f spirituality to thrive in the midst of the temptations, seductions
and passions of the every day world of this life. Necessity makes a
practice of these virtues a profession.

It is good to be chaste, good to be obedient, good to be voluntarily
poor. What folly, then, to say that it is unlawful to bind oneself by
promises of this kind, since it is lawful to be good--the only thing
that is lawful! It is not unlawful, if you will, to possess riches, to
enjoy one's independence, to wed; but there is virtue in foregoing
these pleasures, and virtue is better than its defect, and it is no
more unlawful to do better than to do good.

If it is lawful to contract a solemn engagement with man, why not with
God? If it is lawful for a short time, why not for a long time? If it
is lawful for two years, why not for ten, and a lifetime! The
engagement is no more unlawful itself than that to which we engage
ourselves.

The zealous guardians of the rights of man protest that, nevertheless,
vows destroy man's liberty, and should therefore be forbidden, and the
profession suppressed. It is along this line that the governmental
machine is being run in France at present. If the vow destroys liberty,
these fanatics are doing what appears dangerously near being the same
thing.

There is a decided advantage in being your own slave-master over having
another perform that service for you. If I do something which before
God and my conscience I have a perfect right to do, if I do it with
deliberate choice and affection, it is difficult to see wherein my
liberty suffers. Again, if I decide not to marry--a right that every
man certainly has--and in this situation engage myself by vow to
observe perfect chastity--which I must do to retain the friendship of
God--I do not see how I forfeit my liberty by swearing away a right I
never had.

In all cases, the more difficult an enterprise a man enters upon and
pursues to a final issue, the more fully he exercises his faculty of
free will. And since the triple vow supposes nothing short of heroism
in those who take it, it follows that they must use the very plenitude
of their liberty to make the thing possible.

The "cui bono" is the next formidable opponent the vow has to contend
with. What's the good of it? Where is the advantage in leading such an
impossible existence when a person can save his soul without it? All
are not damned who refuse to take vows. Is it not sufficient to be
honest men an