Jessica Hayes, a high school teacher in Indiana, recently got married to Jesus Christ in a grand wedding ceremony, thus joining the United States’ elite band of consecrated virgins. Consecrated virgins are much like nuns who pledge to live chaste lives, except that they do not live in convents and are not expected to carry out any particular work for the Roman Catholic Church. However, most of them do volunteer to work for their local diocese or religious associations.

The 38-year-old Hayes, who is also a teacher of theology at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, said that she decided to become a consecrated virgin after years of praying and soul-searching. Now that she is married to the Son of God, Hayes says that she would continue to live her regular life, except that she would not be able to marry anyone else or have sex for the rest of her life.

“My students asked if they should call me Mrs. Hayes when I come back to school next week, and no, I’m still Ms,” she said. “But I am married to Jesus.”

As a consecrated virgin, the Church states that Hayes may not have knowingly or deliberately engaged in sexual intercourse in the past.

“I think that in some sense, we’re all called to be married. It’s just a matter of discerning how. So, my marriage is to Christ and someone else’s marriage is to their spouse,” she told the media.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades carried out Hayes’ wedding ceremony at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception last month.

“It seems most appropriate that Jessica gives herself totally to Jesus, is consecrated to a life of virginity,” he said.

Hundreds of believers attended the service and most of them were not even known to the bride.

“Now that I’ve made a public commitment, that’s really an encouragement to me to live up to that because people know that this is who I am and my life needs to be lived in conformity with that,” she explained. “So, it’s one more step in that direction that others expect this way of life from me and I need to live consistently in my words and actions that love for Jesus. I’m so happy to have had so many witnesses (at the wedding) because there may be others that the Lord is calling in this way that have now heard of this life and can consider it in their prayer.”

Like most other brides, Hayes spent a considerable amount of time deciding what dress she wanted to wear on her big day.

Since Hayes would be required to lay prostrate on the ground at one point during the service, she opted for a long, conservative dress that would seemed appropriate for the occasion.

“I’ve seen so many wedding dresses over the years that I think I’ve probably changed my mind very many times,” she said.  “I had to really consider the appropriateness of the occasion for my dress. I wanted my shoulders to be covered, and I would have to lie prostrate before the altar, so I really wanted to make sure that I was well-covered in a way that still shows the beauty of a bride.”

Hayes chose a pair of beige heels to match her wedding dress and carried her shoulder-length hair in loose curls.

With her grand wedding, Hayes is now one of the 3,500 consecrated virgins in the entire world and the first woman to have earned this title at Fort Wayne South Bend Diocese in the last 25 years.

Who are Consecrated Virgins?

Consecrated virgins are Catholic women who decide to remain chaste for the rest of their lives. Unlike nuns, they are not required to live inside convents or take vows of obedience and poverty during the ceremony. The practice essentially died out during the middle ages until it was revived once again by Pope Paul VI in 1970. At present, there are only 230 consecrated virgins in the United States and 3,500 across the world. To become a consecrated virgin, one must be an adult who has never had sexual intercourse, even though no physical examinations are conducted to prove this criterion.

The Church states that consecrated virgins have never married or openly violated chastity and by the virtue of their age, prudence and character, they vow to live a chaste life dedicated to the service of God and his people. In other words, widows and women who have had a sexual partner at some point cannot become consecrated virgins though women who have been victims of sexual abuse may still be consecrated, as victimhood does not qualify as a violation of chastity.

As part of the consecration service, virgins are expected to resolve to persevere to the end of their lives in the divine state of virginity. They are also expected to accept sincere consecration as the bride of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Even though the consecration service is not the same as a marriage, it does make use of certain symbols that are synonymous to the latter, including a wedding gown, veil and ring that help establish the consecrated virgin as the wife of Jesus Christ.

Photo Credits: The Independent, United Kingdom