Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), in his book The Soul of the Apostolate, pointed out that “the interior life begetting interior life” and “the formation of truly apostolic lay people” are the keys to the success and longevity of apostolic enterprise.
Dom Chautard wrote: “No work takes deep root, or has real stability, or will perpetuate itself, unless the apostle has begotten the interior life in other souls. Naturally, he cannot do this unless he himself is strong in the inner life.”
He explained: “Any purely worldly and non-Christian enterprise is able to obtain eager proselytes who will spread propaganda, and make friends and influence others, in general, whether prompted by brotherly spirit or by rivalry. In such a case, fanaticism or a spirit of competition, sectarianism, or vainglory, solidarity or rivalry are all that is needed to stir them up to activity. But when it comes to creating apostles after the Heart of Christ, apostles who share His gentleness and humility, His disinterested goodness, and His zeal for the glory of God His Father alone, is there any other force than can pretend to do this work than an intensive interior life? As long as an enterprise has not been able to produce such a result as this, its survival is uncertain. It is almost a foregone conclusion that it will not outlive the one who started it. But there is no doubt whatever that the reason for the long life of certain other works is generally to be found in the single fact that interior life has begotten more interior life.”
As a young priest Dom Chautard learned from Canon Timon-David the aim of forming a youth club. Canon Timon-David said, “Our ambition must be to form workers in whom the love of God is so strong that after they have married and left the club they should remain apostles, eager to share their charity with the greatest possible number of souls.”
Canon Timon-David used the word “crutches” to describe the various modern amusements (like plays, bands, movies, complicated and expensive games, and so on) to attract youths to their clubs and keep them there. It is a great mistake to put those amusements in the first place or to place excessive confidence in them.
Pointing to the example of the primitive Church, Dom Chautard asked: “Can you quote any fact, just one fact, to show that during that time the Church needed to think up amusements to turn aside the souls she was going to conquer from the filth of pagan shows?”
Dom Chautard concluded that the examples of the past teach us that “preaching by example will always be the foremost instrument of conversions.” He said, “We need to influence people by an apostolate of good example, the example of fervent Christians, who make Jesus Christ live again on this earth by spreading about them the good odor of His virtues.”
Dom Chautard recounted the following incident of Pope St. Pius X: One day the Pope asked a group of cardinals: “What is the thing we most need, today, to save society?” One cardinal said, “Build Catholic schools.” Another cardinal said, “More churches.” A third cardinal said, “Speed up the recruiting of priests.”
But the saintly Pope said, “The most necessary thing of all, at this time, is for every parish to possess a group of laymen who will be at the same time virtuous, enlightened, resolute, and truly apostolic.”
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen said, “Souls are attracted far more by thoughts and ideas that are lived than by ideas alone.” He added that a truly interior soul is, of itself, an apostle. “The more deeply interior a soul is, the more brightly will its light shine upon other souls and bring them to God.”
St. Bernard said, “It is vain merely to give light, and it is but little merely to burn; but to burn and give light together is perfection.” Further on the saint added: “It is in a particular manner to apostle and apostolic men that are addressed these words: Let your light shine before men. For such as these ought to be ardent, yea, very ardent.”
『燃燒和發光一起是完美』
若翰肖塔爾院牧在他的著作『使徒的靈魂』中，指出『內修生活引致內修生活』和『構建平信徒為真使徒』是使徒事業成功的重要關鍵。
肖塔爾院牧寫道：『沒有任何的工作有深植的根，或真實的穩固，或會延續的，除非使徒把內修生活引入其他靈魂中。自然地，在他是辦不到的，除非這使徒他自己有強壯的內修生活。』他解釋說：『任何純俗世的和非基督徒的事業都可以得到熱誠的追隨者，他們會推廣、傳播，多交朋友，影響他人，一般是由弟兄情諠或競所驅使。在這種情況下，狂熱或是一份比較的精神，宗教主義或是虛榮，或是競爭，便是一切所需的，去激發他們的行動。可是當培育具基督心靈的使徒時，要分享祂的溫和和謙遜，祂的無私的善和唯獨對天主聖父光榮的熱忱，還有什麼的力量比內修生活更為有效？因為一事業未能做到這樣的效果，它的生存是不能確定的。它的結論是差不多可以預料到不會比始創人長壽。但是不可置疑，一些事業之能夠持久的原因是內修生活導致更多的內修生活。』
肖塔爾院牧在年青的時候，從蒂蒙大衛神父學到，成立一個青年群組的目標。蒂蒙大衛神父說：『我們的抱負應該是組織一些工作者，在他們內蘊藏著天主強烈的愛，當他們結婚離開了這群組後，他們仍然是使徒，渴望著將他們的關愛分享給盡可能多的靈魂們。』
蒂蒙大衛神父以『托臂拐杖』一詞形容現世的娛樂（如比賽，樂隊，電影，複雜和昴貴的遊戲等等）去吸引青年參加他們的社團，把他們留在那裡。把這些娛樂放在首位或把太多的信念寄放在這些娛樂中，是一個大的錯誤。指著早期的教會作例，肖塔爾院牧問道：『你可以提供任何一個事實，只是一個，去告訴我們，在那個時候教會曾否需要構思一些娛樂，把那些她要轉化的靈魂從外教表演的污穢中救拔出來？』
肖塔爾院牧總結，過去的例子教導我們：『以榜樣宣道時常是皈依的首要工具。』他說：『我們要以使徒的好榜樣去影響他人，熱心基督信徒的榜樣，在世上傳送祂德行的芬芳，讓基督再次活於世上。』
肖塔爾院牧再說教宗聖庇護十世的事件。一天教宗問一群樞機主教：『今天為拯救社會，我們最需要的是什麼？』一位樞機說：『多興建天主教學校』。另一位樞機說：『多一些聖堂』。等三位樞機說：『加速招募神父』。但神聖的教宗說：『在這時候，在一切事中，最需要的是所有的堂區中，要擁有一組平信徒，同時他們是要有德行的，開明的，有決心的和要是真實的使徒。』
聖瑪利亞、瑪達肋納佳播神父說：『靈魂為活出的思想和理念所吸引，遠比僅僅的理念更為多。』他補充說，一個真實內修的靈魂，它本身是一位使徒。『靈魂愈有內修，就愈能發光普照其他的靈魂，把他們帶回天主處。』
聖伯爾納鐸說：『只能發光是徒勞的，只能燃燒是不足的；但燃燒和發光一起才是完美。』這聖人進一步補充說：『使徒和具使徒使命的人，有個具體的舉止去履行這些話語：讓你的光在人前照耀。因為一如這些，應該是熱烈的，對，十分熱烈的。』
