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← De Arca Noe Morali et Mystica (On the Moral and Mystical Ark of Noah)/Book 1 · De Arca Noe Morali — Liber 1
Chapter 4ArcaN.1.4

De arca Ecclesiae, seu Ecclesia.

The Ark of the Church

The literal Noah's ark prefigures the Church, steered by Christ through the storms of life, with its dimensions symbolizing the ages of the world, the unity of the faithful in Christ, and the canonical Scriptures, while its three stories represent the three orders of the faithful.

Taken literally, these things were said about Noah's ark. It remains now for us to see what the ark of the Church is — or, to put it more plainly, the Church herself is an ark, which the supreme Noah, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, steers as helmsman and harbor through the storms of this life, leading her through himself to himself. The length of three hundred cubits signifies the present age, which runs through three periods: the time of the natural law, the time of the written law, and the time of grace, through which the holy Church stretches from the beginning of the world all the way to its end, from the present life to the future glory. The breadth of fifty cubits signifies all the faithful who are established under one head, that is, Christ. For fifty is made up of seven times seven — that is, forty-nine — a number that signifies the whole body of the faithful, and with one added, which signifies Christ, who is the head of his Church and the end of our desires. For this reason it is brought to completion in a single cubit. The height of thirty cubits signifies the thirty volumes of divine Scripture — that is, twenty-two of the Old Testament and eight of the New — in which the sum total of all things is contained that God has done or will do for the sake of his Church. The three stories signify the three orders of the faithful who are in the holy Church, of whom the first make use of the world — but lawfully.

Narrowing to the One Cubit

The ark's narrowing upper stories signify that the more perfect are fewer, culminating in the single cubit that is Christ, and the hundred years of building signify the time of grace in which the Church was fashioned through the sacraments flowing from Christ's side.

The second group flee and forget the world. The third group have now forgotten the world, and they are near to God. The fact that the ark narrows in the upper levels and widens in the lower levels signifies that in the holy Church the number of those leading a carnal life is greater than that of the spiritual, so that the more perfect they are, the fewer they always are.✦ At the very top the ark narrows to the measure of a single cubit, because Christ, the head of his Church, who is the Holy of Holies, is like humanity by nature among men and is above men by his singular power.✦1 The hundred years in which the ark was built signify the same thing as the hundred cubits.✦ For the hundred years signify the time of grace, because the holy Church, which began from the beginning of the world, received its redemption in the time of grace through the sacrifice of the unspotted Lamb.✦ For then the ark was fashioned, when from the side of Christ hanging on the cross the Sacraments of the Church flowed forth in blood and water.✦ When the Lamb was sacrificed, then the bride of the Lamb was born.✦

The Lamb Slain from the Beginning

As Eve was fashioned from Adam's sleep, so the Church was fashioned through Christ's death, and the Lamb said to be slain from the origin of the world is Christ, who at the end of the age was offered once for the salvation of mankind.

When Adam was put into a deep sleep, Eve was fashioned.✦ Our bridegroom ascended the bed of his bridal chamber, slept, and by dying showed what had been of profit from the beginning — he accomplished what had been from the beginning.✦2 Consider whether Scripture means the same thing when it speaks of the fashioning of this ark — that is, of the Church. What do you say? Ah!3 "In the book of life of the Lamb," it says, "who was slain from the origin of the world."✦ Who is this? At the end of the age the Son of God came in the flesh; he allowed himself to be crucified for the salvation of mankind, he allowed himself to be killed, he allowed himself to be sacrificed.✦

The Timeless Sacrifice

The Lamb could not have been slain before the incarnation in a literal sense, yet in God's eternal purpose his Passion was always present, benefiting those from the beginning even though it was accomplished once at the end of the age.

So at the end of the age the Lamb was slain — for he was slain only once — and how can what is said to have been slain from the origin of the world still stand? Could he have been slain before he became flesh? He had nothing mortal yet — and how could he die? But if he was slain from the beginning, he was slain before he became incarnate. If he was slain from the beginning, then not just once, but often — no, always. For what existed from the beginning always existed — and what was from the beginning… always is. But perhaps you'll say: he was slain from the beginning — meaning, for those who were from the beginning, that is, for the redemption, salvation, and reconciliation of those who were from the beginning — so that by the phrase 'from the beginning' what is determined is not the time of slaughter but of salvation. Then there will be nothing unfitting if he is said to have been both once and from the beginning slain.4

The Body's Likeness

The ark's proportions mirror the human body, signifying the body of Christ in which the Church exists, and the hundred years of building signify that the Church, though present from the beginning, was redeemed at the end of the age.

His death, then, was of benefit even before his promise came, and still before its fulfillment. So from the beginning of the age he was slain, because from the beginning of the age there were those for whom he was slain at the end of the age. But when he puts on beauty — that is, when he took on spotless flesh, undefiled flesh, beautiful flesh drawn from the virgin's limbs — and girded himself with strength, that is, subdued the aerial powers through the trophies of the cross, then his throne was prepared, then his church was redeemed, then the sheep that had perished was brought back, then the entrance to the heavenly kingdom, which had been closed before, was thrown open. So now you see how the ark is three hundred cubits long, yet was not fashioned over three hundred years but over a hundred, because the church, which existed from the beginning of the age, was redeemed at the end of the age. And the fact that this ark is six times as long as it is wide and ten times as it is tall, in the likeness of a human body, shows the body in which Christ appeared; for the church is also his body. For the length of a body from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot is six times its width, which is from one side to the other, and ten times its height, whose measure on the side runs from the back to the belly, as if you were measuring a person lying down, either face up or face down: the length from head to feet is six times the width from right to left or left to right, and ten times the height from the ground. Six times makes the number of fifty each in three hundred, and there are six ages in the three periods of the age. Or the three hundred signifies faith in the Trinity, or the cross on account of the Tau, which in numbers stands for three hundred, and still keeps the form of the cross in its own shape.

The Five Dwelling Places

The five levels of the ark represent five states of the faithful—carnal, animal, spiritual, souls freed from the body, and the resurrected—and the ark's narrowing to a single point signifies the soul's final, uninterrupted contemplation of God.

Fifty signifies the forgiveness of sins, thirty the measure of the fullness of Christ's age. According to that principle by which we distinguish the interior height of the ark into five levels, the ark is the Church, and the five levels are five states — three of this present life and two of the life to come. The first state is that of those who are called carnal, about whom the Apostle says: I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food.✦ The second state is that of those who are called animal, of whom it is said again: The natural person does not perceive the things of God; the third state is that of spiritual people, of whom it says: The spiritual person judges all things, and is judged by no one (in the same place); the fourth state is that of souls stripped of the body; the fifth state is that of those who will rise again in soul and body, which is the highest, and joined to the highest cubit.✦✦ That the lower levels rise straight up according to the height of the walls and don't bend toward the highest cubit means this: that no matter how far we advance in this life, we still turn our face away from our Creator, because we do rise through merit, but we don't bend toward the direct contemplation of God's presence. So it is fitting that in the Song of Songs the bride recalls her beloved standing behind the wall, because as long as we are wrapped in the covering of this corruption, we are kept from his face as though a wall stood between us. The fourth and fifth levels are joined together in their ascent into one, because the souls of the saints, now set aside the burden of the flesh, rejoice in the contemplation of their Creator, and when they receive their bodies again — immortal and incapable of suffering — they will cling to God more fully and more closely through the direct contemplation of his presence. That the ark is gathered to a single point in its roof means nothing other than this: when we have been led out of the darkness of this life, then we will direct the end of all our desires toward one thing — since seeing God is what we have begun to do — so that nothing delights us any longer except to gaze on his face without interruption, to be satisfied with his sweetness without weariness, and to be filled with his love without any lack.

Dung, Storehouse, and Struggle

The lowest dwelling signifies the corrupt life of carnal people, the middle signifies those who support spiritual ministry with earthly goods, and the highest signifies spiritual people who, though subject to God's law, still struggle against the rebellious flesh.

This is what it means to stretch toward him, to reach out to him — always seeking him through desire, finding him through knowledge, and touching him through taste. The dung of the animals had been set aside for the dwelling that lay right next to the foundation — an image that fittingly represents the life of carnal people, since those who serve the desires of the flesh become nothing but rot. The second dwelling, above that one, holds the animals' food — an image that fittingly signifies those who occupy a certain middle position within the holy Church: they don't completely give in to unlawful desires of the flesh, yet neither can they rise through contempt of the world to the dignity of spiritual things. These, while they compare spiritual things with spiritual for the dispensing of the word of God, return the aid of their earthly substance to their teachers — and what does that make them but a storehouse of the holy animals?✦ The third dwelling, then, does indeed hold animals — but untamed ones, an image that signifies the life of spiritual people. As long as they are held in this state of corruption, they are subjected to the law of God through reason, and yet in their flesh they still carry something that opposes that law. They are animals because they live by the reason of the mind, but untamed because of the unlawful desires of the flesh. In the fourth dwelling are gentle animals, because, as the Apostle says, 'Whoever has died has been justified from sin.'✦ And this is in accord with the Prophet's teaching.

Death and Flight

The fourth dwelling signifies those who have died to sin and are justified, and the fifth signifies the resurrected who, made spiritual in both mind and body, will fly through contemplation and incorruption to be united with God through Christ.

On that day all their thoughts will perish.✦ . For once they depart from the chains of corruptible flesh, they are immediately tamed from unlawful desires. The fifth dwelling is occupied by humankind and by birds. Through humankind is meant the quickness of reason and understanding; in birds is expressed the agility of an incorruptible nature. So when this mortal thing puts on immortality, and this corruptible thing puts on incorruption, then made spiritual in mind and at the same time in body, within our measure, we'll know all things through the illumination of the mind, and through the weightlessness of the incorruptible body we'll be able to be everywhere.✦ We'll fly by the mind through contemplation; we'll fly by the body through incorruption. We'll discern with the mind and, so to speak, we'll also discern with the body, when our bodily senses themselves are turned into reason, reason into understanding, and understanding passes into God, to whom we'll be united through the one mediator of God and humanity, the Lord Jesus Christ.✦

The Numbers of the Dwelling Places

The numbers four through eight are assigned to the five dwellings, representing the four elements of the carnal life, the five senses of the animal life, the perfection of works in the spiritual life, the rest of departed souls, and the blessedness of the resurrected, while each person also bears carnal, animal, and spiritual wills.

But that the shape of the ark from above does not reach to the likeness of a shortened pyramid, up to the highest peak, this can signify that whatever is below God is less perfect, because our Redeemer himself, according to the form of the humanity he assumed, is less than the Father, and he himself submits this to the Father through obedience, which he himself did not receive from the Father through the equality of majesty. If anyone, however, wishes to investigate the mysteries of the numbers that we have distributed above in the height of each dwelling, he will see that the quaternary is fittingly assigned to the first dwelling. For because the human body is composed of four elements, and is joined together from the combination of four humors, rightly the life of carnal people, who serve the pleasures of the body, is expressed through the quaternary. Hence the quinary fittingly represents animal men on account of the five senses, who, although they are not shamefully subject to carnal sins, nevertheless, because they do not know what the delight of the spirit is, follow and love those things that pertain outwardly to the delight of the senses. The senary is fitting for spiritual people on account of the perfection of works. The septenary, because it signifies rest, belongs to souls that rest in hope and await the glory of resurrection. The octonary, because it is a sign of blessedness, is fitting for those who, now having received their bodies, rejoice in blessed immortality. There is still another thing we can say about the first three dwellings: for each one of us has three wills within himself, of which the first is carnal, the second animal, and the third spiritual.

The Three Wills

Each person has carnal, animal, and spiritual wills, and the middle will, caught between flesh and spirit, is tempered by God's grace so that the struggle between desire and virtue drives the soul away from lukewarmness toward true perfection.

A carnal will is one that lets go of desire's reins and obeys carnal cravings in every way, without pulling back. I've read of no one subjecting it, fearing no one, doing whatever it pleased. To this, the desire of the spirit, set against it, longs so fully to cling to spiritual pursuits that it even wants to rule out the necessary satisfactions of the flesh. So between these two desires of the soul, the will settles into a more moderate place: it neither delights in the shameful pleasures of vice nor finds comfort in the hard work of virtue. In this way it seeks to keep the flesh's passions in check, so that it never consents to enduring the necessary sufferings without which the soul's desires cannot be possessed; desiring to obtain the gift of purity without disciplining or mortifying the flesh; wanting to gain inner clarity without the labor of staying watchful; and displaying Christ's humility without losing any worldly honor. Finally, it wants to obtain future blessings in such a way that it doesn't lose present ones. Left to itself, this kind of will would never lead us to true perfection, but would settle us into a most wretched time, unless the inner wars of our conflicting desires shattered this lukewarm state. For when we serve this will and want to relax a little, the stings of the flesh rise up at once and don't let us stand safely in the pleasing purity we delight in, but drag us toward that cold path, full of thorns of vice, which we dread. Again, when we're fired up by the spirit's zeal and want to put out the works of the flesh without any regard for human frailty, and out of pride of heart throw ourselves entirely into immoderate pursuit of virtue, the weakness of the flesh steps in and calls us back from that excessive zeal, slowing us down. And so it happens that each desire, struggling against the other in turn, opposes it, so that the will of the soul—which neither gives itself over entirely to fleshly desires nor wants to toil at the work of virtue—is tempered by a just moderation, like a balance of equality established on the scale of our body, weighed by the testing of spirit and flesh. It doesn't let the mind, set ablaze by the spirit's fire, be pulled to the right, nor let the flesh, with its stinging vices, outweigh it on the left, and so it shuts out that lukewarm state of the natural will and compels it to reach that fourth state we truly desire: that we gain virtue not through ease and comfort, but through constant effort and inner contrition, so that we don't remain in that most harmful lukewarmness and God, from his own lips, begin to drive us away. The Apostle makes clear this struggle between flesh and spirit, and its fruit, when he says: I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.✦

Building the Ark of Virtue

The flesh and spirit oppose each other so that we cannot do as we please, and each believer must build within themselves an ark of virtues—long in the faith of the Trinity, broad in love, high in hope—shaped by the cross of Christ, persevering to the end.

For the flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.✦ But these are opposed to each other, so that you don't do whatever you want.✦ In the moral sense. Each one should strive to separate himself from the pleasure of this world and give effort to the virtues, with the grace of God cooperating, and build within a building of virtues, whose length in the faith of the Trinity should be three hundred cubits, in the breadth of love fifty, in the height of hope which is in Christ thirty, so that it may be long in good work, ample in love, high in desire, so that he may have his heart where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.5 And the head of the crucified one is placed in the height of the cross, but the hands are outstretched in the breadth, so that the affection of our heart may be extended even to loving enemies. In the length of the cross the crucified body is placed, so that our work may not be slack, but extended, so that it may persevere to the end.

Read the original Latin

Haec secundum litteram dicta sunt de arca Noe. Restat nunc ut videamus, quae sit arca Ecclesiae, vel ut expressius loquar, ipsa Ecclesia arca est, quam summus Noe, id est Dominus noster Jesus Christus, gubernator, et portus inter procellas hujus vitae regens per se ducit ad se. Trecentorum cubitorum longitudo, praesens saeculum designat, quod tribus temporibus decurrit, id est tempore naturalis legis, tempore scriptae legis, tempore gratiae, per quae sancta Ecclesia a principio mundi usque ad finem, a praesenti vita ad futuram gloriam tendit. Quinquaginta cubitorum latitudo universos fideles significat, qui sub uno capite sunt constituti, id est Christo. Nam quinquaginta constat ex septies septem, id est quadraginta novem, qui numerus universitatem fidelium designat, et uno superaddito, quod significat Christum qui est caput Ecclesiae suae, et finis desideriorum nostrorum. Propter quod in uno cubito consummatur. Altitudo tringinta cubitorum significat tringinta volumina divinae paginae, id est viginti duo Veteris Testamenti, et octo Novi, in quibus summa omnium continetur, quae Deus vel fecit vel facturus est propter Ecclesiam suam. Tres mansiones significant tres ordines fidelium, qui sunt in sancta Ecclesia, quorum primi utuntur mundo, licite tamen.

Secundi fugiunt et obliviscuntur mundum. Tertii jam obliti sunt mundum, et ii sunt propinqui Deo. Quod in superioribus arca contrahitur, in inferioribus dilatatur, hoc significat, quod in sancta Ecclesia major est numerus carnalem vitam ducentium quam spiritualium, ita ut semper quanto perfectiores, tanto sint pauciores. In supremo ad unius cubiti mensuram arca contrahitur, quia Christus caput Ecclesiae suae, qui est Sanctus sanctorum, per naturam consimilem inter homines est et per virtutem singularem supra homines est. Centum anni, in quibus aedificata est arca, idem significant quod centum cubiti. Nam centum anni significant tempus gratiae, quia sancta Ecclesia, quae ab initio mundi coepit, in tempore gratiae per immolationem Agni immaculati redemptionem accepit. Tunc namque fabricata est arca, quando de latere Christi in cruce pendentis in sanguine et aqua profluxerunt Ecclesiae sacramenta. Quando Agnus immolatus est, tunc est sponsa Agni nata.

Quando Adam soporatus est, tunc Eva fabricata est. Ascendit sponsus noster thalami sui lectum, dormivit, moriendo exhibuit quod ab initio profuit, fecit quod ab initio fuit. Vide an idem dicere velit Scriptura, quando loquitur de fabricatione hujus arcae, hoc est Ecclesiae. Quid dicis? A. In libro, inquit, vitae Agni qui occisus est ab origine mundi. Qui est hoc? In fine saeculi in carnem venit Filius Dei, permisit se crucifigi pro salute hominum, permisit se occidi, permisit se immolari.

In fine ergo saeculi occisus est Agnus, semel enim tantum est occisus, et quomodo stare potest quod dicitur occisus est ab origine mundi? Nunquid prius potuit occidi quam incarnari? Nihil adhuc mortale habuit, et quomodo mori potuit? Quod si ab initio occisus est, prius occisus est quam incarnatus est. Si ab initio occisus est, non jam semel, sed saepe, imo semper occisus est. Nam quod ab initio fuit, semper fuit; et quod ab initio. est, semper est. Sed fortasse si dixeris, occisus est ab initio, id est, iis qui fuerunt ab initio, hoc est ad redemptionem, ad salutem, ad reconciliationem eorum, qui fuerunt ab initio, ita ut per hoc quod dicitur ab initio determines non tempus occisionis sed salutis, jam inconveniens nullum erit, si et semel, et ab initio dicatur esse occisus.

Prius etiam mors ejus profuit, quam fuit prius promissio, ac deinde exhibitio. Ab initio ergo saeculi occisus est, quia ab initio saeculi illi fuerunt, pro quibus in fine saeculi occisus est. Sed tamen quando induit decorem, id est carnem immaculatam, carnem impollutam, carnem speciosam de virgineis membris assumpsit, et praecinxit se fortitudine, id est per crucis trophaea aerias potestates debellavit, ex tunc parata est sedes ejus ex tunc redempta est ecclesia ejus, extunc reducta est ovis, quae perierat, extunc coelestis regni aditus patefactus est, qui prius clausus fuerat. Vides ergo nunc quomodo arca et trecentorum cubitorum longa est, et tamen non trecentis, sed centum annis fabricata est, quia Ecclesia, quae ab initio saeculi fuit, in fine saeculi redempta est. Quod vero sexies longa est ad latitudinem suam haec arca, et decies ad altitudinem, suam, humani corporis instar ostendit, in quo Christus apparuit; nam et ipsa corpus ejus est. Corporis enim longitudo a avertice usque ad vestigium sexies tantum habet quantum latitudo, quae est ab uno latere usque ad alterum latus, et decies tantum quantum et altitudo, cujus altitudinis mensura est in latere a dorso in ventrem, velut si jacentem hominem metiaris supinum sive pronum, sexies tantum longitudinis est a capite usque ad pedes, quantum latus a dextra in sinistram, vel a sinistra in dexteram, et decies quantum latus a terra. Sexies est numerus quinquagenarius in trecentis, et sex aetates sunt in tribus temporibus saeculi. Vel trecenti significant fidem Trininatis, vel crucem propter Tau, quod in numeris trecentos significat, et adhuc apud suos formam retinet crucis.

Quinquaginta remissionem peccatorum designant, triginta mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi. Secundum illam sententiam, qua intrinsecus altitudinem arcae distinguimus in quinque mansiones, arca est Ecclesia, et quinque mansiones sunt quinque status, tres praesentis vitae, et duo futurae. Primus status est illorum hominum, qui dicuntur carnales, de quibus dicit Apostolus: Non potui loqui vobis quasi spiritualibus, sed quasi carnalibus lac vobis potum dedi, non escam. Secundus status est illorum hominum, qui vocantur animales, de quibus dicit rursum: Animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt Dei; tertius status est spiritalium, de quibus ait: Spiritualis judicat omnia, et ipse a nemine judicatur (Ibidem); quartus status est animarum exutarum a corpore; quintus status est in anima et corpore resurgentium, qui supremus est, et cubito supremo contignus. Quod res inferiores mansiones secundum altitudinem parietum in directum ascendunt, et versus supremum cubitum non inclinantur, hoc significat, quod quantumlibet in hac vita proficimus, adhuc tamen a facie conditoris nostri quasi aversi sumus, quia et per meritum ascendimus, sed per praesentiam contemplationis ad ipsum non inclinamur. Unde recte in Canticis canticorum sponsa dilectum suum post parietem stare commemorat, quia quandiu hujus corruptionis tegmine circumdamur, quasi quodam pariete interposito ab ejus facie prohibemur. Quarta autem et quinta mansio in ascensu suo ad unum colliguntur, quia animae sanctorum et nunc deposito carnis onere in contemplatione sui conditoris laetantur, et cum iterum corpora sua immortalia et impassibilia receperint, tunc plenius et vicinius ei per contemplationis praesentiam adhaerebunt. Quod enim arca in tecto suo sursum in unum colligitur, quid aliud significat, nisi quod cum ab hujus vitae tenebris educti fuerimus, tunc omnium desideriorum nostrorum finem ad unum referemus, quoniam sicuti est, Deum videre coepimus, ut jam nil libeat, nisi ejus faciem sine intermissione intueri, ejus dulcedine sine fastidio satiari, ejus amore sine defectu perfrui.

Hoc est enim ad ipsum tendere, et ad ipsum pertingere, semper eum et per desiderium quaerere, et per cognitionem invenire, et per gustum tangere. Illi mansioni, quae fundo erat contigua, deputatus erat fimus animalium, qui recte vitam carnalium exprimit, quoniam ii qui carnis desideriis inserviunt, quid aliud quam putredo fiunt? Secunda abhinc mansio continet cibaria animalium, per quae convenienter designantur ii, qui in sancta Ecclesia quemdam medium statum tenent, qui neque prorsus per illicita desideria carni succumbunt, neque per contemptum mundi ad dignitatem spiritualium pertingere possunt. Hi autem dum a spiritualibus spiritualibus spirituali comparantes pro erogatione verbi Dei doctoribus suis terrenae substantiae subsidia reddunt, quid aliud quam sanctorum animalium apotheca fiunt? Tertia denique mansio animalia quidem tenet sed immansueta, per quae designatur vita spiritualium, qui quandiu in hac corruptione tenentur, et legi Dei per rationem subjecti sunt, et tamen in sua carne portant per quod adhuc legi contradicunt. Animalia ergo sunt, quia vivunt per rationem mentis, sed immansueta per illicita desideria carnis. In quarta mansione sunt mitia animalia, quia sicut dicit Apostolus: Qui mortuus est, justificatus est a peccato. Et secundum Prophetae sententiam.

In illa die peribunt omnes cogitationes eorum. . Quoniam ubi a vinculis carnis corruptibilis exeunt, deinceps ab illicitis desideriis mansuescunt. Quintam mansionem homo tenet, et volatilia. Per hominem designatur vivacitas rationis, et intelligentiae, in volatilli exprimitur agilitas incorruptibilis naturae. Quando ergo mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem, et corruptibile hoc vestierit incorruptionem, tunc mente pariter, et corpore spiritales effecti, secundum modulum nostrum, et per mentis illuminationem omnia sciemus, et per corporis incorruptibilis levitatem ubique esse poterimus. Volabimus mente per contemplationem, volabimus corpore per incorruptionem. Discernemus mente, et, ut ita dicam, discernemus et corpore, quando ipsi sensus nostri corporei vertentur in rationem, ratio in intellectum, intellectus transibit in Deum, cui nos conjungemur per unum mediatorem Dei, et hominum Dominum Jesum Christum.

Quod autem forma arcae desuper ad similitudinem curtae pyramidis usque ad summum cacumen non pervenit, hoc significare potest, quod quid infra Deum est, minus perfecto est, quia et ipse redemptor noster secundum formam susceptae humanitatis minor patre est, et ipse hoc Patri per obedientiam subjicit, quod ipse a Patre per aequalitatem majestatis non accepit. Si quis autem voluerit indagare mysteria numerorum, quos supra in altitudine unius cujusque mansionis distribuimus, videbit congrue quaternarium primae mansioni deputatum. Quia enim corpus humanum ex quatuor elementis componitur, ex quatuor humorum complexione compaginatur, recte carnalium vita, qui voluptatibus corporis deserviunt, per quaternarium exprimitur. De hinc quinarius propter quinque sensus apte animales homines figurat, qui quamvis flagitiis carnalibus turpiter non subjaceant, quia tamen quae sit delectatio spiritus non noverunt, ea quae foris ad delectationem sensuum pertinent, sequuntur et diligunt. Senarius propter perfectionem operum spiritualibus congruit. Septenarius, quia requiem significat, animarum est in spe requiescentium et praestolantium gloriam resurrectionis. Octonarius, quia signum est beatitudinis, illis convenit, qui jam receptis corporibus beata immortalitate laetantur. Est adhuc aliud quod dicere possumus de tribus primis mansionibus, habet namque unusquisque nostrum tres voluntates in se, quarum prima est carnalis, secunda animalis, tertia spiritualis.

Carnalis voluntas est laxare frena concupiscentiae desideriis carnalibus per omnia sine retractione obedire. Legi non subesse, neminem timere, quidquid libeurit facere. Cui econtrario concupiscentia spiritus adversata ita desiderat tota spiritualibus studiis inhaerere, ut etiam necessarios carnis usus optet excludere. Inter has igitur utrasque concupiscentias animae voluntas in meditullio quodam temperatiore consistens, nec vitiorum flagitiis oblectatur, nec virtutum doloribus acquiescit; sic quaerens a passionibus tempererare carnalibus, ut nequaquam consentiat dolores necessarios sustinere, sine quibus desideria spiritus nequeunt possideri, donum castitatis desiderans obtinere absque castigatione vel maceratione carnis, sine vigiliarum labore cordis puritatem acquirere; humilitatem Christi sine honoris mundani jactura exhibere. Postremo sic vult futura consequi bona, ut non amittat praesentia Quae voluntas nunquam nos ad perfectionem veram perduceret, sed in tempore quodam teterrimo collocaret, nisi hunc tepidissimum statum intrinsecus haec insurgentia bella dirumperent. Nam cum huic voluntati famulantes volumus nosmetipsos paululum relaxare, confestim aculei carnis insurgentes, nequaquam nos in illa, qua delectamur, teporis puritate innoxia stare permittunt, sed ad illam, quam horremus, frigidam et plenam sentibus vitiorum pertrahunt viam. Rursum cum succensi fervore spiritus opera carnis volumus exstinguere sine ullo respectu fragilitatis humanae, et nosmetipsos totos ad immoderata virtutum studia cordis elatione conferre, imbecillitas carnis interpellans ab illa reprehensibili nimietate spiritus revocat, ac retardat, et ita fit utraque concupiscentia tali colluctatione alterna sibimet repugnante, ut animae voluntas, quae nec totam se carnalibus desideriis dedere, nec virtutum laboribus vult desudare, quodam justo moderamine temperetur, quadam aequalitatis libra in statera nostri corporis constituta, quae spiritus, carnisque examine, nec a dextra mentem spiritus ardore succensam, nec a laeva carnem vitiorum aculeis praeponderare permittens, tepidum illum animalis voluntatis statum excludit, et ad illud quartum quod volumus salubriter venire compellit, ut virtutes non otio et securitate, sed jugi sudore et contritione spiritus acquiramus, ne in illo perniciosissimo tepore permanentes, ab ore suo nos emovere incipiat Deus. Hanc vero luctam carnis et spiritus, et fructus ejus Apostolus manifestat ubi dicit: Dico autem spiritu ambulate, et desideria carnis non perficietis.

Caro enim concupiscit adversus spiritum, et spiritus adversus carnem. Haec autem sibi invicem adversantur, ut non quaecunque vultis, illa faciatis. Moraliter autem. Quisque se ab hujus mundi delectatione separare, et virtutibus operam dare contendit, cooperante Dei gratia, aedificare debet intus aedificium virtutum, cujus longitudo in fide Trinitatis trecentos cubitos habeat, in latitudine charitatis quinquaginta, in altitudine spei quae in Christo est triginta, ut sit in bona operatione longus, in dilectione amplus, in desiderio altus, ut cor suum habeat ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens. Unde et ipsius crucifixi caput in altitudine crucis positum est, manus autem in latitudine expansae sunt, ut affectus cordis nostri usque ad inimicos diligendos extendatur. In longitudine crucis corpus crucifixi positum est, ut non sit remissa operatio nostra, sed extensa, ut perseveret usque in finem.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Matt.7.14 — Because the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
  2. ↩Dan.9.24 — Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
  3. ↩Gen.6.3 — Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred twenty years."
  4. ↩1Pet.1.19 — but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot
  5. ↩John.19.34 — But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
  6. ↩Rev.21.9 — And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'
  7. ↩Gen.2.21-Gen.2.22 — So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Gen.2.22 — And the LORD God built the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.
  8. ↩Gen.2.21 — So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place.
  9. ↩Rev.13.8 — And all who dwell on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.
  10. ↩Heb.9.26 — Otherwise he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now, at the culmination of the ages, he has appeared once for all to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
  11. ↩1Cor.3.1-1Cor.3.2 — And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly, as infants in Christ. 1Cor.3.2 — I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able. But indeed, even now you are not able,
  12. ↩1Cor.2.14 — But the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
  13. ↩1Cor.2.15 — The spiritual person discerns all things, yet is discerned by no one.
  14. ↩1Cor.2.13 — And these things we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.
  15. ↩Rom.6.7 — For the one who has died has been justified from sin.
  16. ↩Isa.2.17 — And the loftiness of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
  17. ↩1Cor.15.53 — For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
  18. ↩1Tim.2.5 — For there is one God and one mediator between God and humankind, the man Christ Jesus,
  19. ↩Gal.5.16 — But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desire of the flesh.
  20. ↩Gal.5.17 — For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do the things you wish.
  21. ↩Gal.5.17 — For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do the things you wish.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Rendered 'Sanctus sanctorum' as 'Holy of Holies' to preserve the traditional theological title for Christ here, rather than a generic 'Saint of saints'.
  2. 2 ↩moriendo (by dying / in dying) carries instrumental sense: Christ's death itself reveals and fulfills what was ordained from the beginning.
  3. 3 ↩Interjection 'A.' rendered as 'Ah!' — a marker of surprise or objection in dialogue context. Alternative 'Ha!' also possible.
  4. 4 ↩The Latin contains the non-Latin word 'determines' in the normalized text, likely a modern insertion or corruption. The translation renders the intended sense: the phrase 'from the beginning' fixes or determines the reference point.
  5. 5 ↩The symbolic dimensions (300, 50, 30) draw on traditional Noah's Ark allegory and Trinitarian interpretation; the precise symbolic rationale is not spelled out in the Latin.

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