# Consecrated virgins. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221 "2015-08-18T22:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/1 "2015-08-18T22:28:56Z")
_After picking out the perfect dress, an Indiana woman became one of only a few consecrated virgins in the world_. > **[Woman: I'm married to Jesus | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/08/17/consecrated-virgin-woman-marries-jesus-christ-rare-indiana-dnt.wane)** > > After picking out the perfect dress, an Indiana woman became one of only a few consecrated virgins in the world. CNN affiliate WANE reports. She married Jesus. In church. Jesus was apparently delayed in traffic, or got cold feet or something. Jesus could not be reached for further comment. There are no plans for a honeymoon. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/2 "2015-08-18T22:35:58Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > _After picking out the perfect dress, an Indiana woman became one of only a few consecrated virgins in the world_. Um. Have these people not heard of nuns? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/3 "2015-08-18T22:36:43Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Um. Have these people not heard of nuns? Sounds like a double negative. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/4 "2015-08-18T22:40:57Z")
It’s not none such thing. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/5 "2015-08-18T23:48:32Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > um. Have these people not heard of nuns? papist!!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/6 "2015-08-18T23:55:13Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Um. Have these people not heard of nuns? Well, nuns are also consecrated and virgins but they live in orders with all that that entails (community living, hierarchy). Consecrated virgins just do their own thing. Except for that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/7 "2015-08-19T09:11:08Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > Well, nuns are also consecrated and virgins but they live in orders with all that that entails (community living, hierarchy). > > Consecrated virgins just do their own thing. Except for that thing. Emiliana is correct. There’s a consecrated virgin in a nearby parish. I don’t think they’re that rare. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/8 "2015-08-19T10:33:55Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > Emiliana is correct. There’s a consecrated virgin in a nearby parish. I don’t think they’re that rare. Between 200 and 300 in the US, and 3000 or so worldwide. Pretty rare. This doesn’t include nuns. Nuns, while married to Jesus and taking a vow of chastity, are not generally referred to as consecrated virgins, but nuns. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/9 "2015-08-19T12:17:53Z")
What with all the bad news God gets every day from every corner of the world, the pledge from a 38 year old woman in Fort Wayne Indiana to keep her clitoris out of action must make it all seem worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/10 "2015-08-19T12:47:18Z")
I can remember a piece in a paperback from the 1980s, _probably_ by Azimov, explaining that to void off impending overpopulation, government and society action would be needed over the next 50 years to vastly increase non-reproductive sex, homosexuality, celibacy, asexualism, monks/nuns etc. etc…: anything except normal mating. Every little helps. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/11 "2015-08-19T13:23:26Z")
Nuns don’t have to be virgins. Widows can become nuns. Errm, or reformed formerly-non-chaste single women. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/12 "2015-08-19T14:14:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Nuns don’t have to be virgins. Widows can become nuns. Errm, or reformed formerly-non-chaste single women. Indeed. In some times and places, becoming a nun has been effectively a sort of treatment for promiscuity. I know someone who became a nun, who was most assuredly not a virgin. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/13 "2015-08-19T14:46:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Nuns don’t have to be virgins. Widows can become nuns. Errm, or reformed formerly-non-chaste single women. Sure, but plenty of nuns are consecrated virgins married to Christ. My point was that this isn’t exactly rare. If it’s only her virginity that’s consecrated, rather than her entire lifestyle, then yeah, more unusual. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/14 "2015-08-19T16:43:14Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Sure, but plenty of nuns are consecrated virgins married to Christ. My point was that this isn’t exactly rare. > > If it’s only her virginity that’s consecrated, rather than her entire lifestyle, then yeah, more unusual. Consecrated Virgin is, like, a job title. Only it’s an unpaid job. You perform acts of repentance and prayer and you don’t get to have sex. But it doesn’t include joining a religious order, like a Nun, or the solemn vows of poverty and obedience. Sister Wendy, for example, (y’know, the art lady from BBC?) is a Consecrated Virgin and Hermit, but she’s not a Nun. I know, I was shocked too. I always thought she was a Nun. Nope. She was a novitiate, and called to Holy Life, but not as a Nun. Nuns take a solemn vow of _chastity_, whether or not they were virgins before they became nuns. But not all of them are Consecrated Virgins, and those that are will be referred to as Nuns. Like if you are a CNA and then get your RN, you will be called an RN, even when you are doing CNA job duties like bathing patients. Consecrated Virgins are much rarer than Nuns. And Nuns are much rarer than Sisters, who are women most of us call Nuns but who work in public life and have taken only simple, temporary vows. (Just to keep things confusing, Nuns are often also called “Sister So-and-So”, but they’re not really Sisters once they’ve taken their solemn vows.) There are actually quite a few different roles for women in the RC church that all get rolled into “nun” in public opinion. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/15 "2015-08-19T16:47:39Z")
Huh. Interesting. I didn’t know ‘consecrated virgin’ was an actual title; I was just thinking of it as a descriptor. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/16 "2015-08-19T17:41:32Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Consecrated Virgin is, like, a job title. Only it’s an unpaid job. You perform acts of repentance and prayer and you don’t get to have sex. But it doesn’t include joining a religious order, like a Nun, or the solemn vows of poverty and obedience. > > Sister Wendy, for example, (y’know, the art lady from BBC?) is a Consecrated Virgin and Hermit, but she’s not a Nun. I know, I was shocked too. I always thought she was a Nun. Nope. She was a novitiate, and called to Holy Life, but not as a Nun. > > Nuns take a solemn vow of _chastity_, whether or not they were virgins before they became nuns. But not all of them are Consecrated Virgins, and those that are will be referred to as Nuns. Like if you are a CNA and then get your RN, you will be called an RN, even when you are doing CNA job duties like bathing patients. > > Consecrated Virgins are much rarer than Nuns. And Nuns are much rarer than Sisters, who are women most of us call Nuns but who work in public life and have taken only simple, temporary vows. (Just to keep things confusing, Nuns are often also called “Sister So-and-So”, but they’re not really Sisters once they’ve taken their solemn vows.) > > There are actually quite a few different roles for women in the RC church that all get rolled into “nun” in public opinion. Wait, are you sure that’s right? According to the Dominican sister who taught my OCIA class fifteen years ago, sisters work in the world, whereas nuns are cloistered. I can’t link to it from my phone, but [www.anunslife.org](http://www.anunslife.org) says that both vow lives of perpetual poverty, celibacy, and obedience; the only significant difference is a nun gives up ownership of all goods, but a sister can retain (but not use or derive revenue from) inherited property. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/17 "2015-08-19T17:49:20Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Wait, are you sure that’s right? According to the Dominican sister who taught my OCIA class fifteen years ago, sisters work in the world, whereas nuns are cloistered. I can’t link to it from my phone, but [www.anunslife.org](http://www.anunslife.org) says that both vow lives of perpetual poverty, celibacy, and obedience; the only significant difference is a nun gives up ownership of all goods, but a sister can retain (but not use or derive revenue from) inherited property. I think we’re saying the same thing. > [@](#): > > A nun is a woman who belongs to a religious order and takes the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Their vows are publicly accepted by superiors in the name of the Church and solemn. In general, solemn vows are professed by members of religious orders after a period of temporary, simple vows. When bound by solemn vows, a woman is a nun but is commonly called “Sister” (although some orders use another formal title, like “Dame” or “Mother”); when bound by simple vows, a woman is a sister, not a nun, and thereby called “Sister.” Nuns recite the Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office in common, and engage in some work to help support themselves. > > Another distinguishing mark of nuns is that they live a contemplative, cloistered life in a monastery. “Cloistered” refers to living within the confines of the monastery behind the “papal enclosure.” Nuns are permitted to leave the cloister only under special circumstances and with the proper permission. Moreover, visitors are not be permitted to enter into the cloistered area. When visiting these monasteries, like the Poor Clares’ Monastery in Alexandria, a person may enter the public area of the chapel, but a wrought-iron screen separates it from the nun’s side or “cloistered” side of the chapel. Also when visiting one of the nuns, the visitor is physically separated by a grill or other barrier from the nun who is in the cloister. Besides the Poor Clares, other strictly cloistered nuns are the Carmelites and Benedictines. > > In some cases, the cloister restrictions are not as strictly enforced. Some orders of nuns, while technically cloistered, conduct works of charity or education, interacting with the public. For example, the Visitation Sisters are technically cloistered nuns but teach school. > > With this understanding of the term “nun,” the title “Sister” denotes a woman religious under simple vows, who is a member of a particular religious congregation. (The distinction between a “solemn vow” and a “simple vow” is a determination made by the Church when the religious community is established: members of religious orders make a final profession of solemn vows, and members of religious institutes or religious congregations make a final profession of perpetual simple vows, after a period of temporary simple vows.) These women religious also take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; live in community in a convent; and share in a particular apostolate. These religious congregations may serve either a particular diocese under the immediate jurisdiction of the local bishop, or serve throughout the universal Church under the immediate jurisdiction of the Pope. Examples of these communities are the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sisters of the Holy Cross, and Daughters of St. Paul. > **[The Meaning of the Terms Nun, Sister, Monk, Priest, and Brother](https://catholiceducation.org/en/culture/the-meaning-of-the-terms-nun-sister-monk-priest-and-brother.html)** > > Is there any difference between a nun and a sister? What about a monk are they priests or brothers? I have always been confused by these terms. The distinction (which doesn’t make a difference to most of us, but is important within the Church) is that a Sister has taken simple vows, and a Nun has taken solemn vows. The practical difference has waned over time, as some Nuns are no longer cloistered, and some Sisters rarely leave the convent, but still generally speaking, those who are out working in the community are more likely to be Sisters than Nuns. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/18 "2015-08-19T17:58:00Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I can remember a piece in a paperback from the 1980s, _probably_ by Azimov, explaining that to void off impending overpopulation, government and society action would be needed over the next 50 years to vastly increase non-reproductive sex, homosexuality, celibacy, asexualism, monks/nuns etc. etc…: anything except normal mating. Or, possibly, birth control? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/19 "2015-08-19T18:09:44Z")
Good for her. If it makes her life mean something to her, then good for her. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221/20 "2015-08-19T18:20:56Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Good for her. > > If it makes her life mean something to her, then good for her. Sure, but if a volcano suddenly erupts in the center of Fort Wayne, you know whose door they’ll be knocking at. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consecrated-virgins/728221.md?page=2)