"It is the teaching of many spiritual writers that but for the debt of prayer which is constantly being paid by the hidden contemplative life of the Church, the universe would meet with the disintegration which the sinfulness of man calls down upon it.  In the plan of divine Providence, allowance is made for precisely this work of prayer for which there is no substitute.

It is the teaching of these writers that the apostolic and missionary success of the Church depends upon the interior life of the Church, and is measured by it.  But for the pillar of prayer which goes up invisibly from the world, the visible edifice would decay.  The burden of responsibility which this places upon those who recognize the grace of prayer for what it is must therefore be considerable.  IF WE DO NOT PRAY WHO WILL?  If nobody prays, what will happen to the Church and to the race?

Approach to Prayer - Dom Hubert van Zeller, OSB