“Being a Contemplative does not mean breaking radically with the world, with the apostolate. The contemplative has to find her way of extending the Kingdom of God, of collaborating in the building up of the earthly city, not only with her prayer and sacrifices, but also with her testimony, silent, it is true, yet which can be understood by men of good will with whom she is in contact.

For this reason, you have to find your own life-style, which, within a contemplative vision, will let you share with your brothers the gratuitous gift of God”-(St. John Paul II “To Cloistered Women Religious in Guadalajara,” January 30, 1979)

An authentic contemplative life is therefore necessarily apostolic. In conformity with the directives of the church, a contemplative monastery should live to the full its insertion into the People of God, each member of whom welcomes and proclaims the Gospel. As a community, no less than individually, a monastery strives to give witness to a life that is profoundly contemplative, simple, sisterly, true, and joyous.

This is how the sisters view their external relations; that is the sharing on the life of the local Church, the bonds of family and friendship, and those relations arising from material or social necessities, etc.

*The above citations are from The Holy Constitutions of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary