#2 Virgins can be associated together to fulfill their pledge more faithfully, and to assist each other to serve the Church in a way that befits their state.
CANON 604 MENTIONS ‘WHEN THE DIOCESAN BISHOP CONSECRATES THEM ACCORDING TO THE APPROVED LITURGICAL RITE.’
THUS CONSECRATION
ACCORDING TO THE APPROVED LITURGICAL RITE MAY GIVE THE FORCE OF
LAW TO THE CONTENT OF THE RITE IN THE
ROMAN PONTIFICAL. I shall try to elaborate on this in the following post/s.
It particularly mentions Diocesan
bishop. This is significant to understand the specific diocesan vocation of women consecrated according to the approved Rite
as mentioned only in Canon 604 in the entire
Code of canon law 1983.
Before the Second Vatican Council, the Rite of Consecration to a life
of virginity was restricted to women who
qualified for it and lived in
monasteries that had the tradition of using this rite along with their ceremony of Profession of monastic vows
or several years later. With the
passage of centuries, fewer monasteries
opted for it, in order to avoid discrimination between virgins and non-virgins.
Another reason is that the Vatican Congregation was strict regarding giving
permission to monastic orders that were new, not stabilized economically,etc. This was to avoid difficult resolution to cases when women had to leave the monastery and it was considered unsafe for permanently consecrated virgins to
fend for themselves in the world
without being allowed to enter sacramental marriage after leaving monastic life.
However God’s ways are not our ways. He chooses whom He wills to choose, often the weak and powerless. The Holy Spirit inspired the Second Vatican Council
to allow this Rite /vocation for women living
in the world. This does not mean anyone can be consecrated without seeing the implications of this difficult form
of life with little concrete support in today’s
Church and world. Prudence and a practically
balanced approach are required . Thus there is provision for Associations of Consecrated
virgins to help dealing with the practicalities of implications of this difficult
vocation in context of today.
The Criteria for discernment are
mentioned in the introduction to the rite in the Roman Pontifical and may carry the force
of Law.
The monastic consecration to a life of virginity has a separate Rite in
the Roman Pontifical and can be integrated with monastic profession of vows. An
Abbot may preside over the consecration ceremony. Canon 604 does not refer to monastic
consecrated virgins [since it has #2 referring to possibility of associations].
The Rite for monastics refers to a purely liturgical category of women whose primary
vocation is monastic life according to their
institutional charism.
But in case of women remaining in the world, it is not any bishop from any diocese who can preside over the ceremony, but the diocesan bishop of the diocese
where the woman seeking consecration resides[ideally in a stable /permanent manner].
I think canon 604 thus refers to a Socio-liturgical category of consecrated virgins
with a specific diocesan identity and charism
as it was in Early Christianity, when the
Order of Virgins was a specific group of women, with specific role in a specific church community. This
is in spite of the fact that the Rite was reserved to the Pope and did encompass
the Universal nature of the Church as Bride of Christ.
The Catholic notion of the Church looks to the communion which exists between
the universal and the particular. There is a relationship of mutual interiority
between the universal Church and the particular Churches ,and this identifies and
makes concrete the Church’s catholicity. The presence of the whole in each of the
parts gives each part an inner impulse towards universality, an impulse that in
one sense is manifested in the missionary impulse of each of the Churches and in
another sense, in the sincere recognition of the goodness of the parts, which includes
acting in harmonious cooperation with them. The universal Church is a reality which
precedes the particular Churches, which are born in and through the universal Church.
This truth is faithfully reflected in Catholic teaching ,especially that of the
Second Vatican Council. It leads to an understanding of the hierarchical dimension
of ecclesial communion and allows the rich and legitimate diversity of the particular
Churches constantly to develop within that unity in which particular gifts can become
an authentic source of enrichment for the universality of the Church.[38, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia In Medio Oriente Of His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI ]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cf. Congregation
for the Doctrine
of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Certain Aspects of
the Church Understood as Communion Communionis
Notio, (28 May 1992), 9: AAS 85 (1993), 843-844, especially the statement in
the first paragraph: “‘The universal Church cannot be conceived as the sum of
the particular Churches or as a federation of particular Churches.’ It is not
the result of the communion of the Churches but, in its essential mystery, it
is a reality ontologically and temporally prior to every individual particular
Church.”
I think it is appropriate to apply
the above ecclesiology to OCV. As I mentioned in the previous post Here the Order of Virgins that is an image of the One Church Bride of Christ, would logically not
be of Diocesan right in the strict sense. It cannot be seen at par with Religious Institutes of Diocesan right. Its Universal nature needs to be
respected, thus ensuring canonical protection
to consecrated virgins who are usually few in any diocese and vulnerable to injustice. The Universal Order of Virgins as
one Unity would precede the particular consecrated virgin/s in each Diocese/country around the world. This
is while allowing legitimate diversity of each consecrated virgin/s in a diocese/
country, while enriching the universal Order of Virgins.
ASSOCIATIONS OF CONSECRATED
VIRGINS AT DIOCESAN OR NATIONAL LEVEL
CAN THUS BE POSSIBLE, SIGNIFYING THE CONTEXTUAL IDENTITIES AND REALITIES OF EACH DIOCESE/
COUNTRY, WHILE BEING IN REAL COMMUNION AT THE UNIVERSAL LEVEL AS ONE ORDER OF
VIRGINS.
More in the next post---------
In the post I wrote,"The Universal Order of Virgins as one Unity would precede the particular consecrated virgin/s in each Diocese/country around the world."
ReplyDeleteAnother reason to uphold the primacy of the Order of Virgins that precedes Individual consecrated virgins and Associations of consecrated virgins --I found in the following teaching of Pope Benedict XVI in yesterday's audience.
"The word “liturgy” in Greek means “work done by the people and for the people”. Here, this “people” is the new People of God, brought into being by Christ, a people which does not exist by itself and which is not bound by blood, territory or country, but is brought into being through the Paschal Mystery."
"Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Having focused for several weeks now on prayer as taught to us in the sacred Scriptures, we turn to another precious source of prayer, namely the liturgy. The word “liturgy” in Greek means “work done by the people and for the people”. Here, this “people” is the new People of God, brought into being by Christ, a people which does not exist by itself and which is not bound by blood, territory or country, but is brought into being through the Paschal Mystery. The liturgy is also the “work of God”. As the Second Vatican Council teaches, it is by means of the liturgy that Christ our Redeemer and High Priest continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church. This is the great marvel of the liturgy: God acts, while we are caught up in his action.
The Council began its work by discussing the liturgy, and righty so, for the liturgy reminds us of the primacy of God. The fundamental criterion for it is its orientation towards the Father, whose saving love culminates in the death and resurrection of his Son. It is in the liturgy that we “lift up our hearts”, opening ourselves to the word of God as we gather with our brethren in a prayer which rises within us, and which is directed to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit."
http://www.zenit.org/article-35607?l=english