De ligno vitae, et libro vitae in columna.
The Wood and the Book
The wood of life is placed on the south side of the central column and the book of life on the north, with thirty ordered volumes representing the one divine Scripture.
So then, to make what we've said clearer, we've pictured the column I just described in the middle of the ark, and on its south side we've placed the wood of life, while on the north side we've inscribed the book of life. And on that same side we've arranged thirty volumes of the divine page in order from one upward — that is, ten in each dwelling-place — because, as we've said, all of divine Scripture is that one book, which is the book of life.
Christ as Book and Wood
Christ is both the book of life in his humanity, offering an example, and the wood of life in his divinity, supplying the remedy.
Now it should be understood that although Christ, since he consists of a twin nature in one eternal person, can be called both the book of life and the wood of life with respect to each nature, still, for us specifically, in the form of humanity he assumed, he was made the book of life, because in a human being he offered an example. According to the form of divinity he was made the wood of life, because from the power of divinity he supplies the remedy.
Read the original Latin
Igitur ut melius pateant quae diximus, ipsam supradictam columnam in medio arcae depinximus, eidemque in latere australi lignum vitae, in latere vero aquilonari liber vitae nomen ascripsimus. Unde et in eodem latere triginta volumina divinae paginae secundum ordinem ab uno sursum, hoc est in singulis mansionibus decem disposuimus, quia sicut diximus, omnis divina Scriptura unus ille liber est, qui liber vitae est. Et sciendum quod Christus cum in gemina natura una aeterna constet persona, secundum utramque naturam et liber vitae, et lignum dici potest, attamen specialiter nobis secundum formam humanitatis assumptae liber vitae factus est, quia in homine praebuit exemplum. Secundum formam divinitatis lignum vitae factus est, quia ex virtute divinitatis praestare remedium.
De Arca Noe Morali et Mystica (On the Moral and Mystical Ark of Noah) companion
Keep the ark under construction
Hugh's method only works with daily practice — the Chosen Portion app gives you a short, structured devotional every morning, free.
Hugh's daily discipline of ordered meditation continues in Chosen Portion, which serves one structured devotional portion each day so the mind returns to the same interior work Hugh prescribed.
- A 10-minute structured meditation delivered each morning
- Progress through classic texts like Hugh's in small daily portions
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