If you want tonight your spirit with God, you need to understand the true nature of spirituality. Some consider only appearances. They concentrate on penances, vigils, fasting, and other physical deprivations. Others indulge in long prayers, attend public services frequently, spend many hours in church, and take Communion as often as they can. These people are all misguided. These things are little more than the side effects of true piety. While these tools are useful in the spiritual life, they are not its essence… We can become so attached of these rituals that we completely neglect to notice any inner movement of our own hearts. Then we become filled with empty ideas and think that we have tasted the joys of paradise and the delight of angels. We think we have seen God but all we have seen is the devil’s decoy.
— Lawrence Scupoli (1529-1610)
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