No one may make profession of vows before his 16th year is completed, or be received before his 14th year, or after his 40th, unless there is some very urgent reason for his reception. When they make profession, they shall say: In the name of the most Holy Trinity: Father, and Son and Holy Spirit, and of the most worthy Mother of God Virgin Mary, I, N.N., promise, and vow to God, and the Virgin Mary and all the saints and to you, (express the title of the Superior into whose hand the profession is made) to observe all the days of my life “The Rule of the 10 Pleasures of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” living in Chastity, Obedience, and holy Poverty, conforming my conduct to this Rule, under the obligations by which those who profess it are obliged and bound in it and by it. The one receiving the profession shall say: If you observe these things, I promise you that you will obtain the reward from the Lord Jesus in Heaven. And all those who attend shall respond in a loud voice: Amen. Chapter VII The Virtue of Poverty The Virgin’s Poverty, seventh among her virtues mentioned in the Gospel, which you should possess and cultivate in three ways, in imitation of the Virgin. The poorest Virgin Mary always lived in greatest poverty, and out of this poverty, in order to please God, she thought, spoke, and acted in the following ways: She lodged in a poor place, since there was no room for her at the inn [cf. Lk 2:7]; she laid Jesus in a manger, wrapped Him in cheap swaddling clothes [cf. Lk 2:7], and nourished her Son at her breast, having no other food to give to him. According to the example and in imitation of the Virgin, devoted souls should love and observe this Gospel pearl of poverty, without which nearly all foundations of perfection fall to ruin. Riches and devotion: These two rarely are found in the same cloister. Therefore those professing this Rule should live The Rule of Imitation of the Ten Evangelical Virtues 317
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