Again, no man in taking an oath intends to bind himself to anything physically or morally impossible, or forbidden by his superiors; he expects that his promise will be accepted by the other party, that all things will remain unchanged, that the other party will keep faith, and that there will be no grave reason for him to change his mind.  In the event of any of these conditions failing of fulfilment his intention is not to be held by his sworn word, and his oath is considered invalidated.  He is to be favored in all doubts and is held only to the strict words of his promise.

The least therefore we have to do with oaths, the better.  They are things too sacred to trifle with.  When necessity demands it, let our swearing honor the Almighty by the respect we show His holy name.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.  VOWS.

Vows are less common than oaths, and this is something to be thankful for, since being even more sacred than oaths, their abuse incidental to frequent usage would be more abominable.  The fact that men so far respect the vow as to entirely leave it alone when they feel unequal to the task of keeping it inviolate, is a good sign—­creditable to themselves and honorable to God.

People have become accustomed to looking upon vows as the exclusive monopoly of the Catholic Church and her religious men and women.  Such things are rarely met with outside monasteries and convents, except in the case of secular priests.  ’Tis true, one hears tell occasionally of a stray unfortunate who has broken away from a state voluntarily, deliberately, chosen and entered upon, and who struggles through life with a violated vow saddled upon him.  But one does not associate the sacred and heroic character of the vow with such pitiable specimens of moral worth.

The besom of Protestant reform thought to sweep all vows off the face of the earth, as immoral, unlawful, unnatural or, at least, useless things.  The first Coryphei broke theirs; and having learned from experience what troublesome things they are, instiled into their followers a salutary distaste for these solemn engagements that one can get along so well without.  From disliking them in themselves, they came to dislike them in others, and it has come to this that the Church has been obliged to defend against the change of immorality an institution that alone makes perfection possible.  Strange, this!  More sad than strange.

First of all, what is a vow?  It is a deliberate promise made to God by which we bind ourselves to do something good that is more pleasing to Him than its omission would be.  It differs from a promissory oath in this, that an oath makes God a witness of a promise made to a third party, while in a vow there is no third party, the promise being made directly to God.  In a violated oath, we break faith with man; in a broken vow, we are faithless to God.  The vow is more intimate than the oath, and although sometimes the words are taken one for the other, in meaning they are widely different.