For first or final vows of a religious brother or sister
“The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” Psalm 16:5
“Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ” (Philippians 3:7).
Poverty, chastity and obedience: not a loss of life, but a life given wholly to God.
Religious life reminds every Christian that God alone is enough and that heaven is our home.
Thank the family and the community; pray for perseverance.
Dear sister (brother), today you give your whole life to God by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. With the psalmist you say: “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.”
In the Gospel a rich young man came to Jesus and went away sad, because he could not let go. Today we see the opposite: someone who has heard “Come, follow me” and says yes. St Paul says, “I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
The vows are not chains. Poverty sets you free from possessions; chastity sets your heart free to love everyone; obedience sets you free from yourself. And your life becomes a sign for all of us that God alone is enough.
Dear family, you are not losing a daughter (son); you are giving her (him) to God, and God is never outdone in generosity. Let us pray that she (he) may be faithful to the end. Amen.
The boy Samuel heard his name called in the temple (1 Samuel 3:1–10).
Eli helped Samuel to understand that it was the Lord.
Religious life is a life of listening: prayer, obedience, community.
Samuel's answer becomes the vow: here I am, for you called me.
Dear Sister (Brother) N., today we hear the story of a boy who could not sleep. Samuel was lying in the temple at night when he heard his name. He ran to the old priest Eli, thinking Eli had called him. Three times this happened, until Eli understood that it was the Lord (1 Samuel 3:1–10).
A vocation often begins like that: a voice we do not fully understand, a restlessness, a desire we cannot explain. Many of us needed an Eli: a priest, a sister, a parent or a friend who helped us recognise that it was God calling. Today let us thank all the Elis in your life who helped you hear.
Eli taught Samuel a simple prayer: speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. That sentence is a summary of religious life. Your day will be shaped by listening: in prayer and the Liturgy of the Hours, in the Word of God, in obedience to your superiors, in the voices of the poor and the sick you serve. Obedience is not losing your freedom; it is choosing to listen to God through the community He has given you.
Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him. He became a prophet for all Israel. Your consecration too is not for yourself. Your poverty reminds the world that God is enough. Your chastity shows that love can be total and undivided. Your obedience shows that true freedom is found in doing God's will.
Today, when you pronounce your vows, you are saying what Samuel said: here I am, for you called me. Say it again every morning. There will be days of dryness and days of joy, but the One who called you by name is faithful. Dear family, thank you for this gift. Dear community, receive her (him) with love. And may the Lord who called Samuel keep speaking to you all your life.
Rooted in Baptism, consecrated life is a closer following of Christ (CCC 916).
Poverty, chastity and obedience, publicly professed (CCC 915).
Consecrated persons point to the life of the world to come (CCC 933).
Monastic, apostolic, contemplative: all gifts of the Spirit for the Church (CCC 917–919).
Dear Sister (Brother) N., dear family and community, today the Church receives the vows of one of her children. Let us recall what the Church teaches about this way of life.
Every Christian is consecrated in Baptism. Consecrated life is a deepening of that baptismal consecration: a way of following Christ more closely, under the action of the Holy Spirit, giving oneself totally to God loved above all (CCC 916). It is not a higher class of Christian, but a particular gift, given for the whole Church.
The heart of this life is the profession of the evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity and obedience (CCC 915). Jesus Himself lived poor, chaste and obedient to the Father. The rich young man in the Gospel was invited to sell all and follow Him, and went away sad (Mark 10:17–22). Today one of our own does not go away sad. She (he) follows.
The Catechism says that consecrated persons are a sign of the Kingdom: by their way of life they show that this world is passing and that God alone satisfies the human heart (CCC 933). In a world obsessed with having, pleasure and self-will, the three vows are a quiet and powerful witness.
The Spirit has given the Church many forms of consecrated life: hermits and monks, contemplative nuns, teaching and nursing congregations, missionaries (CCC 917–919). Each has its charism. Sister (Brother), love the charism of your founder, love your community and love the people you serve. Dear families, encourage vocations in your homes. And let us all offer this Holy Mass / Holy Qurbana so that the one who makes her (his) vows today may be faithful until death.
Lord, you are the portion and the cup of your servant. Accept the offering of this life, keep her (him) faithful to the vows professed today, and make her (his) joy a witness to your love. Amen.