"By their lives and mission, the members of these institutes [completely devoted to contemplation] imitate Christ in his prayer on the mountain, bear witness to God's lordship over history and anticipate the glory which is to come. In solitude and silence, by listening to the word of God, participating in divine worship, personal asceticism, prayer, mortification and the communion of fraternal love, these women or men direct the whole of their lives and all their activities to the contemplation of God. In this way they offer the ecclesial community a singular testimony of the Church's love for her Lord, and they contribute, with hidden apostolic fruitfulness, to the growth of the People of God." (VC 8 ¶ 1,2) Open to men or women, this vowed form of religious life is lived in community. Carmelite institutes flourish as an example of the contemplative form of consecrated life.