Sonia Cruz to vow herself to the Lord in consecration ceremony Jan. 28

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
For those who can’t grasp Sonia Karina Cruz Castañeda’s upcoming commitment, she offers the succinct explanation with just a bit of humor.
“I’m getting married to the perfect guy.” 
In other words, she’s going to be “marrying Jesus.”
Cruz will vow herself to the Lord as a consecrated virgin during a Mass and ceremony presided over by Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi at 10 a.m. Jan. 28 at St. Patrick Parish in Robertsdale, her home parish. 
It’s believed Cruz, a resident of Fairhope, will become the second consecrated virgin in the Archdiocese of Mobile, but this will be the first ceremony held in recent years. According to the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins, “Through this sacramental, the virgin renews her resolve to live in perpetual virginity for God and is set aside as sacred, espoused to Christ and belonging only to him.” 
For Cruz, it’s a time to be “excited and also nervous because this is a commitment for life, just like other people when they get married"
The sacramental was restored after Vatican II, but it’s still not well known. Judith Stegman, president of the U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins, told Catholic News Service in 2021 that there were 267 living consecrated virgins in the U.S.
A consecrated virgin is responsible to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and answers to her bishop. She lives her vocation individually and does not use the title “Sister.” She provides for her own material needs and chooses her own way to support herself. 
In her case, the 42-year-old said she’ll continue to work as a manager of a stone company in Foley.
Cruz has officially discerned the vocation for the past two years with the help of Sister Deborah Kennedy, R.S.M., liasion with Religious for the Archdiocese of Mobile, but said she’s been discerning her path since coming back to the Church after eight years away in 2013.
Cruz said she attended a Bible study at St. Patrick Parish, which began to reignite her faith. Later she attended a retreat that was conducted in Spanish at Visitation Monastery, which further spurred her to do more, as did joining the Legion of Mary in 2016.
But Cruz said she continued to discern her path. She didn’t feel called to Religious life and the life of living in a community, but rather felt called to be available to the community at large.
She also didn’t feel called to be married. 
“Every time something was getting on the serious path and I thought OK yes this could be the guy, I would find all kinds of different things bad about this poor guy. I feel bad to say that, but that’s how the Lord would work in my brain,” she joked.
Eventually, she said she learned of the consecrated virgin vocation through a meeting with St. Patrick Parish pastor Fr. Jim Morrison.
“There has to be something else more than this. I wanted to make a bigger commitment,” she said. “When I started reading about it, I thought ‘Oh I qualify for everything.’ It was just this is exactly what I wanted without even knowing the existence of it,” she said.
After meeting with Archbishop Rodi, she began the official formation process with Sister Deborah, who has directed her program of preparation. 
“It has been a blessing and an honor for me to be able to walk this journey with her. While we came together to prepare for the public Consecration of her life as a Consecrated Virgin living in the world, it soon became quite evident to me that Sonia had been living that vocation for a long while,” Sister Deborah said. 
“I have been so moved by her deep spirituality and her commitment to ministry in her parish community. The Church of our archdiocese will be enriched by her formal Consecration.” 
The upcoming ceremony will have many elements of a wedding.
Sister Deborah and Sister Margaret Harte, P.B.V.M., principal at St. Patrick Catholic School, where Cruz previously served as a teacher’s aide, will bring Cruz into the church and bring her down the aisle ala a bride at a wedding.
Many consecrated virgins also choose to wear a traditional white wedding dress, although Cruz has elected not to. “All the videos I’ve seen them wear a wedding gown, but I’m going to be the odd one in a formal dress,” she said with a laugh.
She will also wear a ring.
“There’s such a feeling of joy because this means I will be devoted to the Lord,” she said. “He’s the one that has helped me go through this one day at a time, along with a lot of people with their love.”