to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One." Consecrated virgins who "expressing the holy resolution of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan Bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church." These virgins are, as well as hermits, one of oldest forms of consecrated life. Consecrated widows seek a live a life of simplicity and humilty. Pope John Paul II's post-synodal apostolic exhortation Vita consecrata of 25 March 1996 said: "Again being practised today is the consecration of widows, known since apostolic times (cf. , ; ). These women, through a vow of perpetual chastity as a sign of the Kingdom of God, consecrate their state of life in order to devote themselves to prayer and the service of the Church." Although the Latin Church has no specific liturgical rite for the consecration of widows, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches envisages individual eastern Churches choosing to have consecrated widows. The Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches express that any approval of new forms of consecrated life is reserved only to the Apostolic See. History Each major development in religious life, particularly in the Latin West, can be seen as a response of the very devout to a particular crisis in the Church of their day. Eremitic life When Constantine the Great was legalizing Christianity in the Roman Empire in the early 4th century, and the Christian faith became the favoured religion, it lost the self-sacrificing character that had profoundly marked it in the age of Roman persecution. In response to the loss of martyrdom for the sake of the Kingdom of God, some of the very devout men and women left the cities for the testings of the life in the desert that was meant to lead the individual back into a more intimate relationship with God, just like the wandering of the Israelites in the