Six women in Ohio whose husbands have passed away are discerning religious life in a new “Order of Widows” established by the Diocese of Columbus.
On October 16, Bishop Earl Fernandes issued a decree to establish the Ordo Viduarum, or the Order of Widows, as a community of diocesan right. It is open to widows over 60 who have been sacramentally married.
Dominican Fr. Paul Keller, who is in charge of formation for the nascent group, said that although the desire of Catholic widows to offer themselves to the Church and to God is not peculiar to the Diocese of Columbus, he is unaware of an Order of Widows having been decreed by a bishop in any other U.S. diocese.
There were Orders of Widows in the early Church, up until the Middle Ages.
In a 2006 article, M. Cathleen Kaveny, then Professor of Law and Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, noted that through an Order of Widows, the early Church “recognized the contribution that the widows could make to the well-being and spiritual growth of their fellow believers.”
“The Order of Widows can trace its biblical roots to 1 Timothy, where its qualifications for membership are listed alongside the qualifications for the ecclesiastical offices of bishop, deacon, and elder,” Kaveny wrote. “These qualifications include age (a widow must be 60 years old), only one marriage (widows must remain continent after their husbands die), and a history of good deeds.”
Kaveny said that the primary duty of the Order of Widows was to pray ceaselessly on behalf of the community.
“Their pleas are powerful because God hears the cries of the oppressed,” she wrote. “Although theirs was not a ministry of the altar, they exercised spiritual authority and influence in their ministry to the community. Widows made house visitations, where they comforted, fasted, and prayed with the sick and gave practical instruction to younger women. They prophesied. Enrolled widows also assumed a place of honor in the liturgy, sitting in the front of the assembly along with the bishops, priests, and deacons.”
Fr. Keller is aware of such orders in Italy today, but not in the US. When the Columbus diocese submitted to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops a translation of the consecration rite used in Italy, no one at the USCCB mentioned that there is anything like this in the US today.
Blessing of the wedding ring
Fr. Keller, who serves as director of the diocesan Office of Divine Worship, likens the rite of consecration to that of consecrated virgins, and said one aspect of it is the blessing of the wedding ring that the widow used in her marriage “as a reminder now of her consecrated widowhood.”
“One of the beautiful things about it is that it's a witness to the whole diocese, and especially to widows in the diocese, of their value and their importance,” Fr. Keller told Aleteia. “I think they're very underappreciated. These women are great servants, have been great servants in their families and to the Church. And here they are, so desirous to continue to make something of their lives in the midst of the loss that they've experienced with their husbands dying.
"So the consecration is very beautiful in that sense, in that it gives a public witness to this work in the Church, and I think it's encouraging for all women, but especially other widows.”
The diocese has been considering the move for some time. In December 2023, The Catholic Times, the diocesan newspaper, said that Bishop Fernandes was “looking into the possibilities.”
“While there is no sacrament for widows, Pope St. John Paul II wrote this in Vita Consecrata: ‘Through the vow of perpetual chastity as a sign of the Kingdom of God, (widows) consecrate their state of life to dedicate themselves to prayer and to the service of the Church,’” Fr. Keller wrote in response to a reader’s inquiry.
“You are not the first to inquire about a special role for widows in the Church here in the United States,” Fr. Keller said.
The Catholic Times explained that consecrated widows “declare freely a proposal to remain permanently in their widowed state of life.”
“Through a vow of perpetual chastity, they dedicate themselves to prayer and the service of the Church,” The Catholic Times said. “By a liturgical rite of blessing, they are consecrated to a form of life in which they live more deeply their baptismal consecration and confirmation, just as they lived their marriage.”
"God is turning my sorrow into joy"
The newspaper article announcing the move focused on Cecilia Cortes-Peck, one of six widows who desire to be consecrated to the order and will begin formation. Ultimately, they will live a religious life in their own homes.
“God is turning my sorrows into joy,” said Cortes-Peck, a Philippines native whose husband died in 2011 and whose only son was killed tragically six years later, leaving her alone. “We just have to be patient. His plan is perfect.”
In 2022, after contemplating religious life for several years, Cortes-Peck wrote to Bishop Fernandes regarding an order for widows. A year later, she met with him. “At that time, there were still no guidelines for such an order,” The Times said.
Now, the six widows are set to begin meeting monthly for formation, which will last at least two years and will be overseen by Fr. Keller. He and other priests and religious will give them talks about various aspects that pertain to widowhood and the order of widows, about spiritual direction, aspects of the catechism that pertain to widows, and a scriptural study of widowhood in the Bible and the history of widowhood.
“Once consecrated in the order, widows unite themselves in a renewed marriage bond with the Lord,” the Times said.
Their life will be marked mainly by prayer and service. They will receive the sacraments of the Eucharist and penance regularly and be guided by a spiritual director.
“The women are asked to have a very vibrant spiritual life,” Fr. Keller told Aleteia. “And to my knowledge, having interviewed all of them, they all do. And so between their life of prayer, praying for the diocese in particular, for the bishop in the diocese, they also will be able to offer their services in terms of corporal works of mercy. It could be that the bishop will need something for them to do based on their talents and so forth.”
He said that although the minimum age is 60, a number of the women are “still very vibrantly active in their parishes and in various aspects of outreach in the diocese.”
Said Cortes-Peck, “It is high on the list to help us remain rooted, grounded and disposed to the graces that God bestows on those He called to perpetuate His work of salvation.”
