“Jessica Hayes bought herself a wedding gown, a veil and a ring. But when she stood at the altar facing the bishop during a solemn religious ceremony, there was no groom by her side.”

Whether or not the groom was present really comes down to perspective, or rather belief.

For Hayes, the groom was very much present (ever-present if you will), because the groom, in this case, was Jesus Christ.

Hayes is a consecrated virgin. It’s a vocation taken by women in the Catholic Church who choose to give themselves as brides to God.

Or the holy trinity? I haven’t been to church in a while.

It’s God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, right? In one being with the father? That’s a lot of husbands.

Anyway, consecrated virgins are different from nuns, who live for the most part apart from the world and have to wear a habit. Consecrated virgins, on the other hand, take a vow of chastity and commit themselves fully to God, but continue to live their lives out in the world, with jobs, friends and so on, reports BBC.

During the consecration ceremony, the candidate – who wears a bride-like, white dress- makes life-long chastity vows and promises never to engage in sexual or romantic relationships.

The women also wear a wedding ring – a symbol of their betrothal to Christ.

“I often get asked: ‘So, are you married?'” says Ms Hayes. “I usually just reply with a really brief explanation that I am similar to a religious sister, that there’s a total commitment to Christ, but that I live out in the world.”

While Hayes, who works as a teacher, didn’t feel “the call” to the community life of 24-hour servitude, she did feel the call to make a full commitment to God. She has had romantic relationships in the past, but said that they never made her “feel complete”.

When she is not teaching, most of her time is devoted to private prayer and penance. She reports to a bishop and keeps regular meetings with her spiritual adviser.

“I live in a neighbourhood, I belong to the parish that’s just two miles away from my home, I am available to help family and friends. And then I teach, so I am surrounded by people during the day, but still accommodate a special consecration to the Lord around that.”

…”Even though I have a lot of the same duties that I had before [the consecration], it’s still different because to relate to the Lord as spouse is entirely different to relating to him as friend.”

The vocation of ‘consecrated virgin’ has only been around for the past 50 years. Whereas in the past it was necessary to be a virgin before taking the vow of chastity, a new document states that one can now enter into holy matrimony if one is not necessarily virginal.

It’s a choice. Not a choice I’d make. But a choice…

[source:bbc]