There’s something a bit peculiar in the vocabulary of Saint Alphonsus. With other saints and with the other Doctors of the Church, Alphonsus asserts plainly that

Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God… Mortification, meditation, receiving Holy Communion, acts of fraternal charity are all certainly pleasing to God – but only when they are in accordance with his will.

And:

During our sojourn in this world, we should learn from the saints now in heaven, how to love God. The pure and perfect love of God they enjoy there consists in uniting themselves perfectly to his will.

Saint Alphonsus even quotes Saint Teresa, who remarks that all contemplation aims at conformity with God’s will.  But then he seems to develop his own vocabulary.

Let us strive to conform ourselves in all things to his divine will. Let us not only strive to conform ourselves, but also to unite ourselves to whatever dispositions God makes of us.

What is the distinction? To me, it’s not immediately evident. The saint adds,

Conformity signifies that we join our wills to the will of God. Uniformity means more – it means that we make one will of God’s will and ours… This is the summit of perfection.

Rather. Oh dear. What to say? It’s all a bit peculiar, since the spiritual authors Alphonsus himself is treating of put the limitless limit or limitless goal in “conformity”, while sometimes using the word “union” with the will of God.

If the choice of “uniformity” were simply a rhetorical trick to emphasize the total abandonment to divine Love add Providence that is demanded of us, I could easily understand. But Alphonsus emphasizes the word uniformity with the will of God through his entire book of that title. OK, I’m a bit confused. Is it really something worth splitting hairs over? If someone’s will is totally conformed to God’s, I’m sure it has to be totally uniform with God’s, as per her or his own life circumstances and actions, also. The heights of perfection runs towards simplicity. And there are a lot fewer hairs to split – and a lot more ways that lines converge – in simplicity… right?