Vow

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a kind of promissory oath made to God, or to some false deity, to do or to forego something for the promotion of His glory, or to perform some act, or to dedicate to the deity something of value, on the fulfillment of certain conditions, or in the event of the vower receiving something specially desired, as recovery from illness, deliverance from danger, success in an enterprise, or the like. A vow may take the form of a solemn promise to follow out some line of conduct, or to consecrate or devote one's self, wholly or in part, for a longer or shorter time, to some act or service, or to maintain fidelity and constancy. Vows are of two kinds, simple and solemn, the difference between them being that the latter are instituted as such, irrevocable by the and accepted as by Church, and they constitute one of the marks of a religious order as distinguished from a congregation. Simple and solemn vows differ also in their effects. A simple vow makes marriage unlawful, and deprives the person who has made it of a right to use any property he may possess; a solemn vow makes marriage invalid, and takes away all dominion over property. Solemn and certain simple vows, as those of chastity and of greater pilgrimage, can only be dispensed by the Pope, or by a superior specially delegated for the purpose; but most of the simple vows can be dispensed by the bishop of the diocese in which the person who has made the vow resides.