The Eighteenth Chapter

     CONSIDER the lively examples set us by the saints, who possessed the light of true perfection and

religion, and you will see how little, how nearly nothing, we do. What, alas, is our life, compared

with theirs? The saints and friends of Christ served the Lord in hunger and thirst, in cold and

nakedness, in work and fatigue, in vigils and fasts, in prayers and holy meditations, in persecutions

and many afflictions. How many and severe were the trials they suffered?the Apostles, martyrs,

confessors, virgins, and all the rest who willed to follow in the footsteps of Christ! They hated their

lives on earth that they might have life in eternity.

     How strict and detached were the lives the holy hermits led in the desert! What long and grave

temptations they suffered! How often were they beset by the enemy! What frequent and ardent

prayers they offered to God! What rigorous fasts they observed! How great their zeal and their love

for spiritual perfection! How brave the fight they waged to master their evil habits! What pure and

straightforward purpose they showed toward God! By day they labored and by night they spent

themselves in long prayers. Even at work they did not cease from mental prayer. They used all their

time profitably; every hour seemed too short for serving God, and in the great sweetness of

contemplation, they forgot even their bodily needs.

     They renounced all riches, dignities, honors, friends, and associates. They desired nothing of

the world. They scarcely allowed themselves the necessities of life, and the service of the body,

even when necessary, was irksome to them. They were poor in earthly things but rich in grace and

virtue. Outwardly destitute, inwardly they were full of grace and divine consolation. Strangers to

the world, they were close and intimate friends of God. To themselves they seemed as nothing, and

they were despised by the world, but in the eyes of God they were precious and beloved. They lived

in true humility and simple obedience; they walked in charity and patience, making progress daily

on the pathway of spiritual life and obtaining great favor with God.

ought to be greater than that of the lukewarm to tempt us to laxity.

     How great was the fervor of all religious in the beginning of their holy institution! How great

their devotion in prayer and their rivalry for virtue! What splendid discipline flourished among

them! What great reverence and obedience in all things under the rule of a superior! The footsteps

they left behind still bear witness that they indeed were holy and perfect men who fought bravely

and conquered the world.

     Today, he who is not a transgressor and who can bear patiently the duties which he has taken

upon himself is considered great. How lukewarm and negligent we are! We lose our original fervor

very quickly and we even become weary of life from laziness! Do not you, who have seen so many

examples of the devout, fall asleep in the pursuit of virtue!

     Prabuddha Bharata>>>

     Vedanta Kesari>>>