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Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran
St. John Lateran…pray for us?Today, November 9, is the feast of the dedication of the basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. According to the breviary, the Church building was originally established by...
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A Few Brief Thoughts for Christmastime
The Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity reminds us in its suggested homily about the connection between the vocation of virginity and the wonder of the Incarnation:“…When the fullness of time...
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Anniversary Reflection
“IHS” is a traditional symbol for the Holy Name of JesusJanuary 3, 2014 is the fifth anniversary of my solemn consecration to a life of virginity. Even after five years it’s still hard for me to find...
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Back to Blogging
In honor of the Year of Consecrated Life, I’ll be making a more conscious effort to resurrect the blog!A few updates on my life since I last posted…in Rome this past June, I successfully completed my...
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Christmas 2014
“Today, indeed, He was born after the manner of men, of a Virgin, but was begotten of the Father before all things, resembling His mother in body, His Father in power. Only-begotten on earth, and...
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Feast of St. Agnes
A blessed feast of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, to all my sisters in Christ around the world!As many of you already know, in Rome there is a special custom for the feast of St. Agnes. Two lambs are...
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A Homily for the Feast of St. Agatha
For today’s feast of St. Agatha, consecrated virgin and martyr, here is a lovely homily preached by Fr. Hugh Clifford to the students of the Pontifical Irish Collegein Rome (where Irish seminarians...
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Who Can Be Called a Bride of Christ?
Whenever I’m asked what is the most central element of a vocation to consecrated virginity, without hesitation I always answer: the call to be a bride of Christ. All other aspects of this vocation...
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Feast of St. Mary Magdalen
A blessed feast of St. Mary Magdalen to all my sisters in Christ around the world!Although there is a long-standing tradition in the Latin Church of regarding her as a penitent sinner, I still find...
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Consecrated Virginity versus Secular Institutes
It’s already well-known to readers of this blog that, as the Order of Virgins is a form of consecrated life which has been only fairly recently re-introduced into the life of the modern Church, there...
View ArticleMy Writing in Other Places
Unfortunately, I’ve been letting the blog slide a quite bit lately (though I do hope to have some new posts up soon.) Part of the reason for the lack of posts here is that I’ve been busy with other...
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Consecrated Virginity and Religious Life
An old photo of the clothing ceremony of a Redemptoristine nun. Although the Redemptorists are a relatively modern religious family whose nuns do not have a tradition of receiving the consecration of...
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Understanding Canon Law: An Introduction for Consecrated Virgins
Since consecrated virginity is such a “new” vocation, one challenge today’s consecrated virgins face is ambiguity with respect to how this ancient vocation can find its best lived expression in the...
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Just a quick note to say that I am still around, although I haven’t had much time for personal writing lately as my day job (I currently work full-time as canon lawyer in a marriage tribunal) keeps me...
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A First Look at Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago
As probably anyone familiar with this blog already knows, on July 4, 2018 the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome published a new document on the...
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Tenth Anniversary Reflection
Better late than never!This past January, I celebrated my tenth (!!!) anniversary of consecrated life. It has been an interesting ten years—since my consecration day, I have spent three years living in...
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Thoughts on Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, Paragraph 88
Overall, Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago (ESI), the fairly recent Instruction from Rome’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Life, was a much-needed document that clarified many...
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Letter to a Newly Consecrated Virgin
Dear sister in Christ, Maybe we know each other in real life, or maybe we’ve only “met” over the internet, or maybe you’ve just stumbled upon this blog. We may have corresponded over many years, or we...
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Pope Francis on Spiritual Motherhood
Icon of Mary, Mother of the Church, overlooking St. Peter's square“The consecrated woman is a mother, she must be a mother, not a ‘spinster!’ Excuse me for speaking like this, but motherhood in the...
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Quick Question – Are consecrated virgins “laywomen”?
Short answer: No.Longer answer: It depends on what exactly you mean by “lay.”In various Church documents, the words “lay” and “laity” are used to mean slightly different things in different contexts.In...
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Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago and Formation, part I: Basic Principles
Image: The consecrated virgin St. Marcellina with her brother, St. Ambrose. St. Marcellina was encouraged by her brother to help guide younger consecrated virgins in the fourth century. One of the most...
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Quick Question: Can an Eastern Catholic woman become a consecrated virgin?
Simi Sahu, the first Syro-Malabar consecrated virgin in the United StatesShort answer: Yes.Longer answer: Yes, but it’s a little complicated. Eastern Catholics* have a slightly different system of...
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Some Basic Advice for Discerners
One of the most common questions I’m asked as a relatively seasoned consecrated virgin is whether I have any advice for women discerning this vocation. This is also one of the trickiest questions to...
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A brief explanation of the new canon 604 §3
This past Friday, on February 11, 2022, Pope Francis issued a motu propriomodifying some of the canons in the Code of Canon Law.* One of these alterations was adding a third paragraph to canon 604, the...
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Quick Question: Are consecrated virgins called to pray for priests?
Short answer: Yes.Longer answer: Prayer for priests per se isn’t necessarily the central aspect of our vocation, although consecrated virgins would certainly seem to be called to pray for the local...
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