of being mere dreamers with no practical aim. If apostolic activity does not derive its life from contemplation and prayer it quickly degenerates into morbid excitement, and falls into decay, without achieving any result.
"It is remarkable (in the history of the Church) how the earth became fruitful and the atmosphere wholesome wherever the Religious Orders shed their light. The monasteries were like so many suns, rising amidst the mists and foulness of paganism, dispersing the thick vapors and causing a wonderful wealth of Christian virtues to grow even from the mire. Whenever a country was thickly studded with monasteries it became Christian. It would not be difficult to prove, logically and historically, that the number and state of the houses belonging to the Contemplative Orders supply a most exact criterion of the intensity and depth of Christian life in any country. "Mgr. Lefebvre. Bishop of Cochin China, perceived this clearly when, immediately after his consecration, being filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, he formed the resolution to found a convent of Carmelites at Saigon. The Governor, hearing that this was the bishop's first decision, remarked that one should not think of luxuries before having a house to live in, and received the answer, 'What you call a luxury is, in my opinion, the first necessity of our Christian ministry. Ten Religious who pray will help me more than twenty missionaries who preach.'
"Prayer and penance are Hie two wings given to a monk whereby he may quit the earth and soar toward heaven. In both alike he regards God and man. By prayer he gives glory to God, and by penance he does reparation, but prayer and penance have the farther aim of sanctifying and purifying man. These are the reasons why a monk spends his life in prayer and mortification.
