For all its successes, however, and despite the hard work undertaken by its members, there is much room for improvement within the modern pro-life movement, particularly in the spiritual and moral realm. This article is therefore aimed, not at evaluating the political or financial strategies of pro-life organizations, but at correcting the poor formation of their Catholic members, which is at the heart of many of their problems.
To find a solution to this spiritual problem, one needs to look no further than Dom Chautard’s classic, The Soul of the Apostolate. Although written over a hundred years ago, this little book graced the nightstand of Pope St. Pius X and remains a treasure house of practical advice for religious and laity alike.
The Soul of the Apostolate explains what the well-formed Catholic activist should look like and of what his or her habits should comprise. Speaking through Dom Chautard, Pope Pius gives us the fundamental attribute of any activist; piety:
“To restore all things in Christ by the apostolate of good works we need divine grace, and the apostle will receive it only if he is one with Christ. When we have formed Jesus Christ in ourselves, then only shall we be able to give Him easily to families and to societies. Therefore all those who share in the apostolate must have solid piety.”
In Dom Chautard’s opinion, this piety is nurtured in two ways: through the habitual practice of mental prayer and through suffering. Within pro-life work there is, of course, no shortage of suffering. Dom Chautard urges us to be sure to do so in union with Jesus Christ so that our suffering becomes fruitful. “A man may suffer like a pagan, like the damned, or like a saint”, he writes. It is up to us to embrace all the sufferings inherent in our pro-life work: those small inconveniences and tedious occupations as well as the more serious misunderstandings, crises and persecutions.
Dom Chautard put it this way: the apostle “...knows that often God wants from him nothing more than the seeds of success. Others will come who will reap plentiful harvests and perhaps think that the result is due to themselves. But Heaven will know that the cause of it was in the thankless and apparently barren toil which went before…”
The other road to piety, mental prayer, is more common among traditional Catholics, but is something to which the majority of mainstream Catholics have not been introduced. Thus it remains an underutilized tool for the pro-life community. Great saints, such as Francis de Sales, Teresa of Avila and Alphonsus Ligouri have written that sanctity is virtually unachievable without mental prayer. Also known as ‘Meditation’, it is an excellent source of ongoing formation. Mental prayer is indispensable if we are to go out 'as lambs among wolves’ to engage with a godless, un-catechised culture and it is something which needs to be recommended more often to Catholic activists.
After piety, Dom Chautard mentions a second essential trait of the effective Apostolic worker: a Eucharistic life. He goes so far as to say that “the good results obtained by an apostolate correspond invariably to the degree of Eucharistic life acquired by the apostle.” He contrasts this with someone who tries to convince without having a solid Eucharistic life; his ‘passing enthusiasm’ will leave the heart and will of the listener ‘impregnable.’
For the busy layperson, frequenting Holy Mass for the sake of our Apostolate may seem difficult to achieve. But we have only to consider the effectiveness of those traditional, praying communities of religious men and women - the powerhouses of prayer from which graces flow to the outside, active world. Their secret is their devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and we should do our best to emulate them.
Although it is true that there are fewer temptations and distractions in a monastery, it would be a mistake for the pro-life activist to think that, unlike the cloistered religious, he or she is not called to a high degree of sanctity. Dom Chautard addressed this fallacy, drawing on the wisdom of St. Teresa: “Since I have been Prioress, burdened with much work and obliged to travel frequently, I commit many more faults. And yet, since I struggle generously and work only for God, I feel that I am drawing nearer and nearer to Him.” By her words, St. Teresa shows that it is possible to achieve sanctity despite - or rather through - our active pro-life work.
Dom Chautard also provides recommendations for the running of an organization. Using advice from a French priest of his time, he lays out the practicalities of forming Catholics into passionate evangelists. These ideas were designed to be applied to the ‘parish, seminary, schools, club’ and are just as relevant to the pro lifer seeking guidance about how best to run an organization. For example: when recruiting, look for quality rather than quantity. Set a high standard for your members’ virtue and for the practice of the Faith. Fill your members’ time with quality lectures rather than with entertainment. Don’t try to do anything too big or too flashy: simple surroundings are the most appropriate. Focus on the life of prayer rather than providing diversions, and so the advice goes on. This is all valuable practical guidance which is just as applicable in America or Australia today as it was a hundred years ago in France.
Consider also the hours spent by many unknown souls praying outside abortion mills without seeing babies and mothers saved - this is even truer now in a place like Australia where huge exclusion zones operate. Supernatural faith is required to maintain the commitment to witnessing for life where there is little hope of seeing any fruits, yet it is to this work that many are still being called.
Crucially, the sound teachings in The Soul of the Apostolate point to the ultimate goals of the pro-life activist from the traditional Catholic perspective. It reminds us that the goals of saving babies, changing the culture and making abortion unthinkable are subservient to a higher principle: the salvation of souls. Dom Chautard writes that while acts of self-denial are proofs of charity, ‘feeding the sheep’ is an even deeper proof. He writes, “St. Francis believed that he could not be the friend of our Lord, if his charity was not devoted to the salvation of souls.”
The last important lesson of Dom Chautard which this article will mention is that success is never meant to be one of our goals. This is hardly surprising given that even saints failed in their goals from time to time, although of course, success stories and miracles also abound. Dom Chautard put it this way: the apostle “...knows that often God wants from him nothing more than the seeds of success. Others will come who will reap plentiful harvests and perhaps think that the result is due to themselves. But Heaven will know that the cause of it was in the thankless and apparently barren toil which went before…”
How often we see this in the pro-life world: saintly pioneers who die in obscurity contrasted with celebrity activists who fail to acknowledge the achievements of their predecessors. Consider also the hours spent by many unknown souls praying outside abortion mills without seeing babies and mothers saved - this is even truer now in a place like Australia where huge exclusion zones operate. Supernatural faith is required to maintain the commitment to witnessing for life where there is little hope of seeing any fruits, yet it is to this work that many are still being called.
Dom Chautard reminds us that obstacles and lack of recognition are no problem for the activist with a solid interior life. He quotes the beautiful words of a priest of his day, “The apostle is a chalice full to the brim with the life of Jesus Christ, the overflow of which is poured out upon souls.” This is the heart and soul of pro-life work: to drain the chalice of suffering in union with Christ in order to pass on His graces to the world.
In summary, a consistent prayer life and formation in the supernatural virtues are prerequisites for any Catholic who feels called to pro-life work. Without those disciplines, they are using only human means to engage in what is fundamentally a spiritual battle: the supernatural equivalent of taking a knife to a gunfight.
As Dom Chautard reminds us in The Soul of the Apostolate, “If God calls me to devote my energy not only to my own sanctification but also to good works, I must establish this firm conviction before all else in my mind: Our Lord must be and wishes to be the life of these works.”
Latest from RTV — LOSING STEAM: Will Big Compromise Derail the Trump Train?
