Religious vows

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Religious vows are the public vows taken by members of religious communities of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Under the Rule of Saint Benedict, used by most monks and nuns, properly so called, in the Western Church, the vows are obedience (placing oneself under the direction of the abbot/abbess or prior/prioress), stability (committing onself to a particular monastery), and conversion of life (which includes within it the notions of poverty, or forgoing private ownership, and celibate chastity).

Later developments in religious life included the mendicant orders of the 12th and 13th centuries, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans. Emphasizing mobility and flexibility, they dropped the notion of "stability," and their vows became those of poverty, chastity and obedience, the counsels of perfection, the basis for vows of other orders and religious congregations after them.

The "clerks regular" of the 16th century and after, such as the Jesuits and Redemptorists, followed this same general format, though some added a "fourth vow," indicating some special apostolate or attitude within the order. Fully professed Jesuits (known as "the professed of the fourth vow" within the order), take a vow of particular obedience to the Pope of Rome to undertake any mission laid out in their Formula of the Institute. The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa centuries later (1940s), are another example of this, in that her sisters take a fourth vow of special service to "the poorest of the poor."

The vows are meant to express the commitment to the service of God through the religious life.

[edit] Eastern Orthodox

Main article:(Eastern) Christian Monasticism

Although the taking of vows was not a part of the earliest monastic foundations (the wearing of a particular monastic habit is the earliest recorded manifestation of those who had left the world), vows did come to be accepted as a normal part of the Tonsure service in the Christian East. Previously, one would simply find a spiritual father and live under his direction. Once one put on the monastic habit, it was understood that one had made a lifetime commitment to God and would remain steadfast in it to the end. Over time, however, the formal Tonsure and taking of vows was adopted to impress upon the monastic the seriousness of the commitment to the ascetic life he or she was adopting.

The vows taken by Orthodox monks are: Chastity, Poverty, Obedience, and Stability. The vows are administerd by the Abbot or Hieromonk who performs the service. Following a perod of instruction and testing as a Novice, a monk or nun may be Tonsured with the permission of the candidate's spiritual father. There are three degrees of monasticism in the Orthodox Church: The Ryassaphore (one who wears the Ryassa--however, there are no vows at this level--the Stavrophore (one who wears the Cross), and the Schema-monk (one who wears the Great Schema; i.e., the full monastic habit). The one administering the Tonsure must be an ordained Priest, and must be a monk of at least the rank he is tonsuring the candidate into. However a Bishop (who, in the Orthodox Church, must always be a monk) may Tonsure a monk or nun into any degree regardless of his own monastic rank.

[edit] Roman Catholic Church

Main article:Consecrated life (Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church, the vows of members of religious orders and congregations are regulated by canons 654-658 of the Canon law. The vows are usually of two durations: temporary, and, after a few years, final vows (permanent or "perpetual"). Depending on the order, temporary vows may be renewed a number of times before permission to take final vows is given. There are exceptions: the Jesuits' first vows are perpetual, for instance, and the Sisters of Charity take only temporary but renewable vows.

Vows are of two varieties: simple vows and solemn vows. The highest level of commitment is exemplified by those who have taken their solemn, perpetual profession of vows. There are technical differences between them in canon law.

It must be noted that all unmarried deacons in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, whether in a religious order or of the diocesan clergy, take a commitment to celibacy before their sacred ordination (this is not the same thing as a vow of chastity as understood under the counsels of perfection: celibacy simply forbids marriage; chastity implies a deeper commitment to self-offering). By this commitment to celibacy, they are forbidden to attempt marriage, and any marriage they attempt is invalid (permanent deacons who are already married are not required to make this commitment, but cannot remarry if their wife dies). All diocesan deacons and priests also make a commitment of obedience to their diocesan bishop or archbishop (though again this is not the same thing as the vow of obedience undertaken by members of religious orders: a diocesan priest is under the command of a bishop; a member of an order makes a deeper renunciation of his or her own rights to self-direction).

The usage of the Eastern Catholic Churches follows that of the Orthodox Churches in the preceding section.

There are other forms of vowed or consecrated life in the Catholic Church that include single men and women, living consecrated lives in the world (i.e. not in a monastic setting), but making public vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, regulated by the Vatican. This group of people is called the Secular Institutes, regulated explicitly since 1984 by Canon Law (Canon 710-730). A very special Secular Institute, the Institute of the Holy Family, aggregated to the Society of St. Paul is the only Church entity today that has consecrated and publicly vowed married and widowed members. While they live in the world, in their marriages, they consecrate the world and their marriages from within through public (i.e. Vatican -regulated) vows of married chastity, poverty, and obedience, according to their particular state, and as full members of the family of 10 religious orders (first and second orders), secular institutes, and lay cooperators, called the Pauline Family, founded by the Blessed Fr. James Alberione.