More Questions: On Hermits, Consecrated Virgins, and Eucharistic Spirituality

[[Dear Sister Laurel, do you think [the version] of Eucharistic spirituality [you have written about] works for non-hermits? What do you do with the Canon that requires you to attend Mass daily --- just ignore it? Some consecrated virgins argue that daily Mass attendance is something which should be required of them as consecrated women. How would you respond to them?]]

I do think this version of Eucharistic spirituality works for non-hermits. First of all I believe that everyone is called to let Eucharist work in their lives in a way which allows all of reality to be regarded as sacramental and to bring everything to a fullness of expression of the Word of God. Further, I think that every person is called to participate in the dynamics of self-emptying and resurrection (fullness) which are at the heart of the Eucharist. This is true no matter how often a person actually participates in the celebration of the Eucharist (so long as their participation per se is serious and allowed to serve as leaven for the whole of their lives). Some people are also called to share in the specifically eremitical dynamic of the redemption of isolation and its transformation into solitude. Often these persons cannot attend Mass with any regularity, but they can still live an essentially Eucharistic spirituality which is nourished and inspired by the Eucharist nonetheless.

As for the Canon you refer to, I am assuming you mean C 719, sec 2. Please note that this reads [[The celebration of the Eucharist, daily if possible, is to be the source and strength of the whole of their [members of religious institutes] consecrated life.]] All I can note is that this refers to the celebration of the Eucharist within the community itself --- something that is often not always practical today because of the shortage of priests. It also says, "if possible." I believe, therefore, that this canon recognizes that the Eucharist may and should well be the source and strength of one's life even if daily participation in it is not possible. In fact this is the focus of the text. Thus, while I don't ignore this canon, and while I believe it applies in a general way to diocesan hermits as well as to members of religious institutes, I also recognize that it is not meant to directly address solitary eremitical life, and is not as absolute in some ways as some people seem to believe. (For instance, it does not say, "Religious MUST attend daily Mass except when prevented by illness or other serious reason.") The focus of the Canon is on allowing Eucharist to be the source and strength of the whole of one's consecrated life, not on mandatory frequency of attendance per se.

Regarding consecrated virgins, I really don't see creating a general requirement for all CV's. Consecrated virgins are a diverse group. Despite being women "living in the world" some are more contemplative than others, some more involved in ministry, some live their consecration in challenging ways amidst the professional and business communities, and others mainly within a parish community with ministry to these people, etc. Certainly they must embrace a serious Eucharistic spirituality, but that does not necessarily mean daily Mass any more than it means that for religious women or diocesan hermits. My own preference here is to be more discerning regarding those women who are consecrated as virgins living in the world (i.e., make sure they have mature prayer lives and spiritualities) and allow them to do as they personally discern they are called to in conjunction with their directors, Bishops, etc. In other words, require that they do as they discern is essential in their own case. Some will surely find that daily Mass is both possible and important; others will find it less possible, but both will find that the spirituality to which it summons them is indispensable and non-negotiable. It depends on the individual, those to whom she ministers, etc, as to what she discerns is critical for her own life and praxis at any given point or time.

I am not particularly up on the conversations of the CV's who argue that daily Mass should be made a general requirement, but I wonder if it might not reflect a need to make the vocation approximate that of women Religious and to separate CV's (or establish themselves as clearly or visibly separated) from the laity. Since consecrated virginity itself is not understood readily as a distinct or significant vocation, it may also represent, at least for some, a piece of feeling a need to have the Church spell out additional requirements which seem to validate the vocation. In some ways it has always seemed to me that reprising this calling has created a "vocation in search of a job description." It is hard for people to understand this vocation because the CV's are not religious and are also something other (though not more!) than devoted lay persons. IF the vocation has validity (and I genuinely assume it does) then it does not have this as a pseudo or quasi Religious vocation. CV's will need to establish themselves and an understanding of the nature and significance of their vocation, but this, it seems to me, will never be done if the obligations attached to their consecration and the canon which governs the life are treated as inadequate and additional requirements added after the fact. Either this vocation is genuine and has its own significant nature and charism within the church, or it does not. Multiplying required external observances does not take the place of a (perhaps!) missing charism and essential justification. Instead, to me anyway, such multiplication looks a bit defensive --- as though CV's are not comfortable with the inner justification of the vocation per se.

While it is undeniably true that vocations and especially an understanding of their implications for the life of the Church develop over time, it HAS to be noted that the Church did NOT establish attendance at daily Mass as a requirement when it published Canon 604 and it might easily have done so in 1983 understanding that this was essential to the vocation. The same is true with other things like Liturgy of the Hours, Rule of Life, distinctive garb (veil, etc), a commitment to religious obedience, etc. Was the Church naive in establishing the vocation? Did it fail to regard and legislate what was essential to it? Someone would need to seriously demonstrate this, I think, if they were to claim that certain practices were essential to the vocation itself despite not being part of canon 604.

In this and other matters it would be especially pertinent and interesting to hear what discussions were held about this canon before it was promulgated. How did other drafts read? (Canon 603 had numerous drafts; I assume the same is true of Canon 604.) How did Bishops understand the nature and significance of the vocation? Why were vows not required? Why no Rule of Life? Why no distinguishing garb? Why was the relationship with the Bishop described as unique but not in terms of his being a legitimate superior and with no provision made for a promise of obedience, for instance? It seems very significant to me, and probably illustrative of how the Bishops envisioned the vocation, that these things were NOT required given how natural doing so would have been. (We know that these things CAN be spelled out because some of them at least are spelled out for diocesan hermits in C 603. It also seems that the institutional Church generally desires external signs and explicit requirements and commitments like promises of obedience. But in this case they did not go this way. Why not?) What was the role of the CV in the early Church? How did what came to be religious life differ and why? Answers to these questions would help me to answer your question a bit more intelligently, and it seems to me that they are questions anyone arguing the need for more general requirements should be very conversant with.

In any case, to get back to your question about Eucharistic spirituality and daily Mass attendance, it seems to me that consecrated virgins are certainly called to develop and model an intense and encompassing Eucharistic spirituality, but it must be done according to each virgin's own discernment, vision, and sphere of ministry. Some virgins will model this especially for those who cannot get to daily Mass; others will model it for those who can. Some will do it for those who are more contemplative, and some will do it for those with very active lives in business and the professions, for instance. However, all (one sincerely hopes and trusts) will do so with devotion and personal integrity.