If the Congregation wishes to contact me, I respectfully request that they do so through my diocese, which is seated in Charlotte, NC. Thank you.

Additionally, I will no longer post to this thread.
 
We hope they contribute to the body of knowledge. Your success is in my prayers
 
Last edited:
You could, of course, always get a head start by reading the entire Rite of the Consecration of Virgins (including the Decree from the Congregation and the Preliminary section which are both missing from online “editions”. Reading, asking the tough questions, and researching can help. Comparing and contrasting to other vocations can be extremely helpful as well, particularly because this vocation is compatible with all the other vocations for women in one degree or another…
 
For those interested in private vows, both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Canon Law treat of private vows. I personally do not recommend that anyone attempt to make a vow to observe any of the evangelical counsels without proper formation first.
 
I think I read the rite, or some of it, at different times as a couple of friends were looking into CV. I’m more interested in the reasoning why consecrated singles shouldn’t be a Vocation. What you have written here in this thread and before gives me some idea but I know there is more to it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top