Daughter of Charity

Members of religious orders, male and female, take the three vows of religion--poverty, chastity and obedience. To renounce one's rights to personal possessions, to sexual experience and family life and in determining one's own future may, on initial examination, appear somewhat negative. However, priests, brothers and nuns in religious orders, are encouraged to adopt a more positive attitude in taking the vows. By relinquishing their rights to personal property and to procreate, and by accepting God's will in the expressed desires of their religious superiors, they can be released from the responsibilities inherent in these areas of human activity and, provided there is a spirit of generosity, achieve a degree of freedom which would not be otherwise possible. For instance, if, at the request of her religious superior, a Sister is sent from one area of the country to another, she can do so immediately. There is no house to sell, no family members to consider and no concerns about whether it is the right place for her to be. This, in turn, leaves her free to undertake the work or activity for which she was sent, without guilt feelings for those left behind and for what might have been.