Found here are some more words of wisdom from St. Alphonsus Ligouri. It is amazing how much he wrote. Here he is on perfection. I have referred to Rodriquez before in the perfection series. I think these passages are clear enough without comment. St. Alphonsus, perhaps, provides us with some of clearest writing in the entire series. Please feel free to ask questions on anything in his writing. By the way, if you are prone to illness, I highly suggest asking St. Alphonsus to be one of your patrons. He received the Sacrament of the Sick eight times in his life.
...we should unite ourselves to the will of God as regards our
degree of grace and glory. True, we should esteem the things that
make for the glory of God, but we should show the greatest esteem for
those that concern the will of God. We should desire to love God more
than the seraphs, but not to a degree higher than God has destined
for us. St. John of Avila says: "I believe every saint has had the
desire to be higher in grace than he actually was. However, despite
this, their serenity of soul always remained unruffled. Their desire
for a greater degree of grace sprang not from a consideration of
their own good, but of God's. They were content with the degree of
grace God had meted out for them, though actually God had given them
less. They considered it a greater sign of true love of God to be
content with what God had given them, than to desire to have received
more."
This means, as Rodriguez explains it, we should be diligent in
striving to become perfect, so that tepidity and laziness may not
serve as excuses for some to say: "God must help me; I can do only so
much for myself." Nevertheless, when we do fall into some fault, we
should not lose our peace of soul and union with the will of God,
which permits our fall; nor should we lose our courage. Let us rise
at once from this fall, penitently humbling ourselves and by seeking
greater help from God, let us continue to march resolutely on the
highway of the spiritual life. Likewise, we may well desire to be
among the seraphs in heaven, not for our own glory, but for God's,
and to love him more; still we should be resigned to his will and be
content with that degree of glory which in his mercy he has set for
us.
It would be a serious defect to desire the gifts of supernatural
prayer -- specifically, ecstasies, visions and revelations. The
masters of the spiritual life say that souls thus favored by God,
should ask him to take them away so that they may love him out of
pure faith -- a way of greater security. Many have come to perfection
without these supernatural gifts; the only virtues worth-while are
those that draw the soul to holiness of life, namely, the virtue of
uniformity with God's holy will. If God does not wish to raise us to
the heights of perfection and glory, let us unite ourselves in all
things to his holy will, asking him in his mercy, to grant us our
soul's salvation. If we act in this manner, the reward will not be
slight which we shall receive from the hands of God who loves above
all others, souls resigned to his holy will.
The amount of writing by this great saint amazes me. If you have a chance, read his books.
Next, I shall move on to John of the Cross.