Religious are the nobility, the aristocracy of the Church. But as the nobility of a kingdom form its main strength, and is always in the first rank, to defend the person of the prince and the honor of their country; as we see them expose themselves to all perils with admirable courage, which proves that they count their own life as nothing, so ought the religious to be in the first rank to defend the sacred Person of Jesus Christ and the Church, which is His kingdom.
--St. Peter Julian Eymard
