Ascensiones a calore et frigore orientis.
The Painted Virtues of the Ark
Temperance, prudence, and fortitude are depicted on the first three ladders near the east, each showing a distinct posture toward the world.
From the heat of the east, near the first ladder, temperance is painted in the likeness of a householder sitting at a table, eating and distributing alms, as if someone who uses the world as it's right to do. In the second ladder prudence is painted, in the likeness of a traveler walking as if fleeing the world. In the third ladder fortitude is painted, clothed by a cloud from below, as if it had trampled the world and is raised up on high with hands lifted upward.
The Ordering of Souls and Virtues
The virtues are arranged within near the ladders while the souls ascend on the ladders, and a summary enumeration of the virtues is promised.
This, as we've said, needs to be observed: that the virtues are arranged near the ladders within, but the men are on the ladders, each along their own paths, alternately by individual men and women, so that there are sixty mighty ones of Israel and sixty queens. Let's now briefly repeat the number and order of the virtues mentioned above.
Three Ascents from the East and West
Three ladders each are assigned to those ascending from pride in the east cold, from concupiscence in the west heat, and from ignorance in the west cold.
In the cold of the east, for those ascending from pride, the first ladder is fear, the second sorrow, the third love. In the heat of the west, for those ascending from concupiscence, the first ladder is patience, the second mercy, the third compunction. In the cold of the west, for those ascending from ignorance, the first ladder is knowledge or thought, the second meditation, the third contemplation.
The Four Paths of Ascent
The four ascents are distinguished as the virtues, the affections, works, and thoughts, each arising from a different quarter of the ark.
For those ascending in the heat of the east—not breaking through vice, but advancing through virtue—the first step is temperance, the second prudence, the third fortitude, and there the consummation of the perfect life is found. The first ascent—the one from the cold of the east—lies in the affections. The second, which is from the heat of the west, consists in works. The third, which is from the cold of the west, lies in thoughts. The fourth, which is from the heat of the east, lies in the virtues already mentioned.
A Necessary Restraint
Many further reflections on these matters must be set aside for the present.
There are many other things that could be said about these matters, which we necessarily have to pass over here.
Read the original Latin
A calore orientis juxta primam scalam pingitur temperantia ad similitudinem patrisfamilias sedentis ad mensam, comedentis et eleemosynam distribuentis, quasi qui licite mundo utatur. In secunda scala pingitur prudentia, in similitudinem peregrini ambulantis quasi qui mundum fugiat. In tertia scala pingitur fortitudo deorsum nube amicta, quasi quae mundum calcaverit, et in sublime sit elevata sursum erectis manibus. Hoc autem, sicut diximus, observandum est, ut virtutes juxta scalas intrinsecus disponantur, homines autem in scalis per singulos tramites, singuli alternatim viri et feminae, ut sint sexaginta fortes Israel et sexaginta reginae. Repetamus nunc breviter numerum et ordinem supradictarum virtutum. In frigore orientis ascendentibus de superbia prima scala est timor, secunda dolor, tertia amor. In calore occidentis ascendentibus a concupiscentia, prima scala est patientia, secunda misericordia tertia compunctio. In frigore occidentis ascendentibus ab ignorantia prima scala est cognitio sive cogitatio, secunda meditatio, tertia contemplatio.
In calore orientis ascendentibus non de vitio, sed per virtutem proficientibus, prima scala est temperantia, secunda prudentia, tertia fortitudo, et ibi consummatio vitae perfectae est. Primus ascensus, qui est scilicet a frigore orientis, est in affectibus. Secundus, qui est a calore occidentis, est ex operibus. Tertius, qui est a frigore occidentis, est in cogitationibus. Quartus, qui est a calore orientis, est in virtutibus jam dictis. Multa sunt alia, quae dici possent de his, quae necessario nos in hoc loco praeterire oportet.
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