Is there a Saint for disobedient hearts?

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Does anyone know of any saint that has struggled with disobedience to our Lord’s teachings? I know of saints who have struggled before knowing Christ and afterwards, they have have stuck with Him.
I ask because I have come to know our Lord and I completely believe in His teachings in Scripture and those of the Church. Yet I have made decisions in the past 5 months that have severly strained (or even cut off) my relationship with Christ. I’ve had an addiction (non-drug) in the past that I struggled with for 7 years and finally, through the grace of Christ I was able to be free from it and had given my life over to Christ more fully. Now, a couple of years later I am in another predicament and I can’t see a way out of this one. My Spiritual Director says that I am not in a constant state of mortal sin (as I supposed) and that I am okay. Yet, I still don’t feel okay. I’m omitting almost everything so that I can keep this concise but I mention this in hopes that someone knows of a saint who has had similar repetitive struggles and overcame them. Thank you.
 
Thomas the Apostle (Doubters)
St. Joseph (Doubters) (Aginst hesitation)

try those
 
How about St. Paul? He had an ongoing struggle. He openly admitted that the very thing he did not want to do was the thing that he did. The fact that you’re struggling and not just giving in is wonderful. Don’t give up!👍
 
Thanks everyone. Are there any Saints (Post-Apostolic) whose writings we have that have struggled with grave sins? Other than St. Teresa of Avila?
 
PDR -
Try St. Camillus de Lellis, who struggled with compulsive gambling even after deciding to be a Franciscan friar. Here’s a link to an article about him from the online Catholic Encyclopedia…
newadvent.org/cathen/03217b.htm

You might also look for a book called “Saints for Sinners” by Alban Goodier, S.J., where I learned about him, as well as my own patron Margaret of Cortona! (Hope that isn’t considered a commercial plug - wasn’t meant to be!! :o )

God bless!!
 
Try St. Augustine of Hippo on for size. He lived with a woman he was not married to (even raised a son with her), then left her and took the son with him. He made a living in what he fully acknowledged as an empty profession in rhetoric (think: crooked lawyer / grifting politician). He had numerous sexual liasions with women and young girls (and possibly boys as well). For a while he all-but disowned her mother, to her grief. All of this after he was Baptized. For years he knew perfectly well how lousy a Christian he was, but it took a long time for him to convert his heart and actions into what his mind already knew. He was the one who coined the quote “Lord give me chastity and obedience, but not yet!” I highly recommend reading his Confessions along with St. Teresa’s for a picture of the inner mind and heart of a persistent sinner who achieved sainthood.
 
So many of the great saints…nay, all ofthe great saints… endured very human struggles.That’s what makes them great saints. Read St. Patrick’s autobiography. How about St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa’s co-Reformer of the Carmelites? He wrote about the “Dark Night of the Soul,” I think, spiritual aridity, that sort of thing. Read St. Athanasius’ biography of St. Anthony of Thebes, the Father of Christian Monasticism. Now, HE struggled…How about ST PETER…he is my favorite Apostle…a genuine human being…he could be the poster boy for blowing hot and cold spiritually, see what a change his encounter with the Risen Christ made in him…
 
Thanks for your posts. Regarding St. Augustine, after the “Pick up and Read” Episode in which he completely converted to what he knew was true, did he return to any of the former sins? This is my dilemma. After his conversion, did he lapse back into the same or even any new serious sins? If not, are there any saints who have? Can you tell me a little more about St. Augustine. Thank you very much. Also, what happened to the child he had?
 
Hi PDR1234;Have you tried the web site www.catholic-forum.com for more info on saints? When you get to the main page look at the left side for “patron saint index”. Click on that and when that page comes up, look at the upper right where you have choices on “list by topic, list by name or topic and name”. List by topic might be your best choice and it will give you many details about the saints. As to St. Augustine, he wrote a book called “Confessions” which might give details on his son and his later life.
 
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PDR1234:
Thanks for your posts. Regarding St. Augustine, after the “Pick up and Read” Episode in which he completely converted to what he knew was true, did he return to any of the former sins? This is my dilemma. After his conversion, did he lapse back into the same or even any new serious sins? If not, are there any saints who have? Can you tell me a little more about St. Augustine. Thank you very much. Also, what happened to the child he had?
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Ah, i see what you mean. From what i know of the biography of St. Augustine, history does not really record anything of the kind. I suppose that makes sence, him becoming a celibate bishop only a few years after rejoining the Church eh?!😉
Unfortunately i have noticed that trend predominant among so most of the Church’s saints: there is Part I of their life that is awful and sinful, a Conversion, then Part II which is (as we have it handed down to us) saintly and perfect. And so many saints either became priests/monks/nuns or were martyred or both that i don’t personally know of any like what you’re looking for. 😦
 
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