", down the centuries, a variety of other expressions of religious life, in which countless persons, renouncing the world, have consecrated themselves to God through the public profession of the evangelical counsels in accordance with a specific charism and in a stable form of common life, for the sake of carrying out different forms of apostolic service to the People of God.... This is a splendid and varied testimony, reflecting the multiplicity of gifts bestowed by God on founders and foundresses who, in openness to the working of the Holy Spirit successfully interpreted the signs of the times and responded wisely to new needs." (VC 9 ¶ 1,2). In responding to the needs of their time, these institutes might be engaged in the apostolic work of teaching, care of the sick or dying, publishing, evangelization, or other works, always penetrating their apostolic work with contemplation. Open to women or men, this vowed form of religious life is lived in community. Many institutes of apostolic religious life flourish in response to today's needs, engaged in a variety of apostolic works.