§ III. On The Commutation Of Vows

393. • Commutation of a vow is the substitution of some work in place of the promised one. It can be done in a threefold manner, namely into a better good, into an equal one, into a lesser one.

Principles. - I. Whoever has the power, even simply delegated, of dispensing from vows, has by that very fact the faculty of commuting them; for he who can do the greater can also do the lesser in the same genus. - But not conversely, because the greater power is not contained in the lesser.³

II. Anyone can by private authority, and without a special cause, commute his vow into a work evidently better, provided that the Church has not prohibited this in a particular case; because while someone performs a work more perfect than the thing promised, by this very fact he preserves what he had promised, since the perfect is included in the more perfect. It is established moreover from Canon Law.¹ But that is judged better which conduces to the greater spiritual utility of the one vowing, or to the greater service of God. Except, however, vows reserved to the Pope, unless the change is made into the religious state.²*

III. He who has emitted a vow cannot commute it into a lesser good by his own authority; for he ought to give to God whatever he promised. - Thus all. - But whether he can change his vow into an equal good is disputed. For St. Alphonsus³ the much more probable opinion is that of St. Thomas denying this, because God rather wills the thing promised than another, even if equal.

IV. A priest delegated merely to commute vows cannot commute them into a notably lesser work; because otherwise he would dispense in great part, and thus would exceed the faculty received. Nevertheless the faculty of commuting vows is not to be interpreted so strictly that it is confined to a work altogether equal, but is to be taken in a broader sense, so that it extends itself to a work somewhat lesser; otherwise it would be liable to innumerable difficulties and scruples, since it is most difficult to find equality in things altogether disparate. Moreover, commutation almost ought to be made for the alleviation of him who has bound himself by vow.⁴

394. Questions. - Quaer. 1° Is some cause required for commuting a vow into an equal or slightly lesser work?

Resp. 1° Affirmatively, as to liceity, because otherwise the delegated person would commute prodigally, by using the power of commuting in vain.

Resp. 2° Probably also affirmatively as to validity, because the delegated person commuting without cause seems to exceed the limits of his power. Nevertheless St. Alphonsus⁵ calls the opposite opinion probable. Yet a lesser cause is required for commuting than for dispensing; and again a lesser cause is required for commuting into an equal work than into a lesser one; for greater propensity of the person, or less danger of transgressing the vow, suffices.¹

Quaer. 2° Once a commutation has been made, is it licit to return to the first work?

Resp. 1° Affirmatively, if the commutation was made into a lesser or equal work, because the first work is equally pleasing to God, indeed it seems more pleasing. - Thus commonly.

Resp. 2° Affirmatively, more probably, even if it was made into a better work, because commutation is made in favor of the one vowing.²

395. • Quaer. 3° Must you return to the first work, if the second becomes impossible?

Resp. 1° Negatively, if the change was made by another's authority, even if by your fault it became impossible; because the prior obligation was dissolved by the commutation itself.

Resp. 2° Affirmatively, if you made the commutation according to your own judgment, because then the prior obligation is not dissolved, but is only supposed to be supplied by a better one. - Thus most commonly.³

Quaer. 4° When a reserved vow has been commuted, does the substituted matter also remain reserved?

Resp. Negatively, more probably, because that matter which is substituted is not reserved of itself, although it has the same bond of vow.⁴

For the rest, the faithful, especially women and adolescents, are diligently to be exhorted never to emit vows except by the counsel or approbation of a confessor, especially if there is question of the vow of chastity. But a confessor ought to grant leave or counsel of emitting a vow of perfect and perpetual chastity only with the greatest difficulty and only to persons long proved and of mature age; and often he will act prudently if he grants that leave with the condition added: until it shall seem good to the confessor for the time.

• Likewise those vows to which an obligation of justice is joined, as the vow of perseverance which is customarily emitted in certain religious Congregations; - real vows emitted principally in favor of a third party and accepted by him (n. 392, q. 2°); - and penal vows preservative from sin, unless the commutation is made into another penal work which conduces equally to preserving, as is plain from the Bulls of Jubilee. Cf. Heine, T. I. p. 256. q. 97.

Remember that thou sanctify the Sabbath day.¹

396. • The third precept of the Decalogue is natural insofar as it prescribes that some time be dedicated to public divine worship; but insofar as it determinately designates the Sabbath day, it is ceremonial, and in the new law abrogated, since for the Sabbath day the Church substituted the Lord's day in memory of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Besides the Lord's Day, the Church instituted other feast days for recalling the benefits of our Redemption, or the merits and examples of the Saints, and commands that they, no less than the Lord's Day, be sanctified.

This precept, insofar as it is affirmative, prescribes certain works, and, insofar as it is negative, prohibits certain others; hence a double Chapter.