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Jessica Hayes is bought a wedding dress, a veil and an alliance.
Jessica Hayes is one of 4,000 Catholic women from around the world. world who has common jobs and social life but chooses to live in chastity until the end of his life as a sign of commitment to God
But on the big day, when he was standing at the altar, in front of the bishop, there was no groom at his side.
Photo: Catholic today / Joe Romie / BBC News Brazil
She was married to Jesus Christ.
Jessica is 41 years old and a consecrated virgin. A vocation adopted by the women of the Catholic Church who wish to be "brides of God".
At the dedication ceremony, the candidate, dressed in a white dress resembling that of a wife, makes a vow of eternal chastity and promises never to have bad or love affairs.
Women also wear a covenant, symbolizing marriage with Christ.
"I am often asked if I am married," says Jessica. "I simply explain that I am like a nun.I have badumed a total commitment to Christ, but I live in the world (not in a convent)."
Jesus Christ
Unlike nuns, consecrated virgins do not live in closed communities or wear special clothing. They have a secular life, work and support each other.
"I have been a teacher for 18 years, I teach in high school that I attended," says Jessica, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.
"Before my consecration, I realized that I had no vocation for community life, such as that of nuns, nor in a religious congregation with a specific pastoral ministry."
Photo: Catholic today / Joe Romie / BBC News Brazil
Jessica reports to a bishop and meets regularly with her spiritual advisor.
"I am part of a parish located two miles from my home.I am always available to help my friends and family.I teach, I am surrounded by people all day, but I can still welcome this special consecration to the Lord. "
Even in the Catholic Church, consecrated virgins are little known, partly because this vocation has been publicly recognized only by the Church for less than 50 years.
However, virgins have been part of the Catholic Church since the early days of religion. During the first three centuries before Christ, many died as martyrs defending their allegiance to God.
Among them is Agnes of Rome who, in order to remain in chastity, refused to marry the governor of the city.
The practice of surrender to Christ, but not as a religious, declined in the medical era as the popularity of religious life in monasteries increased. But the "consecrated virgins" were restored by the Ordo Consecrationis virginum of 1971 [19719042] – a document in which the Vatican recognizes the eternal feminine virginity as a voluntary consecration integral part of the Catholic Church.
For Jessica, this vocation was, until recently, an "unknown territory". She had never thought of becoming a consecrated virgin before meeting a spiritual advisor who "started asking the right questions".
"He began to be clear that God was asking me to live a conjugal relationship with him," he says.
Jessica made the decision in 2013 and the consecration took place two years later. The culmination of the rite occurs when the virgin sits on the altar as a sign of submission to God.
"It was I who offered myself as a gift to God and received God in a permanent commitment," he explains.
"Even though I keep the same commitments as before (of consecration), it is different." If referring to God as a wife is something completely different from doing it as a friend. "
According to a survey conducted in 2015, there would be at least 4,000 virgins consecrated in the world. And the Vatican said that there was a rise of this vocation "in various geographical areas". Jessica had not made another vow of chastity before deciding to join the virgin order at the age of 36.
She has already had romantic relationships before, but claims that she never felt complete. "I thought I had to have a couple life, which is a natural desire of people, so I dated somebody, but never anything serious," he says.
"I went out with good people, but I did not think anyone would prefer to continue the relationship at that time." Living in a society where baduality is highly valued can be difficult for virgins who choose to avoid intimate relationships throughout their lives.
"I think the most difficult thing is not to understand because our choice is seen as a counterculture," she says.
"Many people say," Ah, you are single. "And I have to explain that my main relationship is with God, that what I do, is to deliver my body to him.It is a gift of love, no I think that it is a good thing. is a deprivation. "
In July, the directives issued by the Vatican provoked a tumult among the consecrated virgins.
Unlike nuns, who can make a vow of celibacy as soon as they enter the religious order, the wives of Christ should be virgins to badume this vocation.
In section 88 of the document, the Vatican states that "maintaining the body in perfect salvation and practicing the vitriol of chastity in an exemplary manner" is important, but not an "essential" condition for becoming a consecrated virgin.
Pope Francis published guidelines stating that virginity does not exist. was not essential for a woman to "marry Christ"
The American Association of Consecrated Virgins, of which Jessica is a part, felt that the guidelines were "shocking" and "deliberately confusing".
The tradition has always been that virginity "is material and formal (physical and spiritual) is necessary to receive consecration," the badociation said in a statement.
Jessica says she hopes the document is "clearer," but is happy that Pope Francis has paid attention to the vocation of the virgins.
"And the document still requires that candidates can not have been married or seen in flagrant or public violation of chastity," he says.
The local bishops are responsible for the admission of candidates to consecrated virgins
"Perhaps there was a blind act in the past, when the consecrated woman was young, or the woman may have been raped and ceased to be a virgin, not by her own choice, "she says. .
Jessica says that the important thing is to encourage this vocation among Catholic women.
"Maybe vocations are growing because people feel the need for a radical commitment to God, maybe the church needs them now."
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