Exaggeration lies in wait for sensitive and imaginative persons. A good proof of this is given by the false lights which come only from a somewhat troubled soul; or from simple remembrances of past reading; from uncontrolled impulses that a little more wisdom would reveal as emanating from the Spirit of Evil transformed for the needs of his cause into an Angel of Light.
How many examples of this we find throughout the History of the Church! Some said "Let us close the books, forget studies, and give ourselves to prayer and nothing but prayer," and others, "The servants of God should not obey a superior in anything that would disturb contemplation." Under pretext of developing the spirit of prayer, some neglected the duties of their state. Besides these there were exaggerations in matters of afflictive penances, which weakened the body and were entirely beyond the spirit of the Rule, and without the permission of the superior, not to mention the sad lack of good plain common sense they revealed.
True wisdom is more in keeping with the idea of St. John of the Cross, who wrote in The Ascent of Carmel, "We ought to hold so firmly to reason and doctrine that if, in spite of ourselves and without our seeking, we receive some supernatural communication, we will credit only what harmonizes with the one or the other; and then further we will accept it not because it is a revelation, but because it is reasonable, passing over what is purely revelation."
My God, give me generosity, but an intelligent, well-regulated and prudent generosity, subject to obedience and sound judgment.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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