https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-03/meet-zara-australian-consecrated-virgin-married-jesus/10837420
>It's a title bestowed to virgin women who promise to remain physical virgins, as brides of Christ, for the sake of the kingdom of God.
>Consecrated virgins dedicate their life in prayer and service to the Church, but unlike nuns and sisters, they live and work in the secular world.
>"Consecrated virginity, as a concept, developed in the early Church at the time where Christians were being persecuted," Ms Tai says.
>"They were women who consecrated themselves to Christ in lieu of getting married [to men]."
>Many of them, she explains, were martyred for their beliefs.
>The rise of monasticism in the third and fourth centuries enabled women to join religious groups as nuns or sisters.
>Some adopted the "rite of consecration of virginity", as well their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
>But gradually this became the only option for single, virgin women wanting to serve the church — as it had become difficult for women to live in the community without being married.
>That was until 1970, when Pope Paul VI revised and reintroduced the rite and allowed it to be used for virgin women living in the secular world.
>More …
Tempted to take-up the mantle, /christian/?