In the act of profession Dominicans promise only obedience. Yet our brief formula includes the whole reality of our religious commitment, that is, all the elements of our life and our future. With God’s consecrating action we make a costly renunciation, a total gift of our person, pledging our full confidence in Him and His providential care. Lived by a free choice this kind of obedience liberates us from our selfishness, our will-to-power, and our defenses. It leads us to maturity and binds us more closely to Christ. Our Dominican obedience is essentially communal, having as its model the obedience of the apostles to Christ, and as its rule the common good of the Kingdom of God. Obedience is the principle of unity in the community. With the common good of the Church and the Order for its foundation, it directs all the members of the community to that good and to fidelity to the purpose of community.
Chastity for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven is a gift of grace. God has loved us first and our preferential love for Christ is simply a response to this gratuitous love. We live to follow the Lamb who offered himself in sacrifice for all. Chastity touches the deepest instincts of our human nature. We give over to God our sexuality, all our needs to love and be loved, to bear and nurture children. In practicing chastity we gradually attain purity of heart, freedom of spirit and depth of selfless love. We are enabled to give ourselves up to God with greater energy, serenity and fruitfulness. Chastity frees the heart of a woman in a unique way so that she may be drawn to the continual remembrance of God and be more inflamed with love of Him and of all people.
Aware that all material contingencies will one day cease, members of the community live without many of the things people of today think are essential. We possess nothing of our own, holding all things in common, using them with responsible care. In this way all things are at the service of the one true Good. True mendicant poverty liberates us from all forms of greed, and sets us on the way of conversion to be configured to the poor Christ. It enables us to turn away from the pursuit of the vanities of the world and to lift our hearts joyfully to God and to His Kingdom. In this way we will be made rich with the riches of God himself. Poverty is completely oriented to the common life; we are gathered together “into one,” so all that we possess is “one.” This makes us dependent upon one another. Poverty is always subordinate to charity which is that true good of the Kingdom which we seek to attain by our vowed life.