FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception over the weekend for an unlikely wedding ceremony. 
 
 The bride, Jessica Hayes, was marrying her groom, Jesus Christ. She became the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese's first consecrated virgin in 25 years, reports CBS affiliate WANE. 
 
 Hayes' is currently the only consecrated virgin in her diocese. WANE reports that consecrated virgin is a fairly rare occurrence in the Catholic Church. There are only 200 in the United States and approximately 3,000 in the world. 
 
 A consecrated virgin is not the same as a nun. Hayes will still live her life as a lay person. 
 
 38-year-old Hayes is a high school theology teacher. She told WANE that this decision represents years of prayer and soul-searching. 
 
 "I had been praying about it for years, trying to seek God's will for my life and not really finding it in any of the paths that I sought before," she said. "It was really a consideration of which things brought me the most joy and where my greatest happiness was." 
 
 While it may not have been an average wedding ceremony, Hayes did face some of the same struggles that most brides face, such as finding the perfect wedding dress. 
 
 Jessica Hayes during her wedding ceremony to Jesus Christ. CBS affiliate WANE 
 
 "I've seen so many wedding dresses over the years that I think I've probably changed my mind very many times," she told CBS affiliate WANE. "I had to really consider the appropriateness of the occasion for my dress. I wanted my shoulders to be covered, and I would have to lie prostrate before the altar, so I really wanted to make sure that I was well-covered in a way that still shows the beauty of a bride." 
 
 Hayes explained to WANE she will still go by Ms. Hayes, not Mrs. 
 
 "My students asked if they should call me Mrs. Hayes when I come back to school next week, and no, I'm still Ms. But, I am married to Jesus," she said. 
 
 Hayes believes in some sense, all people are called to be married. 
 
 "It's just a matter of discerning how," she said. "So, my marriage is to Christ and someone else's marriage is to their spouse. A priest's marriage is to the church. That's a good desire that's planted in us by God. The real question is how, how is this lived most joyfully in me." 
 
 Jessica Hayes during her wedding ceremony to Jesus Christ. CBS affiliate WANE 
 
 Hayes said this is a vocation for women who feel a deeper call to spend their life more in knowing with Jesus. She chose to make a public commitment in serving the church. And she said she hopes her experience will help increase vocations among women. 
 
 "I do think that not everybody has the same path," she said. "To be able to look at all of these different ways of life and to see people living them out joyfully is an invitation to consider a little bit more deeply what those things mean. As Catholics and as Christians, we're all called to that loving relationship with our God. So, I'm called to live it out in this way." ||||| Copyright by WANE - All rights reserved 
 
 Sara Wagner - FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Hundreds of people attended a wedding at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Fort Wayne Saturday morning. It may sound like a standard on a summer Saturday, but this marriage is one most people have likely never seen or heard of before. 
 
 The bride's name is Jessica Hayes, the groom is Jesus Christ. Saturday morning, she became the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese's first consecrated virgin in 25 years. 
 
 It's not the wedding day Hayes envisioned for herself as a little girl. Sure it came with the same struggles any bride-to-be would have, like finding the perfect dress. 
 
 "I've seen so many wedding dresses over the years that I think I've probably changed my mind very many times. I had to really consider the appropriateness of the occasion for my dress. I wanted my shoulders to be covered, and I would have to lie prostrate before the altar, so I really wanted to make sure that I was well-covered in a way that still shows the beauty of a bride," Hayes said. 
 
 Of course, she also wanted to make sure her guests had a good time. 
 
 "I'm so happy to have had so many witnesses today because there may be others that the Lord is calling in this way that have now heard of this life and can consider it in their prayer," Hayes said. 
 
 For the 38-year-old theology teacher from Bishop Dwenger High School, this commitment represents years of prayer and soul-searching. 
 
 "I had been praying about it for years, trying to seek God's will for my life and not really finding it in any of the paths that I sought before. It was really a consideration of which things brought me the most joy and where my greatest happiness was. It seemed that all of those loves converged on this one thing where I could still be living in the world and be a part of the lives of my students and be studying and teaching and involved in a parish life, but I could also give myself more completely by making this total commitment of my life to serve the church in whatever capacity is needed and whatever capacity my own gifts are available for," Hayes said. 
 
 A consecrated virgin is a fairly rare occurrence in the Catholic church. Saturday's ceremony makes Hayes the only one in the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese. There are approximately 3,000 around the world and more than 200 in the United States. 
 
 "I think that in some sense, we're all called to be married. It's just a matter of discerning how. So, my marriage is to Christ and someone else's marriage is to their spouse. A priest's marriage is to the church. That's a good desire that's planted in us by God. The real question is how, how is this lived most joyfully in me," Hayes said. "I do think that not everybody has the same path. To be able to look at all of these different ways of life and to see people living them out joyfully is an invitation to consider a little bit more deeply what those things mean. As Catholics and as Christians, we're all called to that loving relationship with our God. So, I'm called to live it out in this way. Married couples are called to live that out in their married vocation and their love of their family. It's a way of life that really anticipates what all of us will live in heaven, that union with ourselves and Christ and a real knowing and loving of him. My path is choosing that closer following now because that's where my greatest joys lie." 
 
 A consecrated virgin is different from a nun in that Hayes will still live her life as a lay person. 
 
 "This is a vocation for women that feel that deeper call to spend their life more in knowing Jesus and making that a public commitment in serving his church, but are also called to live in the world," Hayes said. 
 
 As one might expect, the vocation comes with some confusion. 
 
 "My students asked if they should call me Mrs. Hayes when I come back to school next week, and no, I'm still Ms. But, I am married to Jesus," Hayes said. 
 
 Hayes said she wants to use her experience to help increase vocations among women. 
 
 "I think, especially with the young women I've worked with in my teaching so far, the religious life isn't something that many of them consider because we don't have women religious teaching with us in our schools like we used to years ago. So, many of them don't consider that as an option anymore because they don't see young women their own age considering it and joining it. That's really something I try to expose my female students a little bit more to," Hayes said. 
 
 It's a spiritual journey Hayes can't wait to begin. 
 
 "Even more so than looking forward to this day is a looking forward to the rest of my life just because it's a deepening of that commitment. Now that I've made a public commitment, that's really an encouragement to me to live up to that because people know that this is who I am and my life needs to be lived in conformity with that . So, it's one more step in that direction that others expect this way of life from me and I need to live consistently in my words and actions that love for Jesus," Hayes said. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Theresa Jordan, Karen Ervin and Laurie Malashanko were the first women to become consecrated virgins in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Ann Zaniewski/Detroit Free Press 
 
 Buy Photo Karen Marie Ervin, Theresa Anne Jordan and Laurie Beth Malashanko during their Consecration of Virgins ceremony presided over by Archbishop of Detroit Allen H. Vigneron at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Saturday, June 24, 2017 in Detroit. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo 
 
 It was any bride's dream wedding — a packed church, a beautiful white dress and a palpable feeling of excitement and love. 
 
 But what made Saturday's ceremony at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament really special was the groom: 
 
 Jesus. 
 
 Three women from metro Detroit were the first to become consecrated virgins in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The little-known vocation involves a commitment to lifelong chastity. 
 
 Laurie Malashanko of Plymouth, Karen Ervin of Northville and Theresa Jordan of Dearborn Heights are now, in the words of Catholic canon law, "mystically betrothed to Christ." 
 
 Unlike nuns, they are not part of a religious order. They will continue to work regular jobs and financially support themselves, while being steadfastly dedicated to serving the church. 
 
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 "The focus is on how to be in the world, but not be of it, and (having) this understanding of your role as a bride of Christ, and reflecting your love of Jesus to the world," said Ervin, 42, the principal of St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom. 
 
 The consecration ceremony followed years of prayer and discernment — and involved a bit of a learning curve for the Archdiocese. 
 
 There are about 250 consecrated virgins in the U.S. and 4,000 worldwide, said Judith Stegman, president of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins. 
 
 The practice dates to the church's earliest centuries, when there were no convents. 
 
 But by the year 1139, as more women were joining religious orders, bishops stopped consecrating virgins who weren't part of those orders. The bishops believed that women would be better protected if they lived together in religious communities, Stegman said. 
 
 In 1963, the Second Vatican Council decreed that the rite of consecrated virginity should be revised. The revision took place in 1970 to again include women who were "living in the world," rather than just those in religious communities. 
 
 "That’s why it’s so misunderstood," Stegman said. "For centuries, we only had the other kind of religious life in the church (for women). People aren't as familiar with it." 
 
 Diocesan bishops oversee and administer the rite. A woman who has never had sex has to ask for permission and assistance to be consecrated. 
 
 There is no universal blueprint for bishops or candidates to follow. 
 
 The diocese of Lansing has consecrated seven virgins. In Detroit, Malashanko, Ervin and Jordan broke new ground. 
 
 "It was a little bit scattered it first, because it was the first time we were practicing this vocation in the Archdiocese of Detroit," Jordan said. "There was no set procedure or protocol." 
 
 A lifelong promise 
 
 Jordan, 40, learned about consecrated virgins through a 2013 article in the Michigan Catholic newspaper. 
 
 "I felt like it was an opportunity to take my relationship with Christ one step further," she said. 
 
 The Archdiocese of Detroit tapped Susan Cummins, who was consecrated in 2002 in Lansing and now works for the Archdiocese, to mentor Jordan and the other women. 
 
 For the past few years, they've been meeting once every six weeks or so to pray and talk about the vocation. They had dinner several times with Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon. Priests served as their spiritual directors. 
 
 The women submitted character references, a biography and a statement of intent to Archbishop Allen Vigneron. 
 
 "It’s not a vocation you can just 1-2-3 get into," Jordan said. "It takes a lot of formation, study and prayer." 
 
 Ervin said she first felt called to religious life as a child, but was intimidated by it. She was open to marriage and dated throughout her 20s. She also visited different religious orders. 
 
 Nothing seemed like the right fit. 
 
 Then one day, just before she turned 35, Ervin was talking to a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary who mentioned consecrated virgins. Ervin had never heard about the vocation. 
 
 "I had so much joy flooding my heart the more and more she talked," she said. 
 
 Malashanko, 41, who works for a publishing company, also had a calling. But she didn't feel like she needed the structure of a religious community. 
 
 "There were religious orders I loved, and there were guys I dated who were great, but nothing clicked until I heard about this," she said. 
 
 Giving 100% 
 
 The idea behind lifelong virginity is giving 100% of oneself to Christ. Many consecrated virgins attend mass daily. 
 
 Stegman said 106 dioceses out of more than 190 in the U.S. have consecrated virgins — and many of those have only one or two. 
 
 Some dioceses don't even know about the vocation and are perplexed at first when a woman asks about it. 
 
 But that's changing. 
 
 "Clearly, as it becomes known more and more, there's been a continual increase in women who are interested in the vocation, asking about it and becoming consecrated, especially as various bishops become more aware of it and encourage it in their dioceses," Stegman said. 
 
 One other woman in the Archdiocese of Detroit is in formation. 
 
 The idea of lifelong virginity may make some people snicker, Jordan said. But she views it as a sacred gift from the Holy Spirit. 
 
 "In today’s society, virginity is often criticized, it's made fun of," said Jordan, who works as a French teacher and in the registrar's office at Marygrove College. 
 
 "To be in this world where there's a lot of sexual immorality and perversion, this is a great task set before me, but it’s one I look forward to overcoming, and helping others learn about the beauty of virginity and chastity in this world." 
 
 Last September, Malashanko, Ervin and Jordan had one-on-one interviews with Vigneron. 
 
 "There were no promises at the end of that interview," Malashanko said. "He could have said, 'I don’t think anyone is ready yet.' But that afternoon, all three of us were accepted. We set a date." 
 
 Wedding preparations began. 
 
 The big day 
 
 The women sent out invitations that listed Vigneron, rather than their parents, as the inviter. 
 
 Malashanko bought her wedding dress online. She was drawn to its boat neck, cinched waist and chiffon bottom, details that reminded her of Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly. 
 
 Buy Photo A veil, ring and prayer book were given during Mass for the Consecration of Virgins Living in the World held at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament Saturday, June 24, 2017 in Detroit, MI. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 Everyone picked out rings. Ervin designed hers, with a crown of thorns inside a white gold band connected to rose gold fleur-de-lis cross. 
 
 Most important, the women spent extra time in prayer and reflection. 
 
 On Saturday morning, the Cathedral was packed with several hundred guests and close to two dozen priests. 
 
 Each bride clutched an oil lamp as she walked down the aisle. 
 
 Like any traditional Catholic mass, there were two readings and the Gospel. The consecration rite followed. 
 
 Buy Photo Archbishop of Detroit Allen H. Vigneron says a prayer for Laurie Beth Malashanko, Theresa Anne Jordan and Karen Marie Ervin during Mass for the Consecration of Virgins Living in the World held at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament Saturday, June 24, 2017 in Detroit, MI. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 In an especially powerful part, the women lay prostrate as Vigneron and everyone in the church recited the Litany of the Saints. 
 
 Then, Vigneron gave each woman a ring and placed a veil on her head. He presented her with a Liturgy of the Hours prayer book. 
 
 Standing before Vigneron, Jordan, Malashanko and Ervin sang, "I am a spouse to Him, whom the angels serve; sun and moon stand in wonder at His glory." 
 
 Applause filled the church. 
 
 "I was very happy, very elated to be wedded to Christ," Jordan said. "I felt aligned with his virginity, his purity and all of his sufferings. 
 
 Buy Photo Archbishop of Detroit Allen H. Vigneron places a veil over Karen Marie Ervin during Mass for the Consecration of Virgins Living in the World held at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament Saturday, June 24, 2017 in Detroit, MI. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 "To be mystically espoused to him, it was very joyful." 
 
 Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @AnnZaniewski. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2tqZlPk
– Well, it should save on honeymoon airfare, anyway. A 38-year-old Indiana woman married Jesus Christ over the weekend, becoming one of his approximately 3,000 living wives worldwide, CBS News reports. The process is known as becoming a consecrated virgin and is relatively rare within the Catholic Church, with only about 200 in the US. She's not a nun: According to the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins, someone who marries Jesus lives a life of "perpetual virginity" dedicated to serving the church and performing works of mercy while still living in the secular world. Jessica Hayes, a high-school theology teacher in Fort Wayne, tells CBS affiliate WANE she made the decision to become a consecrated virgin after lots of "prayer and soul-searching." She says she believes God calls all people to become married; for some that means wedding their spouse, while for others it means committing to Jesus. Despite the non-traditional groom, Hayes still wore the traditional wedding dress and faced the traditional wedding questions. "My students asked if they should call me Mrs. Hayes when I come back to school next week, and no, I'm still Ms.," she tells WANE. "But, I am married to Jesus."