Obedience September 14
I, N.N. do profess and promise obedience to God and to you, N.N., Master General of the Order of the Holy Cross, and to your successors, in accordance with the Rule of Augustine and the Constitutions of the Brethren of the Holy Cross, in such wise that I shall be obedient to you and your successors … until death (Const. 10.8).
The Order's formula of profession of vows makes allusion to only a single vow, that of obedience. In this point of view, to be radically consecrated to the demands of the Kingdom implies the evangelical counsels of poverty and chastity as well. What’s more, in the tradition of the Order, the first profession, called simple or temporary, is considered a profession for rest of one’s life. Or is it possible to commit to the Gospel in a provisional way? Authentic response to the call of Christ has to be forever. After a determined amount of time, the Order asks for a solemn celebration of the profession already made. The solemn profession brings with it more legal rights and responsibilities, but this does not affect the original Gospel commitment of the person, which remains constant. Profession of vows is made in the presence of the Master General of the Order or his delegate in order to affirm that the one making profession wishes to be "of one mind and one heart in search of God" with the other confreres.
No one follows the path to the cemetery twice. (Ntomba)
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