CAPUT LXI. Quod affectus ordinati veraciter sunt boni, si sunt et moderati
The Goodness of Ordered and Moderate Affections
Affections are truly good only when they are both ordered and moderate, for without discretion they lose their virtue.
Now you should know that these affections are truly considered good when they are not only ordered but also moderate. For often, when they go beyond the bounds of discretion, they are no longer considered virtue.
The Danger of Immoderate Fear: The Example of Reuben
Using Reuben as an allegory for ordered fear, the text warns that even such fear becomes dangerous when it exceeds the measure of equity, as shown by Jacob's command that Reuben not grow.
But we can show this better with an example if we take our illustrations from the firstborn brother himself.1 Certainly, if immoderate fear weren't dangerous, Jacob, speaking to Reuben, would never have said: "You are poured out like water; do not grow, because you went up to your father's bed and defiled his couch." If by Reuben we mean ordered fear, why, I ask, does Jacob command him not to grow, if not because it is evil, in any ordered fear, to go beyond the measure of equity?2
Read the original Latin
Sciendum autem quod affectus isti tunc veraciter creduntur boni, quando sunt non solum ordinati, sed etiam moderati. Saepe namque cum discretionis moderamen excedunt, virtutis nomen amittunt. Sed hoc fortassis melius per exemplum ostendemus, si de ipso fratrum primogenito exempla sumamus. Certe si timor immoderatus periculosus non esset, Jacob ad Ruben loquens minime dixisset: Effusus es sicut aqua; non crescas, quia ascendisti cubile patris tui, et maculasti stratum ejus. Si per Ruben debemus ordinatum timorem intelligere, cur, quaeso, jubet eum Jacob non crescere, nisi quia malum est in quolibet ordinato timore modum aequitatis excedere?
Notes
Benjamin Minor (The Twelve Patriarchs / Preparation of the Mind for Contemplation) companion
A daily portion of stillness
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