Wednesday january 6, 2010 The Carthusian mission is a hidden apostolate. A Carthusian Prior once said to me "We never see the good we do, but I am perfectly sure that it is done." There is no satisfaction of accomplishment, no congratulations from friends. Like the widow's two brass coins (Luke 21:2), the Carthusian contribution is unmarked and lost in the treasury of the Temple of God. The Carthusian lives in the darkness of faith; and the patient hope in the darkness lends added value to his life of prayer and penance. His life is the very opposite of selfishness. It is a holocaust of self-sacrifice, a complete immolation of all that the world holds dear in order that through the darkness of faith, he may approach the Throne of Him Who lives in inapproachable light and also help to lead through the darkness an unknown and unnumbered multitude of the children of God. 7:11:17 AM