Quotable: In This House of Brede (6)

"Contemplatives want to do the work of active orders, the active orders of lay people," said Abbot Bernard.

"Perhaps the lay people will turn to contemplation," said Abbess Catherine.

"Then they will need the very grilles your progressives are seeking to take down; renew the solitude and silence, the prayers we are letting decay with all this busyness.  They should read the Rule--and the Council documents that tell us to go back to our sources--but it seems they cannot read any more, not with their minds."

"Yes.  They have forgotten the meaning of things," said Dame Agnes.

--In this House of Brede, by Rumer Godden