m
 
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 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 A LETTEE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 VEN. SIR GEORGE PREVOST, BART. 
 
 CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D. 
 
 BISHOP OF LINCOLN. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 AVlTll A REPLY TO THE REV. CANON CARTElt. 
 
 LINCOLN, WILLIAMSON. 
 
 EIVINGTONS, 
 
 ILonticin, (IDiforli, anti Camiiri^oc, 
 
 1879. 
 Price One Skill ing.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GILBEKT AND EIVINGTON, TRINTEES, 
 
 3T. JOHN'S SQUARE.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 My dear Sir George, 
 
 When some weeks ago you favoured me with 
 a copy o£ the Report of the Committee — whose 
 Chairman you were — of the Lower House of Con- 
 vocation on Sisterhoods and Deaconesses, you ac- 
 companied it with a request for such remarks as 
 might occur to me in reading it. Since that time, 
 that Report has been discussed in an interesting 
 debate in the Lower House, and a Joint Committee 
 of both Houses of the Convocation of this Province 
 has been appointed to suggest resolutions upon it/ 
 
 The subject is one of much importance and intri- 
 cacy; it demands careful consideration and study, 
 and requires that statements with respect to it 
 should be made with caution, clearness, and ac- 
 
 ^ The words of tlie resolution, moved by Sir George Prevost, and 
 seconded by Canon Rawlinson (with a slight amendment by Canon 
 Simmons) , were as follows : — 
 
 " That their Lordships of the Upper House be humbly requested 
 to direct their attention to the recognition and regulation of these 
 Institutions by the Synods of the Church ; and (if they should 
 think good) to appoint, by his Grace's authority, a Joint Committee 
 to lay down the general principles upon which such recognition and 
 regulation may be based." 
 
 A 2
 
 4 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 curacy. I should therefore feel some difficulty in 
 dealing with it in the ordinary limits of a speech in 
 Convocation; and I am thankful to be allowed to 
 avail myself of the opportunity you have kindly 
 offered me of expressing my thoughts upon it in writ- 
 ing. The subject is now more important, because it 
 has been engaging the attention of the Sister Church 
 of America in her last three General Conventions. 
 
 And first let me premise that I fully concur in 
 the language of cordial sympathy and admiration 
 with which the Report speaks of the self-devotion 
 of those Christian women who are associated in 
 Sisterhoods, and who have laboured earnestly in the 
 cause of Christ and His Church. 
 
 It has been my happiness to have been connected 
 with a Sisterhood since its foundation thirty years 
 ago, — the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist, — 
 which has now the charge of nursing the sick in two 
 of the principal Hospitals in London, — King's Col- 
 lege Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital ; and the 
 authorities of both those great institutions have 
 borne honourable testimony to the services rendered 
 by the Sisters of St. John's House in elevating the 
 character of nurses, and in ministering to the sick 
 and suffering. The work done by Sisterhoods in 
 maintaining and advancing Christian Education, at 
 home and abroad, and in other labours of Christian 
 love, are entitled to grateful acknowledgment. 
 
 It is evident that their excellence and value in 
 these and other respects suggest strong motives for 
 the wise counsels and salutary warnings of your 
 Committee, lest through any flaws or blemishes in 
 their organization, or by any indiscretions or irregu- 
 larities in their acts, their " good should be evil
 
 ON SISTEBHOODS AND VOWS. 5 
 
 spoken of/' and their work be marred and hindered. 
 Rather let us hope and pray that by the divine 
 blessing on the deliberations of the Synod of this 
 Province, in this grave matter, the cause of Sister- 
 hoods may be strengthened and promoted, and their 
 usefulness increased and consolidated. 
 
 In dealing with this subject the primary appeal 
 must be to Holy Scriptuee. 
 
 There can be no doubt that St. Paul speaks of 
 celibacy as affording special advantages for holiness 
 of life. Ho wishes that all men were like himself in 
 that respect. Bat in doing so he never forgets what 
 human nature is, and that different persons have dif- 
 ferent gifts from God (1 Cor. vii. 7; xii. 11: cf . Matt, 
 xix. 11, 12). He condemns those who forbid to 
 marry (1 Tim. iv. 3), he says that marriage is 
 honourable in all (Heb. xiii. 4), he wills that younger 
 women should marry (1 Tim. v. 14), he says, for 
 reasons derived from human infirmity, " Let every 
 man have his own wife, and every woman her own 
 husband" (1 Cor. vii. 2). 
 
 This being the case, we find that the Apostle is 
 very cautious in his directions with regard to the 
 self-dedication of women to singleness of life. 
 Though Widows may be supposed to have been 
 chastened by sorrow, he will not allow them to be set 
 apart by a vow of celibacy to the service of Christ 
 and His Church, and be enrolled as such, till they 
 have attained the age of sixty years ^ (1 Tim. v. 9). 
 
 ' The age for a deaconess, by the Council of Chalcedon, a.d. 451, 
 c. 15, was /br^y years ; but in Cod. Theodos. de Episcopis Leg. 27, 
 "Nulla nisi emensis sexaginta annis secundum Apostoli prceceptum 
 ad diaconissarura consortium provehatur," see also Ziegler de 
 Diaconissis ; Wittenberg, 1678, pp. 351-6.
 
 6 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 Some indeed liave imagined (see the Postcript to 
 this Letter) that St. Paul is here speaking of alms- 
 women, to be maintained from the funds of the Church. 
 No doubt these widows were entitled to maintenance 
 from the Church, but it was because they gave them- 
 selves by voluntary dedication, to the service of the 
 Church. This is clear from the context, w^here he 
 commands the Bishop of Ephesus, St. Timothy, 
 to reject younger widotvs who may offer themselves 
 for such dedication : the reason given for this pro- 
 hibition being that " when they have waxed wanton 
 against Christ, they ivill marry, ^^ or rather, they 
 wish to marry, ^ and incur severe sentence of censure 
 by annulling their troth to Christ (1 Tim. v. 12). 
 
 It may, I conceive, be fairly argued, that since 
 St. Paul commands that widows are not to be 
 allowed by the Church to dedicate themselves by a 
 vow of celibacy before they are sixty years of age, 
 he would not have permitted the Church to impose 
 upon young unmarried women a vow of celibacy, 
 or have allowed them to take such a vow of 
 celibacy in the presence of Bishops or Priests of 
 the Church. 
 
 This conclusion appears to be confirmed by sub- 
 Apostolic testimony. S. Ignatius, Bishop of An- 
 tioch and disciple of St. John says,* " Do not 
 
 ' On this statement of St. Paul, see S. Augustine de sancta 
 Virginitate, cap. 34, and de bono Viduitatis, cap. 12. Our English 
 translation " they will marry " hardly suggests to the reader the 
 true meaning of the original yafxelv OeXovai, " nubere volunt " 
 (Vulg.), i.e. tJiey wish to marry, — whether in fact they marry or 
 no. The word " damnation " in our version (derived from the 
 Vulgate here) is not to be understood according to the more modern 
 and rigorous sense of it. 
 
 * >S'. lynatius, Fragment vi.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 7 
 
 impose on any one the yoke of celibacy ; for it is a 
 perilous thing and hard to be kept, when it is laid 
 on by constraint. Exhort young men to marry." 
 He also says,^ *' If any one is able to remain in holy 
 celibacy, for the glory of the Lord of his flesh, let 
 him so abide without boasting; if he boasts he 
 perishes." And again,^ " Whoever says anything 
 against the divine rules, even though he fasts and 
 lives in celibacy, let him be deemed by thee to be a 
 wolf in sheep's clothing, tearing the flock." 
 
 It seems that unmarried women were enrolled 
 into the same Ecclesiastical order as widows, and 
 probably at the same age, and were even sometimes 
 styled widows on that account. S. Ignatius says 
 in one of his Epistles, " I salute the Virgins who are 
 called widows J' ^ 
 
 This is confirmed by a passage of Tertullian, in 
 the following century, who, though a rigid ascetic 
 and no friend to marriage, expresses his great 
 astonishment that a Virgin had been admitted (pro- 
 bably in some schismatical or heretical society) 
 among the widows at the age of twenty years.^ He 
 then mentions the rule of the Church that its 
 widows should be sixty years of age, and he de- 
 scribes the functions of those who were engaged as 
 such, in works of piety, mercy, and charity. 
 
 In the next age, Tertullian' s follower, St. Cyprian, 
 Bishop of Carthage, says plainly that at that time 
 (the first half of the third century) there were 
 young unmarried women who devoted themselves 
 
 * S. Ignat. ad Polyc. cap. 5. 
 ^ S. Ignatius, Frag. ix. 
 
 ^ S. Ignat. ad Smyrn., cap. 13. See Bishop Jacobson's notes 
 on the passage. 
 
 * Tertullian, de Virginibus velandis, cap. 9.
 
 8 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 to labours of love, and who seemed to have an in- 
 tention and purpose (propositum) of leading a single 
 life ; ^ but he distinctly says that they were under 
 no vow of celibacy, and were free to marry ; and, in 
 certain circumstances they were advised to do so. 
 
 " If," says he,' " they have dedicated themselves 
 faithfully to Christ, let them persevere in modesty 
 and chastity, and so, in strength and stableness, let 
 them hope for the reward of virginity. But if they 
 are unwilling or unable to persevere, it is better for 
 them to marry than to fall into the fire by their 
 sins. Certainly let not them put any stumbling- 
 block in the way of their brethren or sisters." He 
 evidently implies that their marriage would not 
 cause offence. And as the learned Editor of S. 
 Cyprian's works. Bishop Fell, remarks in his notes 
 on the passage, " They dedicated themselves to 
 Christ by jpmyose of mind and public profession of 
 virginity, but were not hound by any vow,''^ and 
 the erudite French Eoman- Catholic Editor Rigaltius 
 agrees with the English Bishop in this opinion. 
 
 In the following ages of the Church, that is, in 
 the latter part of the fourth century and during 
 the fifth, a change took place in these respects. 
 Social life at Rome (as S. Jerome shows) was dis- 
 solved. The Barbarians from the North-East, 
 sweeping on in successive waves of inundation, 
 overwhelmed Italy and Africa. Even in the days 
 of S. Ambrose (a.d. 340 — 397) property and person 
 
 ' In those days, as the learned Roman Catholic writer TJiomas- 
 sinus observes (de Antiq. Eccl. DiscipL, Part I., lib. iii., vol. 
 iii., p. 355), " Frequentior intentio (virginitatis) quam />ro/e5S20 
 aperta." 
 
 * 8. Cyprian, Epist, ad Ponnponium, p. 8, ed. Fell, Amst., 
 1691, a reprint of the Oxford edition of 1682.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND YOWS. 9 
 
 were insecure, and the liavoc made at the capture 
 of Rome by the Goths (a.d. 410), and the desolation 
 of Africa by the Yandals, are themes for lamentation 
 and woe in the letters and other works of S. 
 Jerome (a.d. 345 — 420) and S. Augustine (a.d. 
 354—430). 
 
 ' No wonder that on account of the then " present 
 distress " (1 Cor. vii. 26) single life had special 
 attractions for young women ; and their parents 
 would not be unwilling to encourage this profession. 
 The cares of a family would press heavily upon those 
 who were married, and the uncertainty and vicissi- 
 tude of all earthly things, when at last Rome 
 herself, the queen of the world,^ became a captive, 
 and sat in sackcloth and ashes, raised the eyes of 
 the faithful upward to their heavenly King and to 
 their eternal home. 
 
 The Bishop of Milan, S. Ambrose, had been the 
 great preacher of celibacy in the West, and he was 
 followed by S. Jerome and S. Augustine. The 
 writings of these Fathers'' on this subject deserve 
 careful attention; to which may be added the 
 
 * See S. Jerome, Epist. xcvi., ad Principiam Virginem, p. 783. 
 
 " IS. Ambrose, de Virgininibus, ad Marcellinam sororem, libri 
 tres (torn, iii., pp. 224 — 249). De Viduis, liber unus, pp. 250—266, 
 De Virginitate, pp. 267 — 288. De Institutione Virginis, liber unus, 
 pp. 289—305. Exhortatio Virginitatis, pp. 306—322. De Lapsu 
 Virginis, pp. 323—331. 
 
 S. Jerome, Epist. xviii. ad Eustochium de eustodia Virginitatis, 
 p. 27. Epist. xcvii. ad Demetriadem de servanda Virginitate, p. 
 784, torn. iv. ed. Paris, 1706. 
 
 ;S^. Augustine, de bono Conjugali, vi. 542—570. De Sancta 
 Virginitate, pp. 579 — 618, de bono Vidaitatis, pp. 626 — 650, torn, 
 vi. ed. Paris, 1837. 
 
 ^. Basil, de vera Virginitate, torn. iii. p. 589, ed. Paris, 1730. 
 This Treatise was written in tlie fourth century ; but not probably 
 by S. Basil.
 
 10 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 Treatise on Virginity, ascribed by some to S. Basil, 
 in the East, the contemporary of S. Ambrose. 
 
 S. Ambrose inculcates the doctrine of St. Paul, 
 that widows should not be enrolled as such in the 
 service of the Church under a vow of celibacy till 
 sixty years of age ; and that younger widows should 
 be refused^ as not qualified for the work; and S.^ 
 Basil says,^ " If a widow (of the Church) who has 
 passed her sixtieth year contracts a second marriage, 
 she is to be excommunicated till she repents. But 
 if we have admitted a widow into the roll before that 
 age, it is not the woman's fault, if she marries, but 
 ours." S. Ambrose says that Virginity is not to 
 be imposed on any. '^ Virginitas non imponitur sed 
 prseponitur." ^ 
 
 The admission of the Virgins into the service of 
 the Church was fenced by many safeguards. By 
 the canons of some churches (even after the days 
 of St. Ambrose) a Virgin could not be admitted 
 before the age of forty.' She could not be ad- 
 mitted by a Priest.^ The approval of the Bishop 
 of the Diocese was requisite.^ The Bishop, not 
 the abbess, was to have the oversight of them.' 
 The Bishop was obliged to proceed in the matter 
 with great caution and deliberation. He must 
 
 * De Viduis, cap. 2. ^ 8. Basil, Canon, ad Ampliiloch., Ep. 2. 
 
 ^ Ibid., cap. 12. See also >S'. Augustine, de Sancta Vii-ginitate, 
 c. 30, "Non ex necessitate sed vestrse voluntatis." 
 
 "* Council of Saragossa, a.d. 418, Can. 8. This was passed 
 unanimously, and so the Council of Agde, A.D. 506, Can. 19. 
 
 ^ Council of Rouen, Can. 9. 
 
 ° Concil. Carthag. iii., Can. 36. 
 Fifth Council of Aries, Can. 5, " The Bishop is to have the 
 oversight of the Monasteries of the Virgins ; and the Abbess must 
 do nothing contrary to the rules."
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 11 
 
 examine into her character ^ and qualifications with 
 scrupulous attention. He must inquire whether 
 (pray remark this) she tvould he under the safe custody 
 of her mother, and the grave attendance of com- 
 panions. If such conditions as these were not 
 satisfied, she was not to be received. 
 
 When she had been dedicated as a Virgin, she then 
 became a spouse of Christ,^ and had renounced the 
 world ; her life was to be one of holy exercises, of 
 rigid asceticism, of private seclusion. Her chamber 
 was to be an oratory ;^ she was to pass her days 
 there in fasting and prayer, in singing psalms and 
 hymns, in reading Holy Scripture ; she was allowed 
 to do some women's works ; she was not permitted 
 to leave ^ the house, " prodire domo nescia," says 
 S. Ambrose,^ unless to go to church ; she was for- 
 bidden to converse with men, even with holy men ;' 
 and with women, except her nearest relations.^ If 
 the virgin had no parents, and could not dwell 
 at home, she was consigned to the care of some 
 grave matrons in a monastery, which she was never 
 
 ^ S. Ainbr§se, de Yirginitate, cap 7. 
 
 ■^ " Immortali nupsisti Viro," says >S^. Ambrose, de Lapsu Virginis, 
 c. 5. 
 
 ^ S. Jerome, Epist. 98, ad Gaudentium, " In cuUculo suo totas 
 delicias habeat ; discafc memoriter psalterium ; libros Salomonis, 
 Evangelia, Apostolos et Prophetas sui cordis thesaurum faciat." 
 
 S. Anibrose, de Virginibus, iii. 15, and de Inst. Virg. cap. 16. 
 S. Ambrose, Exhortat. cap. 9, " Quaere Christum in cuhiculo tuo," 
 &c. 
 
 ^ De Virgin, ii. 2. 
 
 ^ De Inst. Virg. cap. 1, and Exhort. Virg. cap. JO. " NuUus 
 sit tuus sine matre processus ; ipsa quoque ad Ecclesiam processio 
 rarior sit adolescentulis." >S'. Basil, de Virg. cap. 19. 
 . ^ S. Basil, de Virgin, cap. 37. 
 
 ® S. Ambrose, Exhort. Virg. cap. 10.
 
 12 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 to leave/ except for special reasons. No one liad free 
 access to her there ^ but tlie bishop/ and the priest 
 who came to celebrate the offices of the Church. 
 
 Such was the condition of the Virgins of the 
 Church in the latter part of the fourth century, and 
 in the fifth and sixth centuries. 
 
 In addition to these cautionary measures, by 
 which the Yirgins of the Church were protected 
 against opportunities of intercourse with men, and 
 against temptation to break their vow of celibacy, 
 any violation of that vow was denounced by the 
 ' doctors of the Church in stern language, and was 
 visited by the canons ^ of the Church with severe 
 penalties. Thus the Church in her motherly frank- 
 ness and plainness of speech set the matter clearly 
 before the eyes of fervid postulants, and doubtless 
 deterred many from rashly taking a vow of celibacy. 
 
 If this system had been based on sound founda- 
 tions of human nature and Holy Scripture, it must 
 be confessed to have been a wise one. It had the 
 merit of logical consistency. It exhorted virgins 
 not to take a vow of celibacy unless they felt that 
 they had the gift to keep it.^ It withdrew the 
 
 " See S. Basil, Epitimia Canonicarum, ii. 530. Coneil. TruUan. 
 Can. 41. 
 
 ^ Coneil. Carthag. i. 3. 
 
 ^ >S^. Ambrose, de lapsu Virginis, cap. 7. Council of Epaon, 
 Can. 38. Council of Rouen, Can. 10. 
 
 » S. Basil, de Virgin, caps. 39, 40, 42. S. Ambrose, de lapsu 
 Yirg. c. 5. S. Upi^hanius, Hseres. c. 61. S. Augustin, de bono 
 Viduit. cap. 9. 
 
 * Coneil. Ancyran, Can. 19. Coneil. Turon. i. 6. Coneil. Venet. 
 Can. 4. Coneil. Valent. i. 2. Coneil. Matiscon, i. Can. 12. Thomas- 
 sinus, Eccl. Disc., torn. iv. p. 63. 
 
 * 8. Augustine, de bono Viduit. cap. 8. " Si non continent 
 nubant, antequam continentiam profiteantur."
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 13 
 
 Virgins of tlie Churcli from temptation, it supplied 
 them with means of grace to resist it, and it de- 
 terred them from yielding to it by authoritative 
 alarms and solemn anathemas. 
 
 But although the system was thus fenced in on all 
 sides, it was not successful. It seems to have often 
 fostered spiritual pride.^ The lamentation of Fathers 
 of the Church on cases of failure,'' their exhortations, 
 even to professed virgins, to marry rather than to 
 live the lives which some of them were tempted to 
 do,^ and the frequent iterations of canonical censures 
 on the breaches of the vow of celibacy, seem to 
 prove that the taking of vows of celibacy by women 
 on any other terms than those which had been 
 enunciated by St. Paul (1 Tim. v. 9 — 12), and had 
 been accepted by the Primitive Church, was dan- 
 gerous in its tendency and disastrous in its results. 
 
 And now, my dear Sir George, let me be allowed 
 to ask your indulgence while I attempt to apply 
 these statements to the subject of your Eeport. 
 
 And first, with regard to the terms Sister and 
 Sisterhood, as now used in the Church of England. 
 
 It must be candidly confessed that these words, as 
 
 ® See S. Augustine, de sancta Virginitate, caps. 34, 44, 45. The 
 Council of Gangra, a.d. 362, gives salutaiy cautions against this 
 temper of mind (Canons 1,4, 9), and against the tendency toMani- 
 chaeanism which disparaged Marriage. The wise language of the 
 Bishops assembled in this Council deserves careful consideration at 
 the preseut time. 
 
 ^ See for example ^8'. Ambrose, de lapsu Virginis, p. 323. S. 
 Jerome, Epist. xciii., ad Sabinianum lapsum, p. 754. 
 
 * See S. Jerome, ad Demetriad, Ep. xcviii., " Sanctum Virginum 
 propositum quarundam non bene agentium nomen infamat. Quibus 
 aperte dicendum est, ut aut nubant, si se non possunt eontinere, 
 aut contineant si nolunt nubere. See also S. JEjpiphan., Haeres. 61.
 
 14 ON SSTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 at present employed among us, do not correspond to 
 anything known to tlie Christian Church for a 
 thousand years. I am not saying that those persons 
 whom they represent are the worse on that account. 
 Every age of the Church knows its own needs, and 
 must endeavour to provide for them by special 
 means, adapted to their peculiar character and 
 circumstances. 
 
 But let us try to have clear ideas on the subject; 
 and let us not confound things that are widely 
 different, and let us not hastily apply ancient terms 
 and ancient rules to modern inventions. 
 
 The word Sisterhood has no correlative in the 
 terminology of the ancient Greek or Latin Church. 
 It is unknown to both ; it would not be possible to 
 translate it by any word used by either. The 
 ancient Church had its Widows, it had its Virgins, 
 it had its Deaconesses, but it had no Sisterhoods in 
 the modern sense of the term. 
 
 And what may we infer from this ? l^ot that 
 Sisterhoods are bad things ; not that they may not be 
 very excellent things ; no, far from it ; but that it 
 is unreasonable to apply ancient regulations to them. 
 
 Let me illustrate my meaning by a pertinent 
 example in a very grave and serious matter. 
 
 I infer from your Report to the Lower House 
 of Convocation, that, in some English Sisterhoods, 
 the Sisters at an early age are allowed to take 
 vows of celibacy of perpetual obligation.^ This, I 
 venture to think, is repugnant to the teaching of 
 the Apostolic age, as seen in the writings of St. 
 Paul ; and it is not consistent with that of the next 
 age of the Church, that of S. Ignatius, TertuUian, 
 
 ® " The final Vows are in some cases perpetual, " Keport, p. 6.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 15 
 
 and S. Cyprian; and it is also at variance even 
 with the precepts and practice of the most earnest 
 advocates of cehbacy, S. Ambrose, S. Basil, S. 
 Jerome, and S. Angustine, in the fourth and fifth 
 centuries. As to the last-named let me explain 
 what I mean. 
 
 If young women in our English Sisterhoods were 
 never admitted to take vows, and to be veiled by a 
 Priest of the Church, but only by the Bishop of the 
 Diocese, and not even by the Bishop, except after 
 careful scrutiny and examination ; and if, after she 
 had taken a vow of celibacy, she were not allowed 
 to go out of her own house, even to church, except 
 under most careful custody; or if, not living at 
 home but in the house of the Sisterhood, she were 
 denied all intercourse with the external world, 
 except in going to church, and even that under 
 watchful guardianship ; and if her friends and rela- 
 tives were not freely admitted to visit her ; if, in a 
 word, she were carefully guarded in perfect privacy 
 and strict seclusion, against all inducement to break 
 her vow, or to attract others by the graces of her 
 person and character ; and if the Church in her 
 Synods had warned her by solemn comminations 
 against the breach of her vow, and against the con- 
 sequences of such violation, then there would be 
 indeed some analogy between the Virgins of the age 
 of S. Ambrose, S. Jerome, and S. Augustine, and 
 the English Sister of the nineteenth century ; but 
 not otJienvise. 
 
 I frankly confess that when I read in your Report 
 that vows of perpetual celibacy are allowed and 
 encouraged in some English Sisterhoods, and when 
 I know what blessings the Sisters diffuse by the
 
 16 ON STSTEEHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 English liberty of their holy lives, in nursing the 
 sick in Hospitals, and in the homes of the poor and 
 fever-stricken, and in teaching young children in 
 schools, and in other labours of love at home and 
 abroad, as missionaries of the blessed Gospel, by 
 their influence and example ; and when I see .that 
 some of them travel by railways from place to place, 
 and even present themselves at the houses of 
 strangers, in great towns, to solicit offerings for their 
 Sisterhoods, I cannot help saying to myself. What 
 would S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, and S. Jerome 
 have thought, and what would they have said to all 
 this ? What would they who sat in the Synods of 
 the ancient Church have thought and said, if they 
 were told at the same time that these youthful 
 sisters, so free and so attractive, were under vows of 
 perpetual celibacy ? 
 
 To state briefly the inferences from all this. If 
 our English Sisters are to be in harmony with the 
 Apostolic and Sub-Apostolic age, let them not be 
 allowed to take vows of celibacy till they are sixty 
 years of age. If they prefer to live, as it were, in 
 the fourth or fifth centuries, and to take vows of 
 celibacy when they are young, let them not be 
 allowed to go forth from their own homes, or let 
 them be shut up in a cloister. But let them not do 
 what your Report says that some of them are doing, 
 that is, let them not take vows of celibacy at an 
 early age and yet live in public, and appeal to 
 Catholic Antiquity as an authority for what they do. 
 
 I have written thus freely, because with you and 
 other members of your Committee, and with those 
 excellent men who addressed the Lower House of 
 Convocation in the recent debate on the subject, I
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 17 
 
 earnestly pray for the prosperity of English Sister- 
 hoods, and because I am sure that by the divine 
 blessing they will prosper, . unless they injure and 
 destroy themselves by ill-advised rules and indiscreet 
 practices, which cannot plead any precedent from 
 any age of the Church for a thousand years after 
 Christ. 
 
 I ought perhaps to advert here to a class of 
 women in the ancient Church who may be thought 
 to bear some resemblance to our English Sisters, so 
 far as freedom is concerned, and also as being 
 dedicated by a Yow of Celibacy (I am not speaking 
 of the Apostolic age, but of the fourth century) — 
 I mean Deaconnesses. These were consecrated by a 
 solemn service to their work, and were very useful 
 as ministers in the Christian Church, especially in 
 the instruction of women, and in preparing them 
 for Baptism and Confirmation, and in teaching of 
 children, and in succouring the sick and needy. ^ 
 But they did not live in communities or sisterhoods. 
 It is remarkable that their case is rather a warning 
 than an example to us, and thus it may be useful 
 to us. They represented an attempt — such as is 
 now made by some sisterhoods — to reconcile free- 
 dom of life with vows of celibacy ; and the experi- 
 ment failed. After a fair trial the ofl&ce of Deaconess 
 so constituted was suppressed, and canons were 
 passed against its continuance, in the fifth and sixth 
 centuries in the Western Church.^ 
 
 * See the authorities in Bingham, Antiquities of the Church, book 
 ii. chap. xxii. 1 — 13. 
 
 * First Council of Orange, Can. 26, a.d. Ml, and Council of 
 Epaon, Can. 21. Second Council of Orleans, Can. 18, a.d. 533. 
 It failed through human frailty not able to bear it, " pro conditionis 
 
 B
 
 18 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 I do not mean to say tliat an order of Deaconesses 
 might not be constituted on jprimitlve Apostolic prin- 
 ciples, and do mucli good ; I believe it might. In- 
 deed, the experiment has been tried in our own age 
 and country with much success. 
 
 I should be chargeable with a serious omission if 
 I did not here refer to the celebrated institution 
 founded by S. Vincent de Paul in the early part of 
 the seventeenth century (a.d. 1633) ; the Sisters of 
 Charity, now numbering 18,000 members, of whom 
 14,000 are natives of France.^ 
 
 These Sisters (like our English Sisters) enjoy 
 much liberty. In the words of their saintly founder, 
 " Their only monastery is the house of the sick, 
 their chapel is the parish church, their cloister is 
 the street of the city or the ward of the hospital, 
 their seclusion is obedience, their grille is the fear 
 of God, their veil is holy modesty and meekness." 
 
 But let us consider what their constitution is. 
 A good account of it is given by M. Collet in his 
 interesting life of S. Vincent de Paul, published at 
 Paris in 1818 (p. 42), who states that the Sisters 
 take no vow at all till after five years' probation ; 
 and then they are allowed to take a vow for a year ; 
 and in an interesting volume,'^ published in London in 
 1854, it is stated (p. 94), in the history of this cele- 
 brated Sisterhood, that " No external austerities were 
 required, and no Votvs ivere taken beyond a year J' 
 Again (p. 98), " The Sisters of S. Vincent de Paul 
 
 hujus fragilitate," says the Council. Cp. Thomassinus, Disciplin. 
 Eccl. vol. X. p. 78. 
 
 ' See M. Guizoi, Histoire de France, tome iv. p. 85. 
 
 * Entitled "Hospitals and Sisterhoods." London : MiuTcay, 
 1854.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 19 
 
 usually have no private means ; they live with the 
 poor whom they serve ; they receive a small annual 
 sum (121. or 15/.) from the Bureau de Bienfaisance 
 of any town in France that may wish for their 
 services, or a small sum is granted them from the 
 Mother-house. After admission they spend six 
 months in their own dress, and then adopt that of 
 the Order, and after five years' probation they are 
 allowed to take the simple Yows, which are only 
 for one year, and are annually renewed on March 
 
 2bth From time to time the Sisters 
 
 return to the seminary to gain spiritual strength by 
 a retreat of eight days for spiritual exercise of 
 prayer and doctrinal instructions." 
 
 " Their constitution and rules were, in 1847, 
 exactly the same as in St. Vincent's time " (p. 102). 
 The " Filles de St. Genevieve " (founded 1636) take 
 no Yows" (p. 106). The Order, therefore, of St. 
 Yincent de Paul by its permanence, prosperity, and 
 beneficent influence seems to supply direction and 
 encouragement to us. 
 
 Whatever may be the value of other Roman 
 Catholic Sisterhoods, conducted on a much stricter 
 plan, and which may exist more easily in conjunction 
 with a clergy bound to celibacy, it can hardly be 
 doubted that England would suffer much, both 
 socially, morally, and spiritually, if she were to 
 purchase such institutions, with their vows of per- 
 petual celibacy, at the cost of her own Sisters of 
 Mercy and Charity, namely, the wives and daughters 
 of her Parochial Clergy in all parts of the land. 
 
 I do not see in the Report any reference to other 
 Yows, such as Yows of Obedience and Poverty, which 
 
 B 2
 
 20 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 are taken in some religious communities ; nor do I 
 know on what terms tliey are proposed and taken in 
 English Sisterhoods. 
 
 But it may be well to observe that, according to 
 the Will and Word of God, no Yow can be rightly 
 imposed or safely taken, which interferes with or 
 contravenes any religious and moral obligation by 
 which the person taking the Yow was previously 
 hound. 
 
 And in the present case no Yow of Obedience 
 to a Superior of a Sisterhood can be defended 
 which militates against any clear duty to God or to 
 Parents. 
 
 And no Yow of Poverty can be justified which 
 interferes with the duties of piety to God (such as 
 almsgiving) or to Parents. Such Yows are con- 
 demned by our Lord (Matt. xv. 5. Mark vii. 11), 
 and by St. Paul (1 Tim. v. 8). On this subject 
 let me refer to the excellent remarks of Bishop 
 Sanderson in his Lectures on the Obligation of an 
 Oath, and in his Cases of Conscience; especially 
 Case iv. and Case viii.^ 
 
 It may perhaps be alleged here that the forego- 
 ing observations are not of a constructive character, 
 and are not suggestive of measures to be adopted 
 for the regulation of existing Sisterhoods. 
 
 I anticipate this objection ; but let me say also 
 that if I entered on this part of the subject, I might 
 be encroaching on the functions of the Joint Com- 
 mittee which has now been appointed for this 
 
 * The " Lectures " will be found in vol. iv., the '^ Cases of 
 Conscience " in vol. v. of Bishop Jacobson's edition of Sanderson's 
 Works. Oxford, 1854.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 21 
 
 purpose. At the risk, howeyer, of appearing to do 
 so, I would briefly offer one or two suggestions : — 
 
 (1.) That the general fundamental principles for 
 the regulation of Sisterhoods should not be laid 
 down by any Diocesan authority, but by the 
 Provincial Synods of the Church. 
 
 (2.) That the application of those regulations in 
 any Diocese should be entrusted to the Bishop of 
 the Diocese. 
 
 (3.) That no vows of perpetual celibacy should be 
 imposed ; and that St. Paul's command (1 Tim. v. 9, 
 see above, page 5) be complied with. 
 
 (4.) That a promise (not a Vow^) of self-dedica- 
 tion to the work might be made, but ought to be 
 terminable, and not be extended beyond two or 
 three years; and be renewable from time to time. 
 And this being not a Votv to God, but a jpromise to a 
 human authority, might, if circumstances so require, 
 be relaxed by that authority. 
 
 There is much to be said in favour of a free, life- 
 long, self-dedication to the work of a Sister. Such 
 voluntary consecration of the whole being gives 
 strength, and consistency, and stability to the 
 Sisterhood. But there is also much to be urged in 
 behalf of terminable engagements. There can be 
 no better training for a wife and a mother than the 
 work of a Sister, nursing in a hospital, or teaching 
 in a good school. In one Sisterhood in London 
 (St. John's) there have been and are a considerable 
 number of " Lady Pupils," and very useful they are 
 and will be. And it seems desirable for some young 
 women, especially the daughters of the clergy, to 
 
 ® On the difference between a Vow and a Promise, see Bishop 
 Sanderson, de juram. oblig., lecture vii.
 
 22 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 have the advantage of two or three years' training 
 as Sisters in a hospital, or in some well-ordered 
 school, under efficient and skilful teachers. 
 
 (6.) That no one should be allowed to take any 
 Yow except in the presence of the Bishop, and with 
 solemn prayer and benediction from him. 
 
 (6.) That no Books of Devotion should be used in 
 a Sisterhood without the knowledge and approval of 
 the Bishop. 
 
 (7.) That all admissions to the Sisterhood should 
 be with a religious service and celebration of the 
 Holy Communion, and in the presence of the 
 Bishop. 
 
 (8.) That great care should be taken in the 
 appointment of the Chaplain of the Sisterhood. 
 More will depend for success on the personal zeal, 
 faith, wisdom, and holiness of those who are engaged 
 in the work, and of those laymen who are officially 
 connected with it (whether Members of Council or 
 others) than in any abstract regulations. 
 
 And now, my dear Sir George, before I bring 
 these remarks to a close, may I say something on 
 the case of Sisters who in early years have taken a 
 Vow of Cehbacy, and may perhaps feel that they 
 have been entangled by them, without fully counting 
 the cost. 
 
 Let it then be remembered here that — 
 (1 .) A Vow is a solemn act of religious worship done 
 to Almighty God.' A Vow ought never to be taken 
 except with a feeling of solemn awe, inspired by a 
 
 ' See Bishop Sanderson, dejuramenti obligatione, Praelect. vii., 
 " Case of unlawful love," p. 13. His " Case of a E.ash Vow," 
 p. 118.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 23 
 
 sense of His omnipresence, omniscience and majesty ; 
 a consideration (let me observe) which ought to deter 
 persons from hastily making vows of total abstinence, 
 and, still more, from imposing them on others. 
 
 (2.) The matter of a Vow ought to be something 
 good, pious, charitable, and holy. Almighty God, 
 in Holy Scripture, warns men against making rash 
 vows ; at the same time He commands them to keep 
 the vows which they have made (Eccles. v. 4 — 6) ; 
 unless they were not free to make them (Numb. xxx. 
 3 — 7. Deut. xxiii. 21), and unless the vows are 
 contrary to some moral obligation by which they 
 were previously bound. ^ 
 
 (3.) The purpose of a life of celibacy in depen- 
 dence on God's grace, and for the promoting His 
 glory and the good of His Church, is holy and 
 commendable ; but it is not lawful to impose a Vow 
 of Celibacy on any, especially on young persons. 
 (1 Tim. iv. 3 ; V. 9. 1 Cor. vii. 2.) 
 
 (4.) It is a rash thing to take such a vow. 
 Bishop Taylor's words deserve careful attention : ^ — 
 " That man vows foohshly that binds himself for 
 ever to the profession of what he may afterwards 
 find not to be useful, or not profitable; but of 
 some danger or of no necessity." He recommends 
 that vows should rather be made for the performance 
 of special acts, than for continuance in a permanent 
 state. 
 
 Let me here observe in passing, that some 
 
 ® Cp. Bishop Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, book iii. 
 chap. V. rule viii. 
 
 » Cp. Bishop Jeremy Taylor, Holy Living, sect, vii., " Cautions 
 for making Vows," vol. iv. p. 225, ed. Heber, 1828.
 
 24 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 have endeavoured to justify the taking of a 
 Yow of ceUbacy by young persons, and even the 
 imposition of it upon them, by examples of vows in 
 the Old Testament, such as the Nazarite Yow 
 (Numb, vi.), or the case of the Rechabites (Jer. 
 XXXV.), or the Yow of Marriage under the Gospel, 
 or the Yow at Ordination, or the Baptismal Yow. 
 But the cases are by no means similar. 
 In the Old Testament the Yow of the Nazarite 
 was one of Divine institution (Numb, vi.), it was not 
 imposed on any one, and as far as appears from Scrip- 
 ture, it was not of perpetual obligation; and God, who 
 instituted it, would endue those whom He directed 
 to take it, with strength to keep it. Besides the 
 matter of it was in no way contrariant to human 
 nature, which is God's work. There was also a 
 provision for the contingency of a breach of it, by 
 way of dispensation (Numb. vi. 12). 
 
 But a Yow of Perpetual Celibacy has no warrant 
 from God; rather it is repugnant to His will as 
 manifested in nature and revealed in Scripture, and 
 cannot look with assurance for the help of His grace 
 to keep it. 
 
 The abstinence of the Rechabites (Jer. xxxv.) 
 was no consequence of any Yow. Jonadab, the son 
 of Rechab, is not praised or approved for laying the 
 commands he did on his descendants (rather he was 
 censurable for doing so), but they are commended 
 for showing reverence to God, Whose command it is 
 that parents should be obeyed, and for showing love 
 and honour to their father, and for their obedience 
 to his command, although it is very doubtful 
 Avhether the command ought to have been given. 
 In the Gospel dispensation Marriage has become
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 25 
 
 a " magnum sacramentum," a great mystery (Epli. 
 V. 32), and the marriage vow is approved by God 
 as being a solemn promise in His sight to keep that 
 troth which is necessary for the well-being of that 
 estate which was instituted by Him in Paradise and 
 has been consecrated by Christ. And (to those who 
 pray for it) grace is given by Him to keep that vow. 
 In like manner the Episcopate, Priesthood, and 
 Diaconate are holy states of life, instituted by God 
 Himself, for His glory, and the good of His Church ; 
 and they who are admitted to those holy states may 
 expect grace from Him to help them to keep the 
 Vows which they take at their admission to them ; 
 just as all baptized persons may expect God's grace, 
 if they pray for it, to keep the vows they made 
 when they were admitted into Christ's Church by 
 the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, instituted by Him. 
 But these things cannot be rightly predicated con- 
 cerning a Vow of Celibacy. As we have seen, 
 celibacy is not a state appointed to any one by 
 command of God; and to impose on any one a vow 
 of celibacy, and to take a Vow of celibacy in early 
 life, is repugnant to His Will and Word. 
 
 (5) But it does not follow as a necessary con- 
 sequence that, because a Yow ought not to have 
 been imposed or taken, it ought not to be kept. 
 
 If indeed it be a Yow to do what is evil, or may 
 prove to be evil, like the vow of Micah's mother to 
 make a molten image (Judges xvii. 3), or like the 
 vow of David to kill Kabal (1 Sam. xxv. 22), or 
 like the promise of Solomon not to deny his mother 
 anything that she might ask (1 Kings ii. 19 — 25), 
 or like the vow of the Israelitish women in Egypt to
 
 26 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 burn incense to tlie queen of heaven (Jer. xliv. 25), 
 or like the oath of Herod to give the daughter of 
 Herodias whatever she might desire (Matt. xiv. 
 7 — 8), or of the Jews to kill Paul (Acts xxiii. 12 — 
 15), or in later days in our own country the vow of 
 the Countess of Shrewsbury to answer no questions 
 put to her in the Star Chamber ; ^ or like the Solemn 
 League and Covenant which the English Parliament, 
 at the Restoration, in the Act of Uniformity, required 
 men to abjure — in such cases the vow ought never to 
 have been made, and ought not to be kept. " Dis- 
 solve vinculum iniquitatis," " Rei illicitae nulla 
 obligatio," are sound maxims. 
 
 But though a Yow of Celibacy is a rash thing, 
 celibacy itself is not an evil thing, it is rather repre- 
 sented in Scripture as a good thing ; though there 
 may have been sin in taking the Vow of Celibacy, 
 still, if it has been taken, ought it not to be kept ? 
 And to apply this to the cases in point. Ought a 
 Yow of Celibacy, taken in an English Sisterhood, 
 as now constituted, to be regarded as of perpetual 
 obligation ? 
 
 This is a difl&cult question, and depends much 
 on the circumstances of the case. 
 
 If the vow has been made, according to the 
 canons of the Ancient Church,^ that is to say in 
 the presence, not of a Priest, but of the Bisliop of 
 the Diocese, and with his full knowledge and sanc- 
 tion, and after careful examination by him, and 
 with solemn previous warning of the consequences 
 
 * See the case which gave rise to the excellent speech of bishop 
 Andrewes " concerning Vows," in his Opuscula, p. 79 ; he lays 
 down as an axiom, p. 85, " Non debet voveri Deo, quod displicet 
 Deo ; quod sibi persolvi non vult, voveri Deus non vult." 
 
 ^ See above, page 10.
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 27 
 
 of breaking it ; and if^ according to the canons of 
 tlie Cliurcli, tlie person taking tlie Yow has been 
 carefully shielded against temptations to break it, 
 by religious privacy and seclusion, then the obliga- 
 tion to keep it seems to become more stringent. 
 
 But if these rules of the ancient Church have 
 not been observed, then, in the words of St. Basil, 
 the fault of the breach is not so much with the 
 breaker of the vow, as with the breakers ^ of the 
 laws of the Church who have imposed the vow. 
 
 But as it seems to me (I speak with great diffi- 
 dence) no general rule can be given ; but each case 
 must be considered by itself; and the question ought 
 not to be determined by the person or persons 
 principally concerned, who may be swayed by 
 private bias, but by their Spiritual Superior, who 
 would, I suppose, be guided in his decision by the 
 judicious words of Bishop Sanderson,* " An Oath 
 cannot be remitted without the consent of all 
 parties ; but the case of a Vow is not precisely the 
 same as that of an Oath. In a Vow, since it is 
 made to God alone, some liberty may perhaps be 
 granted to the person who has taken it, of changing 
 the same into another which may be evidently better, 
 and more acceptable unto God, there being nothing 
 in this change that is injurious to a third person." 
 
 But it will be safer to refer the matter to a wise, 
 learned, and holy spiritual guide; and in no case 
 
 * See above, page 10. And in a similar tone the Emperor Leo, in 
 Theodos. Novell. 8, " Neque enim sacrilega judicanda est, qu£e se 
 hoc ante noluisse, aut certe non posse complere, appetiti conjugii 
 honestate prodiderit. 
 
 ^ De obligatione Juramenti, Prselect. vii. 5. Some directions 
 as to the dispensation of Laws may be seen in Bishop Jeremy 
 Taylor 8 Ductor Dubitantium, book iii. chap. vi.
 
 28 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 ouglit a Vow, however rash, to be loosed by dis- 
 pensation, without penitential sorrow and humilia- 
 tion on the part of the person who has taken it. 
 
 Heartily wishing you success in your endeavours 
 on behalf of the Sisterhoods of the Church of 
 England, 
 
 I am, my dear Sir George, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 C. Lincoln. 
 EiSEHOLME, Lincoln. 
 June 1st, 1878. 
 
 p^g. — Since this letter was written some remarks 
 have been made upon it in a pamphlet entitled, 
 " Are Vows of Celibacy in early life inconsistent 
 with the Word of God?" by a person whose name 
 cannot be mentioned by me without feelings of re- 
 spect — the Rev. Canon Carter, Rector of Clewer. 
 
 I do not find anything in those remarks to induce 
 me to make any alterations in my letter. Canon 
 Carter seems to suppose that the widows mentioned 
 in 1 Tim. v. 9 were alms-women, and that St. Paul's 
 directions " evidently refer to the widow's pecuniary 
 support, which is thus shown to be the main object 
 in view " (p. 10). He does not indeed deny that 
 she was bound to render service to the Church. 
 
 But it seems to me to be clear, from the context, 
 that St. Paul is speaking of reception of widows by 
 the Church after a vow of self-dedication to its ser- 
 vice. His words to the Bishop of Ephesus, St. 
 Timothy, are (1 Tim. v. 9) : " Let not a widow be 
 taken into the number (let her not be enrolled, ilt) 
 KaTokeyia-do)), under threescore years old." . . . .
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 29 
 
 And what follows? *'But younger widows refuse, 
 for when they have begun to wax wanton against 
 Christ, they desire to marry (yafxeiv OeXovcri), having 
 damnation, because they have cast off their first 
 faith," or plighted troth to Christ, — " I will, therefore, 
 that younger women marry." Evidently the elder 
 widows (not under threescore) are contrasted with 
 the younger. It is a question of age. The elder 
 (not under sixty years of age) may be placed on the 
 roll of the Church, and may be permitted to make a 
 vow of permanent self-dedication. And why ? be- 
 cause, on account of their age, they would not be 
 like the younger, "who wish to marry," and break 
 their vow of celibacy, and incur censure as untrue 
 to Christ; and who, therefore, ought not to be 
 admitted to take a vow of perpetual celibacy. 
 
 If it had been a question of the enrolment of alms- 
 women by the Church, the Marriage of such women 
 would not have been objectionable, but rather have 
 been desirable, inasmuch as the burden of maintain- 
 ing them would have been transferred from the 
 Church to their husbands. 
 
 I therefore still adhere to my opinion, and agree 
 with the best commentators (such as S. Jerome, S. 
 Chrysostom, Epiphanius, and others quoted by Cor- 
 nelius Lapide ; and with Chemnitius, Examen Concil. 
 Trident. Sess. viii. de Coelibatu, cap. ix.), that St. 
 Paul is speaking of an enrolment of a widow in the 
 service of the Church by a vow of celibacy. 
 
 I also argue (with the best expositors) that, if St. 
 Paul would not have allowed a widow to be received 
 by the Church with a vow of celibacy, under sixty 
 years of age, he would not have sanctioned the 
 reception of women " in early age " by a vow of
 
 30 ON SISTEEHOODS AND VOWS. 
 
 celibacy, wliicli Canon Carter approves and affirms 
 to be agreeable to God's Word. 
 
 Mr. Carter disclaims any wish to impose vows of 
 celibacy (p. 4) ; he disapproves such a proceeding. 
 But may I be allowed to ask, whether there is not 
 something like a moral pressure and coercion exer- 
 cised on the minds of the Sisters in some Sister- 
 hoods, by eulogizing celibacy as a far higher spiritual 
 state than marriage, and by disparaging marriage in 
 comparison with it, and by representing a Sister 
 who has married as having fallen from a liigher state 
 to a lower condition, and as almost under a ban ? 
 
 Canon Carter also contends that a dedication 
 contemplated by a young woman was in fact re- 
 garded in ancient times as tantamount to a voiv 
 (p. 18) ; and again (p. 24) he says, that " the dedi- 
 cation to a state of celibacy, whether expressed or 
 implied, or however expressed, was regarded as tan- 
 tamount to avoivJ^ 
 
 He considers the purpose of celibacy as equivalent 
 to a vow. I cannot agree with him in this. A 
 young woman of ardent temperament, after hearing 
 a stirring address from some eloquent preacher 
 speaking of the " higher life," and dwelling on the 
 merit of celibacy, may not unnaturally feel a desire, 
 and entertain a design, of a single life. But is this 
 " tantamount to a vow ? " A vow is a very solemn 
 thing ; it is an act of worship of God ; and when it 
 has been made, it cannot lightly be unmade. 
 
 Holy Scripture says (Num. xxx. 3) : "If a man 
 vow a vow unto the Lord, he shall do according to 
 all that proceedeth out of his mouth." And again 
 (Deut. xxiii. 21 — 23) : '' When thou shalt vow unto 
 the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it ;
 
 ON SISTERHOODS AND VOWS. 31 
 
 for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee ; 
 and it would be sin in thee. That which is gone 
 out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform." And 
 therefore the wise man says (Eccl. v. 4, 5) : " When 
 thouvowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; 
 for he hath no pleasure in fools ; pay that which 
 thou hast vowed. Better it is that thou shouldst 
 not vow, than that thou shouldst vow and not pay." 
 But an intention is a very different thing. It may 
 be even right to alter it under a change of circum- 
 stances ; and, therefore, in a passage quoted above 
 (p. 8), St. Cyprian distinguishes between a vow of 
 celibacy and a purpose of single life. A young woman 
 may entertain a desire, and form a design, of celibacy, 
 under certain circumstances. But are the desire and 
 the design, under those circumstances, to be regarded 
 as having irrevocably fixed her condition for the future, 
 and as having indissolubly rivetted her in celibacy for 
 the rest of her life, however her circumstances may 
 change, which are beyond her cognizance and con- 
 trol, and are known only to God, and which are 
 in His hands ? Would not this be to say that she 
 has been arrogating to herself His attributes ? And 
 if, under a change of circumstances, which are God's 
 dealings with her, she modifies her desires, and 
 shapes afresh her designs, is she to be regarded as 
 guilty of the sin of breaJcing a voiu, and as having in- 
 curred the penalties which Holy Scripture pronounce 
 against those who commit that sin ? Surely this 
 would be a hard saying ; and it is to be desired that 
 the excellent author of the pamphlet may be in- 
 duced to reconsider it.
 
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