"Mortification is good, but only when it is done out of love of God. A "saint" who spends his [or her] life sizzling on hot coals or reclining on railroad spikes would never be canonized by the Church. Asceticism for asceticism's sake is actually a form of egotism, for self-discipline is only a means, the end of which is greater love of God. Any form of asceticism that disrupted charity would be wrong - this was the mistake of the monk who decided to live only on crusts and upset the whole monastery, turning it into one vast crust hunt to satisfy his idiosyncrasies."
Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul
