Living the Faith through Consecrated Virginity
Erin Kinsella is a Consecrated Virgin of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, the author of Espoused to Christ: A Theology of Consecrated Virginity, and a co-host of "In the Thicket," a podcast on suffering and hope. She has worked in youth, young adult and campus ministry for over 20 years. Erin was consecrated to a life of virginity lived in the world in 2019 on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. She holds a BSc. in Microbiology and Immunology from Dalhousie University and a Master of Theological Studies from St. Augustine’s Seminary conjointly with the University of Toronto. Erin completed her thesis on the theology of the suffering body and is a frequent speaker and writer on topics around suffering, Theology of the Body and Consecrated Virginity.
For those not familiar, can you tell us what exactly a consecrated virgin is in the eyes of the Catholic faith?
Consecrated virginity is actually the oldest form of consecrated life in the Church. Right from the beginning of the Faith, some women felt called to remain unmarried and to become spouses of Christ. Their lives were ones of prayer and penance, and they served the people of God where they lived. You may recognize some names of early consecrated virgins, including Sts. Agatha, Lucy and Agnes. As religious orders grew over time, the Rite of Consecration of Virgins went into disuse. However, around the time of the Second Vatican Council, there were calls for its renewal, and a revised Rite of Consecration of a Virgin Living in the World was promulgated in 1970. There are around 5000 consecrated virgins in the world today, and I'm blessed to be one of them!
What does it mean to be a consecrated virgin and what makes it unique?
Consecrated virgins are women who, during a special Mass of consecration, make a perpetual resolution to persevere in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom for their whole lives and then receive the consecration at the hands of their diocesan bishop. This means they forego the goods of marriage and children to live in this life what we're all called to live in heaven—complete union with God—and to be a sign of those eternal realities. It's similar to religious life, in that consecrated virginity is a celibate vocation (meaning the woman does not marry or have children). Like women religious, consecrated virgins pray the Liturgy of the Hours (periodic prayers throughout the daily prayed by all men and women priests and consecrated persons for their own sanctification and that of the world), sustain lives of deep prayer and exercise their motherhood spiritually for all those they encounter. Unlike women religious, consecrated virgins don't generally live in community (though there's nothing preventing consecrated virgins from choosing to do so!), don't wear religious habits (though not all religious communities wear habits) and work or provide for their own needs somehow. Though men and women religious make vows or promises of poverty, chastity and obedience, a consecrated virgin does not. Those in religious life generally profess their vows or promises for a period of a year at a time until they are ready to profess them perpetually (which means forever), but consecrated virgins become so by the diocesan bishop praying the consecratory prayer over her on the day of her consecration. There are many other interesting things about consecrated virginity, but one final essential point: the title of the Rite used for consecration is the Rite of Consecration of a Virgin Living in the World. It's right in the title because this vocation is lived imbedded within the people of God. The consecrated virgin lives, works and prays alongside the people she is called to love and serve. Men and women religious are called to varying degrees of withdrawal from the world in order to allow their communal and spiritual practice to be well-rooted and flourishing—this doesn't mean they don't engage in the world, because (unless the community is a monastic or contemplative one) they engage with the world through their apostolate (their community's mission call) all the time! However, this is different from consecrated virginity lived in the world where the world is the woman's community, in a sense. There is a primacy placed on prayer and nurturing the spousal relationship with the Lord, but it's in the context of being deeply rooted in the diocesan community and allowing the Lord to direct where the woman is called to love and serve in each moment.
How does your vocation contribute to the life and mission of the Church?
Women receive the consecration at the hands of their diocesan bishop and pray and sacrifice in a special way for the people of their diocese, especially the bishop(s) and priests of the diocese. From the early Church the vocation of consecrated virginity had a distinctly diocesan nature to it, meaning that consecrated virgins had a close relationship with the diocesan bishop, benefited from his spiritual fatherhood and offered their prayers and gifts for the support of his ministry. Though there are relatively few consecrated virgins around the world still, the vocation is becoming more and more well-known today. The Archdiocese of Toronto has 13 living, three deceased consecrated virgins and thre candidates (those in formation for consecrated virginity). Ottawa, where I'm now living, has five consecrated virgin and one candidate. Canada has around 50 consecrated virgins in total, but there are at least 20 candidates that I know of across the country who are being formed for this vocation. When you consider that each woman uses the gifts that God has given her to contribute to the life of her parish and diocese, and that each woman has a deep life of prayer that she sustains for the benefit of the Faithful, you can begin to see how big an impact this vocation can have in our dioceses, across our country and around the world!
What does your day-to-day life look like as a consecrated virgin?
The non-negotiables of my day to day life include praying the Liturgy of the Hours (at least the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, but often also Night Prayer), a time of extended personal prayer time with the Lord (often in the form of a Holy Hour) and other times of prayer and spiritual reading (such as a daily examen and rosary). These are the foundation for the other parts of my life, which include helping with ministries at my parish, assisting with formation of consecrated virginity candidates and helping to form and shape a national association for consecrated virgins. I also have a chronic pain condition, so all of these things are dependent on my own capacities each day, which are sometimes extremely limited. In those times, my ministry takes the form of offering my sufferings to the Lord. Most consecrated virgins have jobs, and though some work for the Church in ministry roles, many work in the secular world in everything from medicine to teaching to government. All root their lives in prayer, and I would say that most are significantly involved in their parishes or other ministries unless their life or health prevents them from doing so.
How did you discern your call to this vocation?
My discernment process was definitely long and went down a winding road! I discerned religious life and joined a community for a year and a half, then discerned that it wasn't where I was called. I also discerned marriage, and the Lord made it clear that it wasn't where He wanted me. After many years—including working professionally in ministry for over 10 years—I finally heard about consecrated virginity. It was a few years and a few turns in the road until I came to a place where I considered a call to consecrated virginity, and when I did, I fairly quickly discovered that it was the way the Lord was calling me to love. He wanted all of my heart to Himself so that He could give His heart, through me, to others.
You recently wrote a book on consecrated virginity. How did that come about?
I was invited to offer some formation sessions for consecrated virginity candidates in Calgary in the summer of 2024. I was very blessed to have studied at St. Augustine's Seminary (highly recommend to anyone considering theological study!), and I noticed when I got back home that, when put together, my notes from the sessions were twice as long as my Masters thesis had been! I also considered that there are very, very few resources in the Church (in English, anyways!) that are specifically directed to consecrated virginity, and so I prayed about it and felt called to see if it might be possible to publish a book based on the formation session material. I reached out to a number of publishers, and Sophia Institute Press reached out and has been wonderful. The book is called Espoused to Christ: A Theology of Consecrated Virginity, and it will be available May 20. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon at https://a.co/d/hOzLoET or directly with Sophia Institute Press at https://bit.ly/espousedtochrist.
What advice would you give to those considering a vocation to consecrated life?
The same thing applies as for other vocations in terms of the basics: develop a strong prayer life, find a good spiritual director, touch base with your diocesan vocations director, frequent the sacraments. To learn more about consecrated virginity specifically, though its a personal plug, I would recommend reading the book I wrote. It's fairly comprehensive and gives a good big picture of the vocation, but I've heard from a number of candidates that they've found it very helpful. The whole aim in having it published was to be a help to those discerning and being formed for (or already living) consecrated virginity, so I'm very glad if that's the case! I would also recommend seeing if you can connect with any consecrated virgins in your diocese for them to share about the vocation and chat with you about what the Lord is doing in your life. You can also keep an eye out in the future for "Come and See" events that the national association (called Ordo Virginum in Canada) will offer for those who want to learn more about the vocation. Feel free to send us an email at ordovirginumcanada@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list! Lastly, as with all vocational discernment, know that if you're seeking the Lord's will and doing the things that help you grow in listening to His voice, He will speak. He leads us all according to His timing... sometimes that means waiting with heroic patience, and sometimes that means asking the Lord for the courage to take a step, even if you don't know the full picture of where He's leading. Please know that I (and many other consecrated virgins!) are praying for you!
