The consecration of virgins has varied in the Church. In the early ages, when there Avere ecclesiastical or ca- nonical virgins, the mode of consecration was as follows : It was usually performed publicly in the church by the bishop, or some presbyter particularly deputed by the bishop for that purpose. When a virgin had signified to the bishop her desire for the usual consecration, she made a public profession of her resolution in the church, and the bishop put upon her the accustomed habit of sacred virgins. This change of habit is frequently men- tioned in the ancient councils, but in what it consisted is not plain. A veil {velamen sacrum') and a purple and gold mitre are spoken of; but it is said that they did not use them for any sacrament or mj'sterj-, but only as a badge of distinction, and to signify to whose service they belonged. The introduction of the custom of cut- ting off the hair of consecrated virgins called forth tlie condemnation of the Council of Gangra, which passed a decree that, " If any woman, under pretence of an ascetic
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life, cut off her hair, which God hath given her for a memorial of subjection, let her be anathema, as one that disannuls the decree of subjection;" and Theodosius the Great added a civil sanction to confirm the ecclesiastical decree made against this practice. Although the virgins ■were not ordained to a special office in the Church, as the deaconesses were, they were of great esteem in the Clnux'h, and had some particular honors paid to them. They were specially protected by the law, and ladies of high rank were accustomed to entertain them, and to seek their salutations and embraces. The mother of Constantine used to wait upon them at her own table and do them service. The widows of the Church were generally under the same laws and rules as the ecclesi- astical virgins were concerning their habit, consecra- tion, profession, and maintenance. Religious communi- ties sprang up in the Church soon after the institution of these ascetic congregations of females, and nuns proper dwelt under rule in special residences. Pacho- mius erected such residences in the 4th century in Egypt —the first one being built on the island of Tahenna in the Nile. They soon sjjread through Europe, and be- came a common institution. See Monasticism.
Modern Practice. — The consecration of a nun in the Romish Church is a great ceremony. The habit, veil, and ring of the candidate are carried to the altar, and she herself is conducted to the bishop, who, after mass and an anthem (the subject of which is that she ought to have her lamp lighted, for the Bridegroom is com- ing), pronounces the benediction ; then she rises up, and the bishop consecrates the new habit, sprinkling it with holy water. When the candidate has put on her new habit, she presents herself before the bishop, and says, on her knees, Ancilla Christi sum. etc.; then she re-
Takuig the Veil.
ceives the veil, and afterwards the ring, by which she is married to Christ ; and tinally the crown of virgin- ity. When she is crowned, an anathema is pronounced against all who shall attempt to make her break her vows. The Latin form for the benediction and conse- cration of virgins occupies twenty-tive pages in the PoHiificule Rumunum of 1818. The key of the whole is given in these questions which the pontiff ( = bishop or other mitred dignitary who presides) puts to them at the beginning of the service to be answered affirmatively :
" Do you wish to persevere in the purpose of holy vir- ginity?
" Do you promise that you will preserve your virginity forever ?
"Do you wi.--h to he blessed and consecrated and be- trothed to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sou of the Supreme God ?"
After various genuflections and prostrations and chant- ings and prayers and sprinklings with holy water, nuns go up two at a time to the pontiff, who puts the veil upon each nun's head, saying :
" Receive the sacred veil, by which you may be known to h;ive despised the world, and to have tiuly aud hum- bly, with all the striving of your heart, subjected yourself forever as a bride to Jesus Christ ; and may he keep you from all evil aud bring you through to eteiual lile."
After further chantings and prayer, they go up again in pairs, and the jjontiff puts a ring on the ring-finger of each nun's right hand, declaring her espoused to Jesus Christ, upon which the two chant :
"I have been betrothed to him whom angels serve, whose beauty sun and moon admire."
Afterwards each nun has a crown or wreath put on her head by the bishop, with a similar declaration and chanting. Then follow prayers, chanting, and two long nuptial benedictions upon the nuns, who first stand humbly inclined, and then "kneel. Then the pontiff, sitting on his seat and wearing his mitre, pronounces the following anathema:
"By the authority of Almighty God, and of his blessed apostles Peter aud Paul, we lirmly and un- der threat of anathema forbid any one to lead off these virgins or re- ligious persons from the divine service, to wliich they have been subjected under the banner of chastity, or to plundertheirgood?, but let them possess these in quiet. But if any one shall have dared to attempt this, let him be cursed in his house and out of his house ; cursed in the city and in the coun- try, cursed in watching aud sleep- ing, cursed in eatiinr'and driuk- ing, cursed in walking and sit- ting; cursed he his tiesli and bones ; from the sole of his foot to the top of his head let him have no soundness. Let there come n|ion him the curse of man, which the Lord through Moses in the law sent upon the sous of in- iquity. Let his name be blotted from the book of the living, and Uiit written with the just. £et his part aud inheritance be with C.-iin that slew his brother, with Da- thnn and Abiram, witli Ananins and Sapphira, with Simon tlie sor- cerer, and Judas the traitor; and with those who said unto God, 'Depart from us, we desire not the path [knowledge?] of thy ways.' Let him perish at the day of judgment: let everlastinn; lire devour him with the devil and his auLjels, uidess he shall have made restitution, and come to amend- ment: let it be done, let it be done."