Woman becomes concecrated virgin

RICHMOND, Va., July 27 (UPI) -- A Virginia woman has become the first consecrated, perpetual virgin in the 188-year history of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

Bernadette Snyder, 29, made her vows before Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo in the rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity of Women Living in the World, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.

During the ceremony in May, the bishop gave her a gold band as a symbol of her spousal relationship with Jesus Christ.

"He completes me," Snyder told the newspaper. "I don't even know if marriage is the proper term; I feel like he's my husband."

In the eyes of the Catholic Church, Snyder's calling is a formal vocation, much like the priesthood or religious orders of nuns.

The rite fell into disuse by the eighth or ninth century. The Vatican restored it in 1970.

The U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins estimates there are 200 consecrated virgins nationwide. Most of those consecrations have come in the last decade, said Judith Stegman, the group's president.