TITLE II

THE PROFESSION OF VOWS

4- §1. By their profession of vows of obedience, poverty and chastity the brothers:
a) dedicate themselves directly and entirely to God in a special manner;
b) imitate Jesus more closely, reenacting the form of life that the Son of God made his own while on earth;
c) deepen their baptismal consecration by giving them greater freedom from earthly concerns and by enabling them to witness to the glory of our future resurrection (Perfectae Caritatis, 5; Lumen Gentium, 43, 44).

§2. The brothers must strive earnestly to excel in living the evangelical counsels and strengthening their vocation by persevering effort and prudent vigilance, so that the light of Christ may shine in the world and the splendor of the Church be revealed for the greater glory of God (Lumen Gentium, 47).

§3. By their very nature the three vows oblige under pain of sin.

SECTION I: OBEDIENCE

5- Jesus came to do the Father’s will by taking the form of a servant and by learning obedience through his suffering and death, so that he would become for us the source of our salvation (cf. Jn. 4:34; 5:30; Heb. 10:7; Phi. 2:7; Heb. 5:8; Rom. 5:19). The brothers, therefore, by obedience freely surrender their own wills to God, offering themselves to him as a holocaust so as to be one with the divine will after the example of Jesus Christ. In the spirit of faith the brothers subject themselves to their superiors in the Church. In responding to their superiors by obedience, the brothers grow in dignity and integrity as they obey God’s will. Religious obedience is to be truly human by involving his gifts of nature and grace (2 Celano, 153). To observe the vow of obedience well is the purest expression of poverty (Bonaventure, Major Life, VII, 2).

6- §1. The brothers are to obey the Supreme Pontiff as their highest superior by reason of their vows as well as by the example of St. Francis.

§2. The community places itself under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Birmingham and the brothers are obedient to him. They are obedient to their other superiors as well when they command by virtue of the vow of obedience in accordance with the Rule and Constitutions.

§3. The brothers are subject, according to the norm of law, to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and to the local ordinaries in whatever pertains to their pastoral activity, and to the Bishop in whose diocese the principal house of our fraternity resides whenever a matter deals with major affairs that exceed the power of internal authority of our fraternity.

§4. In the spirit of faith and of love for the will of God the brothers should obey their superiors in everything which is not contrary to a well-informed conscience and to our Rule and Constitutions, even when they are not formally commanded by virtue of the vow of obedience.

7- §1. Superiors are to be the servants of the community in striving to discern God’s will and the common good. They are to be docile to will of the Lord in a spirit of love and service in the exercise of their office. They are to be approachable so that the brothers can easily speak with them. At the same time the superiors should listen to the brothers in order to discern God’s will for them and to encourage communal efforts for the good of the fraternity and of the Church.

§2. Superiors should lead the brothers in exercising an active and responsible obedience in their ordinary duties and new undertakings, without, however, compromising their own authority to decide and prescribe what must be done.

§3. The brothers on their part are to esteem their superiors highly in love by avoiding all detraction and complaint and by embracing true loving obedience which is pleasing to God and one’s neighbor (Regula Bullata X, 7; Admonitions III, 6, 10; 1 Thess. 5:12-13; Heb. 13:17).

SECTION II: POVERTY

8- §1. Our Lord Jesus made himself poor for us in this world so that we might be enriched by his poverty (2 Cor. 8:9; Mt. 8:20). It is only the poor in spirit (Mt. 5:3), like our Mother, Mary Immaculate, who can pierce the poverty of Bethlehem, of the crucifixion, and of the Eucharist to see therein the infinite riches of God’s mercy. In their desire to imitate Jesus and Mary, Francis and Clare, the brothers vow to live a poor and humble life.

§2. By the profession of the perpetual vow of poverty the brothers completely renounce the ownership of earthly goods, so that they may store up for themselves heavenly treasure (cf. Mt. 6:20) in God Who is all good and, thereby, freed from all worldly cares, they may love their heavenly Father more easily.

§3. To observe Franciscan poverty the brothers are to avoid acts of ownership, to be subject to their superiors in the use of temporal goods, and to show themselves to be genuinely poor in fact as well as in spirit.

§4. Each brother should love and practice most exalted poverty as befits followers of the poor and humble St. Francis.

§5. Superiors should excel in the observance of poverty because they must guide others by their example. They should be aware of weakening the observance of poverty by indiscriminate permissions. At the same time superiors should carefully see to it that the brothers’ talents are not stifled and that they have all that is necessary for their life and work.

9- §1. Before temporary profession of vows a novice is to cede administration of his property to whomever he prefers and to dispose freely of their use and revenues for the duration of temporary vows.

§2. A brother who has professed temporary vows retains ownership and the capacity to acquire further property. Disposition of property during temporary profession of vows can be carried out with the permission of the competent superior.

§3. Within sixty days prior to his perpetual profession, he must also renounce ownership of any property he actually possesses in a form, which, if possible, is also valid under civil law, and this only on the condition that perpetual profession of vows actually takes place. To change these dispositions for a just cause and to place any act whatsoever in matters of temporal goods, he needs the permission of the competent superior.

10- Brothers who have legitimately left the fraternity or who have been legitimately dismissed from it can request nothing from it for any work which they may have done as members.

11- §1. The brothers should never forget that they are poor men and pilgrims in this world and that goods acquired by them or provided for them are not their own but are destined solely for a simple life-style and for the fulfillment of the congregation’s apostolates and works of charity.

§2. Therefore, they should not possess goods, particularly immovable goods, without evident necessity for the life of the brothers or without proportionate benefit to the works of our congregation. They should always, however, avoid any semblance of avarice or unwarranted accumulation.

§3. The brothers, however, in their apostolic endeavors are to have all that they need for a quality presentation of the Gospel which excels in technical perfection and effectiveness (Inter Mirifica, 14).

12- §1. The brothers should consider themselves bound by the common law of work. Although principally procuring the necessities of life for themselves in this way, they should banish all worry and entrust themselves to the care of their heavenly Father.
§2. The brothers may accept compensation and pensions for their work and join social security plans in accordance with the statutes, with due regard for number 15, paragraph 3 of our Constitutions.

13- §1. The brothers should faithfully observe that poverty should characterize our Fraternity. In all things they should avoid fastidiousness in style and furnishings and anything that smacks of luxury.

§2. The brothers should willingly bear the poverty of communal life and the inconveniences arising from it.

14- §1. The brothers should use whatever is intended for apostolic works for the benefit of such works and for the continued expansion of the apostolates of our Fraternity. Their care and diligence in these matters should be motivated solely by zeal for souls.

§2. According to the ways and means prescribed by the General Chapter, provinces and friaries should share their temporal goods with each other so that those who have more assist those who suffer want.

§3. The brothers from their own resources should willingly help meet the necessities of the Church and the poor, whom all religious should love with the tenderness of Christ.

15- §1. According to the conditions of the times, particular forms of poverty should be observed faithfully by all the brothers in accordance with the declarations of the Supreme Pontiffs and the norms of the Constitutions, so that the spirit of seraphic poverty will always remain intact.
§2. According to the declarations of the Church, our Congregation, its provinces and its friaries are capable of owning property, both movable and immovable; individual brothers may never do so.

§3. All goods which accrue to the brothers in any way whatsoever, either as compensation for work or for some other reason or as a gift, even if given to them personally, belong to the friary or according to the general statutes, to some other juridical person in our Congregation.

16- §1. A moderate use of money which today is the common means of exchange even for the poorest of people, is allowed the brothers under the authority and control of the superior, while at the same time safeguarding the norms and principles of a life of poverty and of common life.

§2. If the brothers cannot support themselves by their own work, they may have recourse to begging alms, but only where this form of poverty can bear witness to the Gospel.

17- §1. Moreover, since Saint Francis established his fraternity in the Church chiefly as a witness to evangelical poverty, the brothers, both in and outside chapters, should strive to devise new forms of poverty appropriate to the times, so that witness may always be displayed. It is the right of chapters to judge such new forms.

SECTION III: CHASTITY

18- §1. Christ loves the Church as a bridegroom loves his bride (cf. Eph. 5:31-32; Mt. 22:1-14; Mk. 2:19; Jn. 3:29). In light of this precious gift of divine grace flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the brothers accept the gift of chastity, while the fire of the Holy Spirit that unites their souls to our Lord makes him their exclusive spouse (First Version of the Letter to All the Faithful, 8; Redemptionis Donum, 11).

§2. By the vow of chastity the brothers are able to dedicate themselves more easily with undivided heart to God alone for the sake of Christ and his kingdom. They choose the state of perfect and perpetual continence as a stimulus to the love of God and man and as a pledge of heavenly treasure, and as a special source of spiritual fruitfulness in the world.

§3. The brothers commit themselves to observe perfect chastity in their thoughts, words and actions. They are to carefully keep watch over themselves so as not to allow anything to tarnish their purity.

§4. Trusting in the words of our Lord and relying on his help the brothers should not presume on their own strength. They should persevere in the practice of supernatural and natural means to safeguard their chastity, i.e. intimate prayer, especially before the Blessed Sacrament, devotion to the passion of Jesus through the Stations of the Cross, frequent confession, devotion to our Blessed Lady, especially the Rosary and the Franciscan Crown, spiritual direction, and mortification. The brothers should use natural means such as manual labor, physical exercise, custody of the senses, healthy diet, regular sleep, recreation and personal creativity.
§5. By freely renouncing the joys of marriage and family life, the brothers give witness to the people the announcement of the future resurrection (cf. Lk. 20:34-36; Mt. 12:25).

§6. Since the Lord God must be loved in all his creatures with a pure heart, chaste affection, and reverence, the relationship of the brothers toward women, especially those women consecrated to God, should be characterized by respect and courtesy after the example of our seraphic Father, St. Francis.

§7. United with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the brothers are to entrust the observance of perfect chastity to her maternal care.