To which the novice then replied:
I should then be unfit for the kingdom of God,
and repeated the words of Scripture:
When any one voweth a vow unto the Lord, he shall do all that proceedeth out of his mouth (Num. xxx. 2);[4]
and again we quoted Ecclesiastes v. 4.
After which there was sung in sweetest music, three times over:
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams: promise unto the Lord your God, and keep it.
I truly imagined that I was vowing to the Lord; and I had heard that God was love, and that therefore it must be sweet to obey His voice, and so I willingly vowed unto the Lord in these words:
1. I vow holy poverty, that I will possess nothing as my own, or receive aught, save at the hands of my Superiors, or with their permission. So help me, God. Amen.