Whether Vows Admit of Dispensation?
Objection 1: It would seem that vows are not subject to dispensation.
It is less to have a vow commuted than to be dispensed from keeping
it. But a vow cannot be commuted, according to Lev. 27:9, 10, "A
beast that may be sacrificed to the Lord, if anyone shall vow, shall
be holy, and cannot be changed, neither a better for a worse, nor a
worse for a better." Much less, therefore, do vows admit of
dispensation.
Obj. 2: Further, no man can grant a dispensation in matters
concerning the natural law and in the Divine precepts, especially
those of the First Table, since these aim directly at the love of
God, which is the last end of the precepts. Now the fulfilment of a
vow is a matter of the natural law, and is commanded by the Divine
law, as shown above (A. 3), and belongs to the precepts of the First
Table since it is an act of religion. Therefore vows do not admit of
dispensation.
Obj. 3: Further, the obligation of a vow is based on the fidelity
which a man owes to God, as stated above (A. 3). But no man can
dispense in such a matter as this. Neither, therefore, can any one
grant a dispensation from a vow.
_On the contrary,_ That which proceeds from the common will of many
has apparently greater stability than that which proceeds from the
individual will of some one person. Now the law which derives its
force from the common will admits of dispensation by a man. Therefore
it seems that vows also admit of dispensation by a man.
_I answer that,_ The dispensation from a vow is to be taken in the
same sense as a dispensation given in the observance of a law
because, as stated above (I-II, Q. 96, A. 6; Q. 97, A. 4), a law is
made with an eye to that which is good in the majority of instances.
But since in certain cases this is not good, there is need for
someone to decide that in that particular case the law is not to be
observed. This is properly speaking to dispense in the law: for a
dispensation would seem to denote a commensurate distribution or
application of some common thing to those that are contained under
it, in the same way as a person is said to dispense food to a
household.
In like manner a person who takes a vow makes a law for himself as it
were, and binds himself to do something which in itself and in the
majority of cases is a good. But it may happen that in some
particular case this is simply evil, or useless, or a hindrance to a
greater good: and this is essentially contrary to that which is the
matter of a vow, as is clear from what has been said above (A. 2).
Therefore it is necessary, in such a case, to decide that the vow is
not to be observed. And if it be decided absolutely that a particular
vow is not to be observed, this is called a "dispensation" from that
vow; but if some other obligation be imposed in lieu of that which
was to have been observed, the vow is said to be "commuted." Hence it
is less to commute a vow than to dispense from a vow: both, however,
are in the power of the Church.
Reply Obj. 1: An animal that could be lawfully sacrificed was deemed
holy from the very moment that it was the subject of a vow, being, as
it were, dedicated to the worship of God: and for this reason it
could not be changed: even so neither may one now exchange for
something better, or worse, that which one has vowed, if it be
already consecrated, e.g. a chalice or a house. On the other hand, an
animal that could not be sacrificed, through not being the lawful
matter of a sacrifice, could and had to be bought back, as the law
requires. Even so, vows can be commuted now, if no consecration has
intervened.
Reply Obj. 2: Even as man is bound by natural law and Divine precept
to fulfil his vow, so, too, is he bound under the same heads to obey
the law or commands of his superiors. And yet when he is dispensed
from keeping a human law, this does not involve disobedience to that
human law, for this would be contrary to the natural law and the
Divine command; but it amounts to this--that what was law is not law
in this particular case. Even so, when a superior grants a
dispensation, that which was contained under a vow is by his
authority no longer so contained, in so far as he decides that in
this case such and such a thing is not fitting matter for a vow.
Consequently when an ecclesiastical superior dispenses someone from a
vow, he does not dispense him from keeping a precept of the natural
or of the Divine law, but he pronounces a decision on a matter to
which a man had bound himself of his own accord, and of which he was
unable to consider every circumstance.
Reply Obj. 3: The fidelity we owe to God does not require that we
fulfil that which it would be wrong or useless to vow, or which would
be an obstacle to the greater good whereunto the dispensation from
that vow would conduce. Hence the dispensation from a vow is not
contrary to the fidelity due to God.
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