People were astonished that His Holiness Pope Pius XI named a contemplative as Patroness of the foreign missions. St. Francis Xavier well and good! But St. Therese of the Infant Jesus! The Carmelites do not have the formation of missionaries on their program, nor the evangelization of foreign countries.
The answer to that objection is that there are many ways of working for the salvation of infidels. The effective conversion of distant countries suggests to us at first thought the necessity of traveling to the foreign country; learning the language; living with the poor; but if we reflect, we will understand that to pray and sacrifice for the world also obtains redeeming graces.
One might be tempted to say more fruitful graces, inasmuch as exterior zeal is always diminished and limited by time and space; of itself the apostolate of prayer and sacrifice is limitless. The apostle of the foreign mission knows well that it is the holiness of his life, the continual sacrifices he must make that count more than his words and actions in the work of converting souls.
If God has called me to a Congregation devoted to foreign missions, my joy should be immense that I am privileged to serve Him at the outposts of Christendom. If He has called me to serve Him in a Congregation which does not care directly for the missions, nor even for an exterior apostolate, I must remind myself that by offering my prayer and my generosity, I can help in the salvation of souls in the most distant regions.
In either case, I ought to make of myself, in a great degree, an apostolic soul. Grant, O my God, that I may be haunted by the thought of the salvation of the world. May Thy Kingdom Come! Adveniat Regnum Tuum.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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