De sex mansiunculis arcae ad litteram.
The Six Compartments of the Ark
The compartments of the ark are arranged in the likeness of the six cities of refuge, with three above and three below the Jordan of baptism.
Now let us consider how the compartments should be arranged. Some say the compartments were like nests — that is, certain shelters built on the outside of the ark's wall, for those animals that can't always live on dry land or always in the water, but go back and forth by turns, now from the water onto dry ground, and now from dry ground back to the water. Because the ark couldn't be opened so many times for them, it was arranged by divine providence so that not even they would perish — shelters were made for them on the outside against the ark's wall, whose entrance was always open from the outside, while the ark's wall remained intact and whole within. These are believed to have been arranged in such a way that while the ark was being borne along by the waters, the entrance to their shelters would meet those climbing up through the water on the outside, across a level surface. Scripture doesn't give the number of these shelters. We, however, following the likeness of the six cities that are appointed as refuge for murderers — since they carry the same meaning — have arranged six compartments in the ark in this way. First, the river Jordan is led through the middle of the ark — that is, from one wall to the other, beside the side of the column from above — in the likeness of baptism, which in the holy Church is, as it were, the end of the law and the beginning of grace, whose water of sanctification flowed from the side of Christ. And because the six cities are commanded to be established three beyond the Jordan and three on this side, we, following the likeness, also place our compartments — namely, three beyond, as it were above the Jordan, that is, in the upper part, and three on this side, that is, in the lower part of the ark.
The Three Ages of the Dwelling Places
The six dwelling places are distributed across natural law, written law, and grace, and the animals that go in and out represent the weak within the Church who fall and return through penance.
The first dwelling place is positioned at the top, on the front of the ark — that is, at the beginning of the natural law. The second and third are placed in the written law — that is, above the bank of the Jordan on either side. The fourth, fifth, and sixth belong to the time of grace. Two are placed under the apostles, opposite the two upper ones on either side, and one is at the far end of the ark, below, opposite the first. And so the natural law has one dwelling place, the written law has two, and grace has three. This is the mystery contained in these six stages. The ark signifies the Church, and the flood signifies the desire of this world. The animals that frequently go out from the ark to the water and then return again from the water to the ark represent the weak and the carnal within the established Church, who, through sinning, often fall back into the desire of this world; yet for them the remedies of penance are prepared, like certain small dwelling places within the ark — that is, within the holy Church — as a spiritual refuge.
Spiritual Remedies for Each Age
Each age has its own spiritual remedies — sacrifice under natural law, offering and purification under written law, and confession, prayer, and affliction under grace — and the two gates correspond to the captivities of north and south.
Of these little dwellings, the natural law had, as it were, one: sacrifice. To the written law two were devoted: offering and purification. Grace, on the other hand, has three spiritual realities to oppose the three carnal ones: confession, prayer, and the affliction of the flesh. Confession sacrifices; prayer cleanses; the affliction of the flesh slays. After this, a way opens between the natural law and the written law on either side, and through the one that faces north, the captive people are led from Jerusalem into Babylon. Through the one that faces south, the people freed from Egypt enter, making their way toward the promised land. How this also fits the actual arrangement of places will become clear later in the description of the map of the world, because Babylon lies to the north of Jerusalem. Egypt lies to the south.
The Forty-Two Dwelling Places of Grace
From the lower gate, forty-two dwelling places lead the people of God spiritually from Egypt through the desert of the written law toward the promised land of grace.
And so from this gate, where the people enter on the lower side of the ark, inside, forty-two dwelling places are written in order as far as the bank of the Jordan, through which the people of God spiritually stretches from Egypt, through the natural law, across the desert of the written law, toward the promised land of grace.
Read the original Latin
Nunc de mansiunculis quomodo disponendae sint videamus. Dicunt nonnulli mansiunculas fuisse quosdam nidos, id est quaedam receptacula ad parietem arcae foris constructa, propter illa animalia, quae nec semper in arida, nec semper in aqua degere possunt, sed vicissim alternando, nunc de aqua ad aridam, nunc de arida redeunt ad aquam. Quibus quia toties arca aperiri non potuit, divina providentia actum est, ut ne vel ipsa quidem perirent, foris eis ad parietem arcae receptacula fierint, quorum aditus semper apertus esset exterius, pariete arcae integro intrinsecus permanente. Quae taliter disposita creduntur, ut dum arca aquis superferretur, foris per aquam ascendentibus, aditus eorum per planum occurreret. Horum receptaculorum numerum Scriptura non dicit. Nos tamen ad similitudinem sex civitatum, quae homicidis in refugium deputatae sunt (quia ad eamdem significationem spectant) sex mansiunculas in arca disposuimus hoc modo. Primum Jordanis fluvius per mediam arcam, id est de uno pariete in alterum juxta latus columnae desuper ducitur, ad similitudinem baptismi, qui in sancta Ecclesia quasi finis est legis, et initium gratiae, cujus aqua sanctificationis de latere Christi fluxit. Et quia sex civitatum tres ultra Jordanem, tres citra constituendae praecipiuntur, nos similitudinem sequentes etiam mansiunculas nostras collocamus, scilicet ultra ceu supra Jordanem tres, id est in superiori parte, et tres citra, id est in parte inferiori arcae.
Prima posita est desuper in fronte arcae, id est in initio naturalis legis. Secunda et tertia in lege scripta, id est super ripam Jordanis hinc inde. Quarta et quinta, et sexta in tempore gratiae. Duae sub apostolis contra duas superiores hinc inde, una in fine arcae deorsum contra primam. Et ita lex naturalis habet unam, lex scripta habet duas, gratia tres. Quarum mysterium hoc est. Arca significat Ecclesiam, diluvium concupiscentiam mundi hujus. Animalia illa, quae frequenter de arca ad aquam, et iterum de aqua ad arcam redeunt, infirmos quosque, et carnales in Ecclesia constitutos, qui peccando, saepe ad concupiescentiam hujus mundi labuntur, quibus tamen remedia poenitentiae quasi quaedam mansiunculae in arca spirituali, id est in sancta Ecclesia praeparata sunt.
De quibus mansiunculis quasi unam lex naturalis habuit, id est sacrificium. Legi scriptae duae addictae sunt, id est oblatio et purificatio. Gratia autem contra tria carnalia, tria habet spiritualia, confessionem, orationem, carnis afflictionem. Confessio immolat, oratio mundat, carnis afflictio mactat. Post haec inter legem naturalem et scriptam et utroque latere aperitur, et per illam, quae est ad Aquilonem, populus captivus ab Hierusalem ducitur in Babylonem. Per illam, quae est ad austrum, populus de Aegypto liberatus intrat ad terram promissionis tendens. Quod quemadmodum etiam secundum situm locorum competat, in descriptione mappae mundi postea clarebit, quia Babylon ab Hierusalem est ad aquilonem. Aegyptus ad austrum.
Et ideo ab hac porta, qua populus ingreditur deorsum in latere arcae intrinsecus in ordine scribuntur quadraginta duae mansiones usque ad ripam Jordanis, per quas populus Dei spiritaliter ab Aegypto naturalis legis per desertum scriptae legis tendit ad terram promissionis gratiae.
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