1 Samuel 1:11

And Anna made a vow, etc. The Church vows, if the word would be entrusted to the nations, and the grace of faith would be granted, and a people strong in virtues would arise from them, that they would serve the Lord until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and never in the example of the Jews, they would bend the knee to Baalim and Astarte, and the other idols of the nations. But if you understand the days allegorically as virtues, all the days of their life are given to the Lord; whatever honest life they live, whatever clear thing they bear in mind or body, they attribute not to themselves, but with the Apostle they proclaim: By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. XV).

(Moral Exposition) She vows her son to Almighty God who seeks the joy of contemplation for the fruit of the mind, not for the favor of vanity. But carnal superiors are accustomed to resist vehemently those who rightly seek the desire of contemplation; for they think that those desiring a more secluded life act all the more foolishly, because they themselves are ignorant of the power of interior sweetness. If they sometimes rage against spiritual subjects with the voice of harsh rebuke, they must be calmed by the most humble reasoning. For if they unreasonably rise up against those acting rightly, the reverence due to the higher order requires that they be honored even when they exceed the measure of reason. Both of these—namely carnal prelates and spiritual subjects—Eli and Anna well represent; for when he sat before the doorposts of the Lord's temple and Anna prayed, Eli watched her mouth and called her drunk. But she, who patiently endured the insults, displayed humility of response with truthful reasoning. She declared herself his handmaid, speaking from much grief and sorrow, and not only calmed his angry spirit against her, but even turned him to prayer for obtaining the fruit of her desire.

And a razor shall not come upon his head. And the reproof of sin shall not violate his conscience; but as far as it is possible for man, he endeavors to consecrate all his thoughts, words, and deeds, which gradually proceed as if from the brain of the heart, to Christ as a true Nazarite. Consequently, the hair of the apostles, because they are holy, cannot perish from their head (Luke XXI). However, the leprous, unclean person, and the woman captured by enemies, and others of that kind, are commanded to shave not only all the hair of their heads but also the hairs of their entire body, because they are vile and polluted; so that once the excess of mortal actions is cut off, whatever is found of living perfection in them may be more freely consecrated to the Creator. But we say these things, not because we believe that any saint has lived this life without the stain of sin, nor that what is said applies to anyone except Christ: And whatever he does shall prosper (Psalm I); but because we all ought to strive to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness before him all our days (Luke I); according to him who said: I have sworn and determined to keep the judgments of your justice (Psalm CXVIII). Yet it is not in vain that it is preached elsewhere, saying: And do not enter into judgment with your servant, because no living person shall be justified in your presence (Psalm CXLII). Hence, more truly, these words of Anna can be understood as spoken by the Church about the Lord himself; whom she always desires to be generated in her and her members by the grace of new virtue. For he alone, because he lived without sin in the flesh, was given to the Lord all the days of his life, finding nothing in himself whatsoever that he would cut off by repenting.