Q. 1233.  Which are the vows most frequently made?  A. The vows most frequently made are the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, taken by persons living in religious communities or consecrated to God.  Persons living in the world are sometimes permitted to make such vows privately, but this should never be done without the advice and consent of their confessor.

Q. 1234.  What do the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience require?  A. The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience require that those who make them shall not possess or keep any property or goods for themselves alone; that they shall not marry or be guilty of any immodest acts, and that they shall strictly obey their lawful superiors.

Q. 1235.  Has it always been a custom with pious Christians to make vows and promises to God?  A. It has always been a custom with pious Christians to make vows and promises to God; to beg His help for some special end, or to thank Him for some benefit received.  They have promised pilgrimages, good works or alms and they have vowed to erect churches, convents, hospitals or schools.

Q. 1236.  What is a pilgrimage?  A. A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place made in a religious manner and for a religious purpose.

Q. 1237. {351} Is it a sin not to fulfill our vows?  A. Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial, according to the nature of the vow and the intention we had in making it.

Q. 1238.  Are we bound to keep an unlawful oath or vow?  A. We are not bound, but, on the contrary, positively forbidden to keep an unlawful oath or vow.  We are guilty of sin in taking such an oath or making such a vow, and we would be guilty of still greater sin by keeping them.

Q. 1239. {352} What is forbidden by the second Commandment?  A. The second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and unnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words.

Q. 1240.  When is an oath rash, unjust or unnecessary?  A. An oath is rash when we are not sure of the truth of what we swear; it is unjust when it injures another unlawfully; and it is unnecessary when there is no good reason for taking it.

Q. 1241.  What is blasphemy, and what are profane words?  A. Blasphemy is any word or action intended as an insult to God.  To say He is cruel or find fault with His works is blasphemy.  It is a much greater sin than cursing or taking God’s name in vain.  Profane words mean here bad, irreverent or irreligious words.

Q. 1242. {353} What is the third Commandment? 
A. The third Commandment is:  Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

Q. 1243. {354} What are we commanded by the third Commandment?  A. By the third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord’s day and the holydays of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God.

Q. 1244.  What are holydays of obligation?  A. Holydays of obligation are special feasts of the Church on which we are bound, under pain of mortal sin, to hear Mass and to keep from servile or bodily labors when it can be done without great loss or inconvenience.  Whoever, on account of their circumstances, cannot give up work on holydays of obligation should make every effort to hear Mass and should also explain in confession the necessity of working on holydays.