Consider the many and grievous trials endured by the Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and indeed all the Saints who folllowed in the footsteps of our Lord! In order to possess everlasting life they rejected honors and all the pleasures of this life.
How strict and mortified was the life our Fathers led in the wilderness! How many grievous temptations they endured and violent assaults of the devil! How fervently they prayed daily to God, imposing rigid fasts on themselves! What ardent zeal to advance in the spiritual life! What relentless war they waged against all sin and with what pure and wholehearted intention did they aspire toward God!
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