IRVING, Texas (OSV News) — A smile never left her face as Karen Bless dressed in a long, white gown processed into the Church of Incarnation to stand before the altar.
It was her day, after all. The day Bless became a “bride of Christ.”
“I am so grateful, so humbled, and so joyful to be the spouse of our Lord,” said Bless, 30, who was consecrated to the “Ordo Virginum,” the Order of Virgins, during a Mass celebrated June 22 by Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly of Dallas.
A consecrated virgin is a never-married woman who through her “pledge to follow Christ more closely” is “consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church.” (Canon 604 on the Order of Virgins.)
The vocation dates back to the beginnings of the Catholic Church.
According to Catechism of the Catholic Church 922, “From apostolic times, Christian virgins and widows, called by the Lord to cling only to Him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided with the Church’s approval to live in the respective status of virginity or perpetual chastity ‘for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.'” This rite was restored for women in today’s world after the Second Vatican Council in 1970.
As a consecrated virgin, Bless will continue to live her life in the secular world.
“It’s business as usual,” said Bless, who currently serves as the University of Dallas campus minister for liturgy and sacraments and an assistant to the chaplain at the Church of Incarnation on the university’s campus. “I’m still going to go to work and go about my life, but I will do all that as the spouse of Christ and that will inform everything I do — the way I act, the way I think, the way I treat other people.”
As a consecrated virgin, Bless vows to show a profound commitment to God during her everyday interactions. A vocation made easier by her role at the Catholic-run University of Dallas.
“This is my dream job,” she told The Texas Catholic, the English-language news outlet of the Diocese of Dallas. “To be here and to assist college students with their own journeys of faith. With them coming to appreciate the beauty of our faith, it is just everything I could have asked for.”
Growing up in a large Catholic family, Bless said the celebration of the faith has been present throughout her life. One of nine children of Cleta and Bob Bless, she grew up in Allen, attending St. Jude Catholic Church, and was homeschooled through the Catholic-based Seton Home Study School program.
“Our faith was a huge part of our family life,” said Bless, recalling that her mother taught her to pray the rosary before fully learning her ABCs. “We always prayed together. We’d go to Mass together every Sunday. My parents always encouraged us to embrace our faith, to discern our vocation, and to follow the path that God wanted us to be on.”
Bless attended the University of Dallas, earning a bachelor’s degree in theology and continuing into the master’s program.
She credits as the catalyst for her discernment to hearing a homily in 2021 from Father Thomas More Barba, who is a fellow UD alum, Dominican friar, former rector of the Church of the Incarnation and former UD chaplain.
“I knew that many of the saints had pursued this path, so I knew that there was an option to giving your whole life to Christ, outside of a religious order,” explained Bless, who added that she had always been inspired by the stories of St. Agnes, St. Cecilia and St. Lucy, all of whom wanted to give their lives to Christ. “He was preaching about the vocation of celibacy, particularly in the context of a cooperator brother in the Dominicans.”
Following the Mass, Bless asked Father Barba about the book he quoted from during the homily. The book was “Virginity: A Positive Approach to Celibacy for the Sake of the Kingdom,” published in 1995 by now-Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, a Capuchin Franciscan, who is the papal preacher.
“I have a lot of friends who are priests and a lot of friends who are in formation for the priesthood,” she said. “I just wanted to understand more about the aspect of their vocation and the gift of celibacy.”
So, Bless bought the book, read it and felt something unexpected.
“As our Lord works sometimes, I really felt that tug on my heart from the Holy Spirit,” Bless recalled. “And I said, ‘Oh no, this is not for me! This is not why I’m reading this.’ But it truly piqued my interest and gave me a deep, profound sense of peace that I was not expecting and really not searching for.”
Bless then bought another book about the gift of celibacy and that little tug became a stronger pull.
She visited with her spiritual director while also connecting with consecrated virgins around the country. Eventually, she approached Father Paul Bechter, then the vocation director for the Diocese of Dallas, who helped officially begin her discernment process.
Father Barba, who now serves as a parochial vicar at Holy Rosary Catholic Parish in Houston, knew that Bless had been discerning a vocation for several years. Father Barba said he was happy when he learned of her decision.
“Her reasons not only were genuine, but I sensed an authentic peace — a true sign of a vocation,” Father Barba said. “I know she’s going to embrace consecrated virginity with integrity and joy.”
Father Barba added that her role at the University of Dallas makes Bless a “great witness to so many young people,” offering them a living example of what consecrated life is.
During the celebration of the Mass on June 22, Bless kneeled at the altar before Bishop Kelly, her hands placed between his, requesting that he accept her resolve to live in chastity. Like the sacrament of holy orders and religious profession vows, Bless also lay prostrate while the faithful in attendance at the Mass recited the litany of saints.
As part of the ceremony, she also received from the bishop a ring, a veil and a book of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Though she anticipated experiencing some nerves that day, Bless said she was surprised she didn’t feel nervous at all during the Mass.
“Walking down the aisle and processing into the church, I was 100 percent on board,” she explained. “I was just so ready to be the spouse of our Lord.”
She was surprised, however, by the number of people who packed the Church of the Incarnation for the celebration.
“Family, friends, and so many of my very dear priest friends who had played a huge role in my spiritual life attended,” Bless said. “I was just totally overwhelmed by their support, their love, and their willingness to be there for that day. It was truly a beautiful day.”
Among those in attendance were her parents, who sat in the front pew and shared a loving embrace with their daughter as the Mass began.
“I could just see how happy and proud they were, and I just loved them so much in that moment,” she said. “They gave me everything; they gave me the gift of my faith, and they helped me to nurture that faith in my life.”
The U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins reports there currently are 304 consecrated virgins living in dioceses around the United States. Though a relatively small number, interest in the vocation continues to grow.
“I think that the way our culture is today that it’s really inviting young Catholic women to look for a path in the world that’s not of the world,” Bless said. “I think more and more our culture gives us things that are just not satisfying, that bring no joy, no happiness. More people are searching for where they can find it… and they find it in Christ.”
As a consecrated virgin, Bless said she is ready to help lead others to Christ.
“I’m so excited for the rest of my life and the adventure that will be with him,” Bless said. “I have every confidence he will take care of me and that he loves me. I’m just smiling every morning and every second of the day.”
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