Nicole Bettini never met a religious sister while growing up. But in college she met religious sisters and asked them about how they knew they wanted to enter religious life.
“And they would just giggle and say, ‘It’s this feeling,’” Bettini said.
“And so, I would come to experience that joy,” she said, “that … feeling when the Lord so clearly invited me.”
But Bettini’s calling was to become a consecrated virgin. She was consecrated Nov. 17, 2007, and recently succeeded Sister Carolyn Puccio as delegate for consecrated life for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“I still feel very much like a young bride learning the ways of my beloved,” Bettini said.
Bettini recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss the life of a consecrated virgin living in the world.
Consecrated virginity falls in the broad category of consecrated life, she said, with no distinguished garb or title. “I do wear a ring that you receive at your consecration, that symbol of that espousal,” she said. And as with the Order of Bishops, the Order of Priests, Order of Deacons, “there’s Order of Virgins,” she said.
“There’s not a religious order that maybe we’re familiar with, like the Franciscans or the Dominicans,” but there is a sense of community in “you’re consecrated into this Order of Virgins,” she said. St. Agnes and St. Lucy are part of it, she said. Consecrated virginity is the most ancient form of consecrated life, she said.
The late Cardinal Francis George used to say that people should be able to see in a consecrated virgin what they hope to see in the Church, Bettini said. “That’s a really good examination of conscience for me … What did people see today? … It’s really that ecclesial heart that the Lord has given me, of seeing and appreciating and knowing the importance for all expressions of it,” she said.
One aspect of consecrated virginity is that it’s ecclesial, Bettini said. “You’re consecrated in the person of the Church.”
For a woman considering consecrated life, Bettini suggested taking “to the Lord, keep that communication with him.” And “talk with someone,” perhaps a priest or vocations office, and discern it, she said.
“Discernment isn’t meant to be perpetual,” she said. Give time for clarity and walk forward, she said. “So, pray, stay close to the Church and the sacraments, and talk to somebody that actually can help you in guidance.”
Bettini recalled some of “the best advice” she received after college graduation. A priest told her “If you’re really seeking God’s will and you start to go off path, he’s going to bounce you back.” “And that was just so freeing to truly seek the Lord’s will,” she said.
To learn more about religious vocations, visit 10000vocations.org. To learn more about consecrated virginity and to hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Aug. 18 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Aug. 19 and 2 p.m. Aug. 20.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Simon Pick, director of music and liturgy at Assumption in St. Paul, who discusses the role of music in liturgies and faith; and Deacon Nick Vance, who describes the DLITE (Dunrovin Leadership Intensive Training Experience) program at the Dunrovin Christian Brothers Retreat Center near Stillwater.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
