When thinking of vocations, the priesthood comes to mind along with consecrated religious life and marriage. For Cecilia Cortes-Peck, her vocation took a turn that she was not quite expecting.
She is in formation for the Ordo Viduarum, or the Order of Widows. The decree for this order was published by the diocese on Oct. 16, the feast of St. Hedwig, a widow.
Widows belonging to the order declare freely a proposal to remain permanently in their widowed state of life. The secular order is open to women only who live in the diocese typically in their current home.
Through a vow of perpetual chastity, they dedicate themselves to prayer and the service of the Church. 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.
Before the promulgation of the decree, there was no such order in effect for widows in the diocese.
Cortes-Peck is one of six widows in the diocese who desire to be consecrated to the order and will begin formation, which includes various stages before receiving a formal blessing from the Church or local bishop.
“God is turning my sorrows into joy,” she said. “We just have to be patient. His plan is perfect.”
Born to a large Catholic family in the Philippines, Cortes-Peck moved to the United States in the 1980s and married her husband.
For many years, they lived in Maryland. She volunteered at their parish and in the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Missions. Her husband worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency.
In 2011, her husband died from an aggressive form of brain cancer. Six years later, their only son, Nathan, 30, a raider in the U.S. Marine Corps, was killed in an auto accident.
Cortes-Peck was left alone with no family. She leaned on her faith and the Blessed Mother for support.
Years earlier, Cortes-Peck had experienced a significant encounter with the Blessed Mother during a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
She said she received a deeply personal call. She became aware of Mary’s full surrender and call to be the mother of God. The fruits of the encounter remained with her and, she said, she felt the Blessed Mother accompanying her ever since.
She remembered the powerful encounter with Our Lady years later after the tragedy of losing her family.
“If it were not for my faith, I would not have known what to do with my life,” she said. “All I knew was to stay with her. All I knew was to stay praying, to persevere in prayer, that that encounter with her was not for nothing. It was an encounter to lift me off, even before things happened – way, way before things had happened.”
After her husband’s death, Cortes-Peck said she thought she might be called to religious life. She visited two communities of contemplative religious sisters.
While discerning consecrated life, Cortes-Peck said she came to understand that being a religious sister was not the only path to a holy life.
After much prayer, she discovered that her thought of entering religious life was a “misplaced desire” and not her calling. It was difficult to accept, she said, but she knew she needed to surrender to God’s will.
“I was convicted, first and foremost, in my mind, heart and soul that in order to please God, my preoccupation must be only of Him, with Him, in Him, for Him and through Him – not anyone else – not me, not man,” she said. “I’m not satisfying anyone, including myself.
“I am to satisfy only His call, His thirst, His calling for me. At the same time, I had to learn to stay out of the way and let God’s plan unfold in the best way it can.”
With the help of her spiritual director, Cortes-Peck continued discerning. She said she knew God was not done with her. Yet, she did not know the way forward.
“I thought I came to a dead end or a cul-de-sac, where I cannot go anywhere else forward but go in a circle,” she said. “We believe that steadfast prayers can move mountains, so we prayed and prayed and prayed and asked for the help of our Blessed Mother. Who else?”
She said she began researching and discovered ways that widows have served and supported the Church. As an example, the prophetess Anna, recorded in the Bible, stayed in the temple, praying and fasting until the coming of the Messiah.
Cortes-Peck acquired information on the role of widows from the Church Fathers and saints, including Ss. Augustine and Ambrose. St. Paul, in his letter to St. Timothy (1 Timothy 5:3-16), also wrote about widows.
Cortes-Peck said she placed all of her trust in God and pursued the path of a widowhood consecrated to Him. She did not know how that role might take shape, but she continued to pursue it.
“Embracing His cross, I placed my trust in the hands of God that, if this is His will for me and my vocation, He will help me accomplish it for His glory,” she said. “I could not do it alone – I can’t do it alone. I only saw it as a truly, truly beautiful, covenantal espousal, a sacred relationship. I lost my husband, my earthly husband, but there is a greater espousal that He’s leading me to.”
In January 2022, Cortes-Peck moved to Ohio at the invitation of the Children of Mary, a community of religious sisters who reside near Newark. The sisters were willing to accommodate her as she further discerned a vocation of consecrated widowhood.
Cortes-Peck now lives in one of the residences on the sisters’ property in Newark but not in their convent.
She said she participated in three annual retreats with the Children of Mary before officially accepting their invitation on September 15, 2021, which happened to be the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
She said it was difficult to leave home, but she was confident God was leading her.
“Of course, the human attachment of serving my dearest parish in Maryland for 25 years – imagine the network of support and friends around me as a widow,” she said. “They were weighing heavy on my heart, but I was convicted that there’s something greater in front of me, and it’s the cross. I could not refuse that.”
She wrote to Bishop Earl Fernandes at the end of 2022 regarding an order for widows. A year later, she had an opportunity to meet with him. At that time, there were still no guidelines for such an order.
Cortes-Peck continued praying and discerning. “The short answer is trust,” she said, “aided by prayer, faith and unconditional surrender. There’s no other formula.”
In May, Bishop Fernandes met again with Cortes-Peck and others discerning the order. By October, the decree establishing the Ordo Viduarum was signed.
Beginning Nov. 6, six widows will meet monthly during the course of their formation period. Formation will last at least two years. Father Paul Keller, OP (Order of Preachers), director for the diocesan Office of Divine Worship, was assigned as the delegate of the bishop and will oversee the widows’ formation.
“Our formation consists of being obedient to the decree and the statues and the rule of life and the plan of formation, plus a spiritual director,” Cortes-Peck said. “Each one of us should have an experienced, knowledgeable (spiritual director), equipped for ministry, for directing souls.
“It is a vocation with promises. We will be vowed to this way of life, consecrated vows with responsibilities to serve the Church.”
Once consecrated in the order, widows unite themselves in a renewed marriage bond with the Lord. According to the decree, the offering of their lives is a participation in the cross of Christ. A widow’s life is consecrated to the service of God in the Church and for the Church.
Prayer and service are two main components of the Order of Widows. Consecrated widows pray Morning and Evening Prayer, part of the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours prayed daily by clergy and many laity. Widows in the order continue to be guided by their spiritual director.
They receive the sacraments of the Eucharist and penance regularly.
“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,” Cortes-Peck said.
The heart and mind of the widow must also be turned toward Mary: Virgin, Mother, Spouse and Widow. Consecrated widows recite the rosary and participate in Marian feasts.
A consecrated widow must be at least 60 years old, aside from particular cases, and have been united in a canonically valid marriage and received the sacraments of baptism and confirmation.
Before their consecration, a proposal to live as a consecrated widow must be formally expressed in writing to the bishop.
“What we ask for is not of the secular world,” she said. “It’s elevated. It’s supernatural because, you ask for something supernatural, you have to respond supernaturally too.”