Following the Lives of the Saints
Following the Lives of the Saints
Question
Whenever I read the books of the lives of the saints, my soul inclines to become like them. Unfortunately, I am not able to do as they did. What do you advise?
Answer
Many of those who wrote about the ideals of the saints mentioned practices the saints reached after perhaps tens of years of striving, without mentioning the disciplines they followed or the gradual steps they took until they reached what they reached.
So do you want—just by reading—to practice all at once what the saints reached in tens of years?!
Place virtue before you, but reaching it requires two things:
(a) Gradual progress. (b) Spiritual guidance.
(c) Also look at a third point, which is the extent to which this virtue suits you personally, in your type of life, which may differ from the type of life of the saint you are reading about.
For example, silence and continual prayer fit the life of solitude, but it is difficult to practice them while mixing with people… otherwise a person may fall into practical complications and perhaps clash with others.
Likewise, severe absolute fasting may suit those who live a solitary life, but does not suit someone who exerts great physical effort or someone in the age of growth…
Generally, in all your spiritual practices, you should be under the guidance of a wise and experienced father, and not walk according to your own will, because “those without a guide fall like the leaves of the trees”… and the guide will protect you from extremism, right-hand deviation, exaggeration, and sudden leaps that have no foundation. Therefore, do not be saddened if you cannot now carry out everything you read about the saints. Perhaps you will be able to later, gradually.
We also notice that every saint had his particular virtue in which he excelled, so do you want to gather all the virtues of all the saints—something that rarely happens… Be moderate.
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