When Christ Himself spoke to Paul and called him, He could have opened his eyes at once and made known to him the way of perfection; instead He sent him to Ananias and told him to learn from him the way of truth, saying: Arise and go into the city, and there you will be told what you must do (Acts 9:6).
In this manner He teaches us to be guided by those who are advanced on the way, so that the vision rightly given to Paul should not be wrongly interpreted; otherwise it might lead later generations presumptuously to suppose that each individual must be initiated into the truth directly by God, as Paul was, and not by the fathers…
Source: St. John Cassian in On the Holy Fathers of Sketis: (“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 107)
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