Exeundi per cogitationem modi quatuor.
The Four Ways of Going Out Through Thought
The soul goes out through thought in four ways: considering creatures in themselves, from the Creator's benefit, as instruments of God's judgments, and as instruments of human desire.
In the same way, we go out through thought in four ways. The first way is when we consider what every creature is in itself. The second way is when we consider what every creature is from the benefit of the Creator. The third way is when we consider how God uses the service of creatures to carry out his judgments. The fourth way is when we consider how a person uses the benefit of creatures to fulfill their own desires.
Vanity, Grace, and Justice
In themselves creatures are vain and passing, yet through the Creator's benefit they last, and in serving God they become instruments of justice.
In themselves, all things are vain and passing. From the benefit of the Creator, lasting. As long as they serve God, they are an instrument of justice.
The Raven and the Dove
The fourth mode is illustrated by the raven settling on a carcass, while the first three modes correspond to the dove's thought, meditation, and contemplation of vanity, justice, and eternity.
When they serve a person, they become an instrument of desire. In this way the raven went out, found a carcass, and settled on it. I discussed all of this more fully in the book I composed about the ark. The first three modes apply to the dove, that is, to the three kinds of good thinking: thought, meditation, and contemplation. We think about vanity, meditate on justice, and contemplate eternity.
Read the original Latin
Similiter per cogitationem quatuor modis eximus. Primus modus est, quando consideramus omnem creaturam quid sit ex se. Secundus modus, quando consideramus omnem creaturam quid sit ex beneficio Creatoris. Tertius modus est, quando consideramus quomodo utatur Deus ministerio creaturarum ad implenda judicia sua. Quartus modus est, quando consideramus quomodo utatur homo beneficio creaturarum ad implenda desideria sua. Ex se sunt omnia vana, et transitoria. Ex beneficio Creatoris perpetua. Dum Deo serviunt, sunt instrumentum justitiae.
Dum homini serviunt, fiunt instrumentum concupiscentiae. Hoc modo corvus exivit, qui cadaver invenit, et in eo resedit. Haec in eo libro, quem de arca dictavi, plenius cuncta disserui. Tres priores modi ad columbam pertinent, id est ad tria bonarum cogitationum genera, quae sunt cogitatio, meditatio, contemplatio. Vanitatem cogitamus, justitiam meditamur, perpetuitatem contemplamur.
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
- Build a 30-day streak of ordered prayer instead of improvised moments