According to a national survey, “65% of workers said that workplace stress had caused difficulties” and more than 10 per cent described these difficulties as “major.”
Work stress is a common word nowadays and if you find that you are suffering from work stress in both your mind and spirit, you can call the saint, Walter of Pontoise.
He was born in France during the 11th century. Walter was an intelligent and devout man, who became a professor of philosophy and rhetoric. He then felt being called to the religious life and become a Benedictine monk at Rebais-en-Brie.
King Philip noticed his natural abilities and appointed him abbot of a monastery in Pontoise against his will. Walter didn’t have much of a choice, so he obediently accepted his new position.
However, the appointment wasn’t easy and the discipline at the monastery before he arrived was horrid. Walter fled several times from the monastery because he couldn’t deal with the stress of the situation.
He even fled as far as Rome and delivered a letter of resignation to Pope Gregory VII. The Holy Father turned him back and said he was forbidden to run away from his monastery ever again.
After coming back to Pontoise, Walter worked hard to combat corruption and the lack of discipline among his monks and the clergy of the region. This caused many of the priests to be angry, and they captured and imprisoned him. He was eventually released and he resumed the work he had begun, devoting himself more to prayer, and asking God to grant him the strength to persevere.