 First Vows
by Br. Anselm Ramelow, OP
I met the Dominicans through a Dominican Father from Walberberg near Bonn. Before this I
was not really aware of the existence of the Dominicans. But this Dominican priest made a
deep impression in me: his whole appearance was that of a priest, a real role-model. And
so, I started to talk with him about the Dominican charism and it immediately appealed to
me. The monastic aspect, which is part of the Dominican charism, was always attractive to
me. On the other hand, it included the intellectual life and ministry, which I, having a
Ph.D. in philosophy, felt also drawn to. The Dominicans, that I met later on, often
impressed me by their combination of human integrity and intellectual capability. Having
felt a religious vocation already for some time, but not being able to find the right
place to live it, I finally became aware that it was with the Dominicans that God wanted
me to stay with.
Making vows means for me a deeper commitment to God. To place my total existence into
His hands -where it was already, insofar as He is the first cause of all being. One of the
experiences that made me aware of my vocation was, that I always felt, on the occasion of
ordinations, that I too should lie there during the "Litany of the Saints,"
giving myself totally to God. This was something I never felt, for example, when I
attended weddings.
This does not only mean the vow of chastity. It also includes the vow of poverty: not
being possessed by earthly goods, and hoping for nothing else but the Kingdom of God and
His infinite mercy. And it includes also the vow of obedience: giving up one's very will,
which makes us free of doubts about what to do or not to do with regards to our lives.
Putting our lives into the hands of those whom God wants to be our superiors, we can be
sure to do His will by obeying them.
I decided to make vows because this is the logical consequence of the way I want to
follow God. This is the only life for me that is meaningful to me. Today, people's minds
are pre-occupied with money (which is answered for me by the vow of poverty), and with sex
(which is answered for me by the vow of chastity). But I also believe that, today,
people's minds are not really occupied with anything. They are skeptical, bored, always
looking for a new distraction, never becoming aware of something meaningful, always living
in the realm of understatements and cynicism. Shallow amusements and superficial
sense-pleasures hide for them the sense of the absolute, the last end of life, the
infinite majesty of God and its manifestations in this world. I would never want to live
like that, but rather to strive to become one of those manifestations of God.
First Vows |
