In this age of relentless activity it is easy for Christians, particularly those involved in good works, to fall into the pattern of the activist. But mere activity and material results are not sufficient for a successful apostolate.
In his classic work The Soul of the Apostolate, Dom Chautard demonstrates that the very foundation of all apostolic work must be the Interior Life. The apostle of Christ will grow to become an instrument and true channel of God’s graces to the world only through prayer, meditation and the cultivation of the Interior Life. When one is involved in works of spiritual or corporal charity, his work can only be truly efficacious when he anchors his Interior Life in Christ. Without Christ we can do nothing. Inside you’ll learn about the:
- Pre-eminence of the Interior Life over the Active Life
- Dangers of the Active Life: for you and your apostolate
- The Devil’s special temptations for those working for Our Lord
- Steps necessary in order to develop and grow in the Interior Life
- Necessity of the Interior Life to a successful and spiritually fruitful apostolate
For anyone who would work for Our Lord and His Church there is simply no book more important to read and to follow than The Soul of the Apostolate.
Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard was born in 1858. For many years, he served as the abbot of Sept-Fons, a Cictercian monastery located in France. Best known for his writings on the apostolate, he emphasized the fact that its fruitfulness depends upon the deep interior life of the apostle. The Soul of the Apostolate was originally published in 1977 and reprinted in 2008. Dom Chautard died in 1935.
