Pope says consecrated virgins are signs of God’s tender love

(May 15, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday met some 500 consecrated virgins in the Vatican and urged them to go beyond their appearances, welcoming the mystery of the tenderness of the love of God in them and regarding one another as sisters despite their diversity. He was talking to participants in the International Congress-Pilgrimage for Consecrated Virgins in the Catholic Church, which is in session in Rome from May 14 to 20, on the theme, “Consecrated Virginity lived in the World: A Gift for the Church and in the Church." Consecrated virgins are lay women who belong to the Order of Virgins, one of the oldest forms of consecration in the Church. Unlike the religious men and women who live in communities, women belonging to the Order of Virgins make a promise of perpetual virginity, prayer and service to the church while living independently in families and are at the service of their parishes and dioceses. Pope Benedict told the consecrated virgins that their life does not have any specific features of religious life, especially with regard to obedience, but for the Pope it is a total gift to Christ… “To be with Christ requires interiority,” the Pope said, but at the same time is open to others. “Herein,” he said, “lies your mission, where an essential rule of life outlines the commitment which each one of you assume in agreement with your bishop, both spiritually as well as in the way of living it.” Pope Benedict whished that their life always radiate the dignity of the spouse of Christ and express the newness of Christian life and the serene expectation of future life. He said that the choice of the life of a virgin is a reminder to the world of the transitory nature of earthly life and a foretaste of the future good.