The Saints Must Guide Us

by Fr. Rawley Myers

We are the Church of the saints, but because we live in a highly commercialized society in which the media tell us that new is best in order to sell new products, we tend to disregard the past . . . and the saints.

Ignorance of the saints is spiritual suicide. If another church had one of our saints, its members would be talking about him or her night and day. Our Church holds in memory the lives of hundreds and hundreds of holy people who have gone before us, but being chronologically prejudiced, we disregard them. It must be true that Catholics today know less about the saints than almost any other generation. And we think we are bright—a flattery advertising constantly casts out to us in order to sell gadgets. The saints were wise, and in ignoring them, we show ourselves to be foolish.

Wisdom comes from prayer. The saints were first of all men and women of prayer, and so were wise. One quote of a saint is far wiser than a whole essay by a modern religion writer.

St. Maximus said, “A spirit united to God in prayer and love acquires wisdom, goodness, strength, benevolence, and greatness of soul.” A thoughtful person could meditate on that one sentence for a very long time. The average Catholic, however, has never heard of it. We are too busy running around and don’t have time for the saints. Consequently, we are confused about many things in life, and until we turn to the saints and their wisdom, we will always be confused.

St. John Climacus said, “The single expression of the publican, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner,’ was sufficient to open the floodgates of divine compassion.” Think how wonderful this is. He is telling us that if we pray God will help us abundantly. It is obvious that most people pray little these days; most people pray less than their parents did, and they wonder why they are bewildered by life’s challenges.

St. Isaac said, “What time is so holy as the time of prayer in which we speak with God?” And according to St. Cyprian, “In silence, like the sunlight God illuminates your mind.” You want a way out of confusion? The saints tell us in the simplest terms what can help us, but all too often our pride makes us blind and deaf. It is interesting that the people with the least talent are often the most proud. Pride often follows thoughtlessness.

St. Augustine said, “He in truth knows how to live rightly, who knows how to pray rightly.” Do we have to be hit over the head to understand these things? Has our mindless submission to the media’s efforts to control our thoughts and our lives made us comatose?

St. John Chrysostom said, “I deem it to be manifest to all that it is simply impossible to continue in virtue without the protection of prayer.” St. Augustine said, “Holy Spirit, be in me so that my thoughts may be holy; act in me, that my deeds may be holy. Strengthen me, guard me, guide me, O Holy Spirit.”

One thing we do notice these days is that proud people are easily insulted. Thus, even some Christians are already hurt by these words. Logic tells us that we are unwise and that the saints are wise and we can learn so much from them. But people who allow themselves to be manipulated by the media are not logical. Nourished on the lies that they are “bright” and just fine as they are, they are only hurt that someone has told them the truth.

When Christ told the proud Pharisees that they were hypocrites, they never once asked if this might be so; they turned on him with all their fury.

Read the saints, and you will truly know how to walk with Christ. Listen to the saints, and they will show you the way. St. Anselm prayed, “Speak now, my whole heart, speak now to God, saying I seek your face; Lord, I seek and come to You now, O my Lord. Teach my heart where and how it may seek you, where and how it may find you.”

The saints show us that in prayer we invite Christ to be born in our souls. Wisdom, which comes from prayer, is a relish for what is good. In prayer we stretch out our arms to Christ.

Knowledge of the saints can keep us from the hysteria that threatens us in the modern world. The darkness of life turns to a nightmare without Christ. Why are so many people today escaping in booze, drugs, and promiscuous sex? Because they are in the dark and know no way out.

There is a way out, as the saints reveal it. It is Christ. With Christ, “the child of God shouts for joy,” as the Scriptures tell us. We need to pray to recover our spiritual sanity. It is in our hopeless moments that we need Christ.

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