‘I do, by the help of God, Reverend Father,’ responded the novice. The Superior commended his good intention, and said: ‘Yea, verily, it is a beautiful and laudable service to which thou art now consecrating thy life. Mayest thou also fulfil thy vows! But so grave an undertaking cannot be faithfully borne without toil, and self-denial, and prayer.’ Then the Superior again demanded: ‘Is it of thine own free will that thou hast come hither before the Lord?’ ‘Yea, Reverend Father.’ ‘Not by necessity, nor by force?’ ‘No, Reverend Father.’ ‘Wilt thou abide here in the monastery, and submit thyself wholly to a monk’s life of self-denial and austerity, until the day of thy decease? Wilt thou all the days of thy life be obedient to thy Prior, and to this Brotherhood in Christ? Wilt thou keep thyself in temperance and chastity? Dost thou forsake all thy possessions, and all that is in the world?’ To all these demands the novice responded with lowly voice, in consciousness of his own frailty, but in hope of help from on high, ‘Yea, Reverend Father.’ After this public confession, which is intended to remove every fear that force may have been used in securing the devotion of the novice, the Superior addressed to Ambrose some further words of admonition, in which he clearly explained to him the significance and the claims of the monastic life. He again pointed out to him its principal rules, which demand chastity, humility, obedience, and self-denial. He warned him against the temptations with which the chief enemy of mankind would assail him, more especially by bringing before him, awake and asleep, visions of his former life in the world, its joys, its hopes, and its sorrows. He made mention of the martyrs as examples to be followed, and even spoke of the Lord Himself, Who, for our sake, ‘denied Himself, so that He became obedient unto death,’ and then demanded of him once more, ‘All this thou dost pledge thyself to observe, in reliance on God’s might, and dost promise to keep thy vow unbroken, all the days of thy life, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?’ ‘I do, with the help of the Lord, Reverend Father,’ responded once more the new champion of the Lord. The Superior then said a prayer, in which he called to mind God’s mercy when He spake to the children of Israel, ‘Even though a mother forget her child, yet will I not forget thee;’ and he sought to confirm the soul of the new brother with the promise of Divine strength and comfort from the Holy Ghost in the spiritual struggles which were to come upon him. Then the Superior pointed to the Book of the Gospels, which lay upon a table, as a symbol of Christ’s presence, and again put him in remembrance that he had, of his own free will, made request to enter the order of monks.