Consecration and the Holy Habit: Part 1

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have all been consecrated, or set aside, for God through our Baptism.  We belong to Him and to Him alone. We are sacred! What is consecrated cannot be used for the mundane or profane, as it is ordered to the worship of God.  Blessed objects, for example, cannot be used as door stops or tossed around. This applies to humans as well. Sin and mistreatment of our bodies profanes what has been rightly ordered for the worship of God and is sacred.  Throughout the history of the Church those items set aside for God have been covered, for example: the altar with an altar cloth, the tabernacle with a veil, the chalice with a veil.

As Consecrated Religious we are set aside for God alone in our entirety, and so we, too, are covered is a particular way that speaks to the sacredness of our commitment.  Our manner of covering is our Holy Habit.  For us it is a wedding gown worn at all times.  Each piece of the habit holds a special significance, and a particular prayer is said while putting it on. This week let us each ponder our own consecration and how we manifest our sacredness to the world!