es347fan
10-09-2006, 06:37 AM
By JAY TOKASZ
News Staff Reporter
10/7/2006
When she stands at the altar of her East Aurora (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061007/1000610.asp) church this morning in a white silk gown and veil, Lori Rose Cannizzaro won't be exchanging vows with a tuxedoed fiance.
Quite the contrary.
Cannizzaro, 42, will resolve to abstain from sex forever so that she can belong to Jesus Christ alone.
The unusual Catholic rite, in which Cannizzaro will become a "consecrated virgin," dates back to the earliest days of Christianity and is said to represent a woman's "mystical betrothal to Christ."
It will be celebrated for only the second time ever in the Diocese of Buffalo.
Cannizzaro isn't joining a community of nuns. She'll live on her own and continue her work as a cook at Christ the King Seminary.
"There are people who think I'm nuts," she said. "I have one relative who's still hoping I get married."
Cannizzaro is undaunted and has received plenty of support from family and friends.
"It is a good and holy thing to want to be in a virginal state," she said.
Today's solemn Mass, with elements of an ordination service and a traditional Catholic wedding, will be a revival of one of the church's oldest rituals.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec will be the principal celebrant in Cannizzaro's home parish, Immaculate Conception.
The ancient rite first was observed during the time of the Gospel writer St. Matthew. As orders of women religious grew in the Middle Ages, the notion of a separate category of consecrated virgins living in the world was abandoned.
Pope Paul VI restored the rite in 1970, but consecrated virgins remain an obscure group within the church.
Many priests have never heard of the special Mass, which can be offered only by bishops.
"I was totally unaware of this rite in the church," said the Rev. Robert Wardenski, pastor of Immaculate Conception, which will host a reception for Cannizzaro after the Mass.
Consecrated virgins live and work in the world, but they also are set apart as sacred beings devoted to prayer.
Fewer than 200 women in the United States and 2,000 worldwide are estimated to have declared their perpetual virginity, according to U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins, a voluntary organization.
Catholics familiar with the concept view it as either a strange anachronism or a healthy rejoinder to a sex-driven popular culture.
A Catholic from birth, Cannizzaro knew more than a decade ago that she would be better off single.
"Dating wasn't working. I wasn't connecting. Not that I never wanted to be married or never wanted children," she said.
Her married friends sometimes explained that they couldn't participate in spiritual retreats because they had family obligations, causing Cannizzaro to realize marriage and motherhood were unlikely to work out for her. She was devoted to prayer and adoration.
Becoming a nun didn't seem to be the answer, either, but Cannizzaro still felt the need for something more in her life as a single woman, she said.
A segment on a Catholic television network led her to the Association of Consecrated Virgins Web site, and a 2003 retreat in Illinois with Archbishop Raymond Burke of the St. Louis diocese convinced her to pursue it further.
She wrote a letter to Kmiec requesting the consecration shortly after the bishop's arrival in Buffalo in 2004. Cannizzaro has been preparing for the consecration rite for two years, with classes at the seminary and instruction from Sister M. Charlene Nowak, vicar for religious of the diocese, and the Rev. James J. Ruddick, associate vicar.
"This goes back to the early, early church," said Nowak, a Felician nun. "We're going back to some of the ideals of where the church was before."
A consecrated virgin isn't simply a nun without a community.
The consecration is an acceptance of a blessing, not a vow, said Judith Stegman, president of the association.
As such, it is a permanent state: "One can't really take away a blessing," she said.
Theologically, the church views consecrated virgins as a bit of heaven on earth.
"The consecrated virgin is living now what all people will live in eternity before Christ," said Stegman, who works as a certified public accountant in Lansing, Mich.
A woman seeking the consecration must already be a virgin and commit to remaining one. The church usually won't consider a candidate who is younger than 30 years old.
Cannizzaro will be the diocese's second consecrated virgin. Cheryl Benzin, who works for an insurance company, received the blessing in 1995 in St. Andrew's Church in the Town of Tonawanda, with Bishop Edward D. Head presiding.
"It doesn't change your life externally. It gives your life a grace and a focus," Benzin said.
Benzin compared her consecration to a marriage between a couple that chooses to take their relationship to another level.
"It gives you a greater responsibility for your spiritual life," she said. "It gives you that sense of focus in your life, a greater sense of purpose, of calling, of commitment."
But what if a consecrated virgin falls in love?
"We're all human and anything can happen," acknowledged Cannizzaro. Nonetheless, she added, she would choose to "let the relationship go."
"Your answer is, "I gave my life to Jesus,' " she said.
"A deep prayer life has to be your focus," said Cannizzaro.
If a consecrated virgin sought to marry, she would need to request a "release from her obligations" from her bishop, said Stegman and Nowak. That hasn't happened in the United States since the rite was reintroduced 36 years ago.
Consecrated virgins are encouraged to attend daily Mass, receive the sacraments regularly and recite the Liturgy of the Hours, a series of prayers, readings, hymns and Psalms offered at various times of the day. "The key to this is really a relationship with Christ. It's much more about who we are than what we do," said Stegman.
Consecrated virgins don't wear special garb or receive titles. The only symbol of their consecrated virginity is a band worn on the left hand ring finger, much like a wedding band.
News Staff Reporter
10/7/2006
When she stands at the altar of her East Aurora (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061007/1000610.asp) church this morning in a white silk gown and veil, Lori Rose Cannizzaro won't be exchanging vows with a tuxedoed fiance.
Quite the contrary.
Cannizzaro, 42, will resolve to abstain from sex forever so that she can belong to Jesus Christ alone.
The unusual Catholic rite, in which Cannizzaro will become a "consecrated virgin," dates back to the earliest days of Christianity and is said to represent a woman's "mystical betrothal to Christ."
It will be celebrated for only the second time ever in the Diocese of Buffalo.
Cannizzaro isn't joining a community of nuns. She'll live on her own and continue her work as a cook at Christ the King Seminary.
"There are people who think I'm nuts," she said. "I have one relative who's still hoping I get married."
Cannizzaro is undaunted and has received plenty of support from family and friends.
"It is a good and holy thing to want to be in a virginal state," she said.
Today's solemn Mass, with elements of an ordination service and a traditional Catholic wedding, will be a revival of one of the church's oldest rituals.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec will be the principal celebrant in Cannizzaro's home parish, Immaculate Conception.
The ancient rite first was observed during the time of the Gospel writer St. Matthew. As orders of women religious grew in the Middle Ages, the notion of a separate category of consecrated virgins living in the world was abandoned.
Pope Paul VI restored the rite in 1970, but consecrated virgins remain an obscure group within the church.
Many priests have never heard of the special Mass, which can be offered only by bishops.
"I was totally unaware of this rite in the church," said the Rev. Robert Wardenski, pastor of Immaculate Conception, which will host a reception for Cannizzaro after the Mass.
Consecrated virgins live and work in the world, but they also are set apart as sacred beings devoted to prayer.
Fewer than 200 women in the United States and 2,000 worldwide are estimated to have declared their perpetual virginity, according to U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins, a voluntary organization.
Catholics familiar with the concept view it as either a strange anachronism or a healthy rejoinder to a sex-driven popular culture.
A Catholic from birth, Cannizzaro knew more than a decade ago that she would be better off single.
"Dating wasn't working. I wasn't connecting. Not that I never wanted to be married or never wanted children," she said.
Her married friends sometimes explained that they couldn't participate in spiritual retreats because they had family obligations, causing Cannizzaro to realize marriage and motherhood were unlikely to work out for her. She was devoted to prayer and adoration.
Becoming a nun didn't seem to be the answer, either, but Cannizzaro still felt the need for something more in her life as a single woman, she said.
A segment on a Catholic television network led her to the Association of Consecrated Virgins Web site, and a 2003 retreat in Illinois with Archbishop Raymond Burke of the St. Louis diocese convinced her to pursue it further.
She wrote a letter to Kmiec requesting the consecration shortly after the bishop's arrival in Buffalo in 2004. Cannizzaro has been preparing for the consecration rite for two years, with classes at the seminary and instruction from Sister M. Charlene Nowak, vicar for religious of the diocese, and the Rev. James J. Ruddick, associate vicar.
"This goes back to the early, early church," said Nowak, a Felician nun. "We're going back to some of the ideals of where the church was before."
A consecrated virgin isn't simply a nun without a community.
The consecration is an acceptance of a blessing, not a vow, said Judith Stegman, president of the association.
As such, it is a permanent state: "One can't really take away a blessing," she said.
Theologically, the church views consecrated virgins as a bit of heaven on earth.
"The consecrated virgin is living now what all people will live in eternity before Christ," said Stegman, who works as a certified public accountant in Lansing, Mich.
A woman seeking the consecration must already be a virgin and commit to remaining one. The church usually won't consider a candidate who is younger than 30 years old.
Cannizzaro will be the diocese's second consecrated virgin. Cheryl Benzin, who works for an insurance company, received the blessing in 1995 in St. Andrew's Church in the Town of Tonawanda, with Bishop Edward D. Head presiding.
"It doesn't change your life externally. It gives your life a grace and a focus," Benzin said.
Benzin compared her consecration to a marriage between a couple that chooses to take their relationship to another level.
"It gives you a greater responsibility for your spiritual life," she said. "It gives you that sense of focus in your life, a greater sense of purpose, of calling, of commitment."
But what if a consecrated virgin falls in love?
"We're all human and anything can happen," acknowledged Cannizzaro. Nonetheless, she added, she would choose to "let the relationship go."
"Your answer is, "I gave my life to Jesus,' " she said.
"A deep prayer life has to be your focus," said Cannizzaro.
If a consecrated virgin sought to marry, she would need to request a "release from her obligations" from her bishop, said Stegman and Nowak. That hasn't happened in the United States since the rite was reintroduced 36 years ago.
Consecrated virgins are encouraged to attend daily Mass, receive the sacraments regularly and recite the Liturgy of the Hours, a series of prayers, readings, hymns and Psalms offered at various times of the day. "The key to this is really a relationship with Christ. It's much more about who we are than what we do," said Stegman.
Consecrated virgins don't wear special garb or receive titles. The only symbol of their consecrated virginity is a band worn on the left hand ring finger, much like a wedding band.