To give living and total commitment to our desire to belong to God alone we embrace the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.Our Vows are an outward sign giving witness to
- an interior experience of the awareness of the gift God has
bestowed upon us in our religious vocation - the values which shape our lives
- who we are and who we seek to be before the face of God.
The Vow of Poverty
- is more about giving all than of having little
- seeks the needs of others before our own
- sees everything, our gifts and talents, even spiritual realities, as that which is to be shared freely with everyone.
The poverty of Christ was expressed most profoundly by the mystery of his total self-emptying in obedience to the will of the Father. Material poverty is of little worth unless it is enfleshed by a humble and simple heart, generous in love and in willing self-sacrifice.Our Poverty reflects the spirit of the earliest of Christ's followers who sold everything they owned and shared all things in common.
The Vow of Chastity
- enables us to love God with hearts that are ever more free
- unites us to Jesus in spousal love
- develops within us that purity of heart which recognizes our Beloved at each moment of our day, in all the moments of our life.
In living out our Vow of Chastity we place our hands in the hands of God. We trust that we will be guided along the path which will open our hearts ever more fully to our God who has loved us first, called us into being, and who has invited us to a relationship of profound intimacy.
God's own steadfast love is reflected in our love for one another and for all our brothers and sisters. A love which respects the Godliness of others; which strives to serve their needs; and which holds them up in prayer.The Vow of Obedience
By means of the Vow of Obedience we acknowledge that our very being depends wholly upon the providence and designs of God. We come to discover the ways in which we are invited to an ongoing surrender to the will of God the Father through a prayerful openness to the action of God's Spirit in our lives. The Spirit speaks too in the life of our community, and in the deepest recesses of our hearts.
The prayerful listening required of obedience
- leads to an increasing union with God
- calls us to surrender ourselves in ever more generous and loving service to others
- unites us to the obedience of Christ Jesus to his Father
Our Religious vows help us to follow Jesus more closely. They give a new expression to our Baptismal consecration by dedicating ourselves to lives of loving praise and gratitude, generous service, holy love and an ever-deepening conversion of heart.By means of our vows
- we reflect the love of our Creator
- bring Jesus' peace into our broken world
- cooperate with the work of God's Spirit in our Church and in our world today.
The sanctuary lamp, burning quietly and steadily, symbolizes our love for God and His eternal goodness as evidenced in our Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. These vows are an exterior response flowing from a living interior relationship of love with Love.
