Servant of God, Father Isaac Hecker writes:

A saint is all through and all over “heroic.” The saint alone is truly free, his actions are eternal and his life universal. There is no exercise of “heroic virtue” without insurmountable obstacles. Heroism that involves suffering surpasses all other forms of heroism.

This is the heroism that Jesus Christ demands of every one of his disciples. Christ said, “If anyone would be my disciple, let him pick up his cross and follow me.” A Christian is one who suffers because of his vocation. The saint lives for eternity in time and he lives for the spirit in flesh, therefore the saint must suffer.

Those with courage, aspiration and heroism can be satisfied to the full here. For within you is the only true battleground; conquer there and you are greater than Alexander or Napoleon. For vanity conquered one and ambition conquered the other. But in vanquishing yourself, you vanquish the conquerors of Alexander and Napoleon.

Reflection by Father Paul Robichaud, CSP

Saints are like us for if they were not, then we could never relate to them and they could never serve as models for us. As Christians our goal is to follow Jesus by living out faith, hope and love, the three great Christian virtues. What makes saints stand apart from us is that they live these virtues heroically. In his reflection Father Isaac Hecker makes two important points about heroic virtue.

First, that heroic virtue involves suffering. Something no Christian and certainly no saint ever escapes. To live “for eternity in time,” and “spirit in flesh” means to come into conflict with the world and therefore to suffer. When we have faith when faith seems lost, when we hope and things are dark and insolvable and when we love when we have nothing left to give, then we suffer. This is what saints do, living “spirit in flesh.”

 Second, that heroic virtue is ultimately a battle that goes on inside of us. The battleground of Christian virtue is our soul and the struggle we go through happens within. Our ability to have courage and hope is a battle with ourselves. Here Hecker uses the example of two of the greatest generals who ever lived, two warriors who conquered everything but their own souls. Here they lost the battle, Alexander to vanity and Napoleon to ambition. Generals conquer without, saints conquer within.

About this series

Father Paul Robichaud, CSP, is the historian of the Paulist Fathers and postulator of the Cause of Father Hecker. His office is located at the Hecker Center in Washington, D.C.

If you have asked Father Hecker to pray for you or another person who is ill and you believe something miraculous has happened, please phone Father Robichaud at 202-269-2519 or write to [email protected] and tell him your story.