Virgins in the ancient church

The subject of the article is the order of virgins in the Ancient Church in the period of I- VI centuries in different regions, over a long period of time, since the information on this issue is scattered and sporadic. The virgins formed a group in the Christian community, to which in the East they joined by voluntary consent, while in the West they were consecrated by a bishop (or presbyter with the blessing of the bishop), possibly through the ordination with the laying of hands (consecratio, uelatio) from a certain age, usually from the age of 25. The order of virgins can be considered institutional, since its members, like the lower clergymen, received material support from the Church, occupied a special place in the assembles , took Holy Communion in their turn together with women, and also had a special clothing: a veil and, probably, an additional headdress, a «mitre»). Canonical and civil law strictly guarded the status of virginity, stipulating ecclesiastical and criminal responsibility for violators of this law. By the time of the universal spread of monasticism in the IV century, the communities of virgins were transformed into monasteries, whose members were perceived by their contemporaries as ascetic nuns. Some virgins remained in the world and lived in private homes, but this practice was not developed as an alternative to the convents. By the Middle Ages, the concepts of «virgin» and «nun» would already be identical.