St. Peter of Alcantara - To what extent the heart should act in the exercise of prayer

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… it is necessary to know that the devotion we claim to acquire is not something that should be obtained by force of arms, as many people persuade themselves. They imagine that with excessive efforts, forced sadnesses, and as if artificial, they will obtain tears and feelings of compassion when they meditate on the Passion of Our Lord. It is not so: this ordinarily only dries up the heart and makes it less fit to receive the visit of the Lord, as Cassian teaches.

Moreover, these things are harmful to bodily health, and often leave the spirit so frightened by the disgust it has felt in this exercise that it fears to return to it, knowing by experience all that it costs him in pain.

Let each one therefore be content to do honestly what is in his power, that is to say, let him make himself present in spirit to what Our Lord has suffered, looking with a simple and peaceful view, with a tender and compassionate heart, ready to receive the feeling that it will please the divine Master to send him, at all that his love has made him endure for us. He must be more disposed to receive the affection that his mercy will want to give him than to express it by force of arms; and this done, let him not be saddened for the rest, when it does not please God to give it to him.