Once again, widows and widowers heed the Pope's call to service

Church learns the value the widows' might
Sr ELIZABETH REES outlines a way of life for widows that draws on ancient tradition but serves today's needs
IS THERE A ROLE for widows in the Church today? Ours is a culture which, by and large, does not talk about death. Widowhood, too is something we tend to ignore. Yet widows have a unique experience of death and resurrection to share with us. As they grapple with suffering and death, they, more than others, can teach the Church about the mystery of Easter.
In March of this year, the Pope published a document on consecrated life, Vita Consecrata, in which he describes how widows can give their life to the Church: "Again being practised today is the consecration of widows, known since Apostolic times, as well as the consecration of widowers. These women and men, through a vow of perpetual chastity as a sign of the kingdom of God, consecrate their state of life in order to devote themselves to prayer and the service of the Church" (Intro 7).
In the early Church, widows were recognised as valuable members of the community. In the first and second centuries of Christianity, the Order of Widows was the most widely recognised group of religious women. As early as AD65, St Paul describes their enrolment and their ministry: "A woman who is really widowed and left without anybody can give herself up to God and consecrate her days and nights to petitions and prayer... Enrolment as a widow is permissible only for a woman at least 60 years old who has had only one husband. She must be a woman known for her good works and for the way in which she has brought up her children, shown hospitality to strangers and washed the saints' feet, helped people who are in trouble and been active and all kinds of good work" (I Tim 5:5-11). Paul describes women whose wisdom and experience has enabled them to become lifegivers in their local community. Family life has taught them the essentials of servant
leadership, and they are now free to care for the wider family of their local Church.
The Order of Widows continued to develop, alongside the orders of deacons (male and female) and virgins, who were younger, unmarried women. Bishops sometimes entrusted groups of virgins to the care of widows. The apostolic fathers describe the high standards they expected from widows in vows: "Widows are to observe discretion as they practise Our Lord's faith; they should make constant intercessions for everyone. They are to recognise that they are an altar of God, who scrutinises every offering laid upon it" (St Polycarp, 2nd cent.).
BY THE FOURTH CENTURY women were establishing monasteries, partly for protection in a violent society and partly for mutual support. Gradually, monasteries and convents became the places where women went who wished to
combine a life of prayer and apostolic service. Many of these religious houses ran small schools, and children were often brought up and educated within them, living alongside the sisters. In medieval times widows, with their experience of managing their husbands' estates, were often elected abbesses.
In our liturgy we honour a variety of such widows. St Monica (4th cent.) was widowed at the age of 39 and spent the next 15 years praying for her son Augustine's conversion. St Elizabeth of Hungary (13th cent.) was a widowed queen who cared for the sick, elderly and orphaned. St Frances of Rome (15th cent.) was a gentle, prayerful widow who founded a community to care for the poor. The widow St Jane Frances de Chantal (16th-17th cent.) was a close friend of St Francis de Sales who, with his encouragement, founded the Congregation of the Visitation, an order which combined a life of prayer with care for the sick and the poor.
What of widows today who wish to vow their chastity to God, and to serve others by their prayer and caring? This century has seen a considerable shift in the role of women in society. Once again, women are able to live on their own and serve their local Church, nourished by a life of prayer outside traditional convent structures.
Twenty-five years ago Vatican II restored the ancient rite of consecrating virgins living in the world. As in the early Church, the bishop receives their vow of chastity, consecrating them in the words of the beautiful 5th century rite drawn up largely by Pope Leo the Great. About a hundred women in Britain have been consecrated in such a way.
There are already many consecrated widows in France. One of them is Georgette Blaquiere, who made her vow to Cardinal Cofly. She explains how she sees widowhood as an aspect of marriage: "Marriage is a consecration, living out of the union of Christ with his bride, the Church. The widow lives out a new aspect of this union: when she asks for a blessing, she asks God for the strength to respond to the grace of marriage to its bitter end. She shows how faith is stronger than death. In their suffering, through God's gift, women can join their lives with that of the widowed mother of Jesus a sign to the Church and, in the wider world, as a sign of the Church".
THE CHURCH ON EARTH will always be a widow, her heart pierced with sorrow. The consecration of virgins, recently reinstated with honour by the Church, tells us that God's kingdom is already here. Widows are called to live in hope, to show that the Kingdom is not yet fully here. Like Mary on Holy Saturday, the widow lives in the belief that Christ has
conquered death. In his document Vita Consecrata, the Pope explains that consecration connects a woman deeply to the Church, and he invites bishops to welcome such women: "Consecrated virgins in the world live out their consecration in a special relationship of communion with the particular and universal Church. The same is true of consecrated widows and widowers. Bishops are asked to welcome and esteem the charisms of the consecrated life, and to give them a place in the pastoral plans of the diocese. There is a duty to respond to the gift of the consecrated life which the Spirit awakens in the particular churches, by welcoming it with generosity and thanksgiving" (2.42,48).
There are now widows in Britain who are preparing for consecration. This summer, one such woman will make her vow of celibacy to her local Bishop. Hopefully, other women will now respond to this new, yet ancient, call.