Can you apply one saint's advice to every Orthodox Christian?

In Protestantism people take the Bible and proof-text: they make a statement, then say, this is what the Bible says, therefore what I'm saying is true, and they all come to different conclusions. I've noticed the same thing now with some Orthodox, particularly converts. They proof-text the saints: one saint said this one thing 1700 years ago, therefore it's applicable to all people at all times, as if the saints were little popes and every word is infallible.

But the saints spoke specific words of instruction to certain people at certain times, fitting those circumstances, most likely to their own spiritual children whom they knew and understood. That isn't to say the faith is relativistic, but the application of the faith has nuance for each person's circumstances. One of the elders said, if I gave the same person the same medicine at two different times of their life, it would have dramatically different results.

People even look at the canons of the church as binding laws with no nuance, no historical context, no culture. You take something said to somebody 150 years ago in Greece and apply it to a brand-new convert in America, and it's a completely different context. It's not that what the saint said was wrong, but the application of it could be too much for that person.

The bishop added something I found true: even if he tried to apply something told to someone else, it wouldn't sit right inside him, because his relationship with God is very personal.