Capitulum II
The Royal Road of Wisdom
The disciple asks for deeper knowledge of Wisdom, who directs him to contemplate the passion as the path to divine understanding.
Meanwhile, as these things were happening, the disciple, taking confidence in God, speaks to his beloved wisdom in this way: "O most beloved wisdom, you alone perfectly know the nature of the loving heart; you clearly know that no one can love what they do not know." Therefore, since you require that I love you alone and make the beloved pleasing to all, grant that I may know you more fully, so that I may be able to fulfill what you command and teach me better. Wisdom: Creatures emanate from the highest peak of being, God, according to the order of nature, descending from the more perfect to the less perfect, because all the perfections of beings descend in a certain order from the highest point of being, God. However, a person, starting naturally from lower things and gradually ascending, progresses in the knowledge of divine matters. Therefore, if you desire to reach the knowledge of divinity, it remains for you to learn to ascend gradually to higher things through the assumed humanity and the passion of humanity, as through a royal road. Disciple: O eternal wisdom, who from the lofty throne, from the royal seats of the heart of the eternal Father, inclined yourself into this valley of misery, and who endured thirty-three years of exile in this world, and who loved the human race with an immense love, you wished to reveal through the most bitter mystery of your passion and death: through this ineffable love of your death, I beseech you from the depths of my heart, that you may deign to show yourself to me in the form and disposition of love, which you took on from the pain of your most bitter passion.
The Paradox of the Suffering Beloved
Wisdom explains that the apparent deformity of the crucified Christ is actually a sign of immense love, contrasting it with the deceptive beauty of worldly attachments.
Wisdom: The more deformed I appear from the intensity of love and the pain of death, the more lovable I become to a loving heart and a well-disposed mind. For just as a lover naturally wants to be loved in return, so too does one who is loved seek a sign of that love; because love that is kept inside is known to no one except the one who loves. Thus, lovers have accustomed themselves to seek signs and indications of affection from those they love; and it often happens that, while the tongue is silent, the disposition of the enclosed love reveals itself, and what lies hidden in the heart is expressed through outward signs. Sometimes it happens that what is not considered indecorous in the beloved is praised by the lovers as singularly beautiful. Disciple: In the love of this world, as you assert, I truly recognize it to be so; but how these things can be in the crucified man, I do not yet see clearly; because although it may sometimes be found in the beloved of this world that even the lover finds it displeasing, there are still many other things that are fitting for love which delight the beholder. But here, the beloved, deformed by the pain of death, how he can appear lovable, I do not understand, since indeed his disposition seems more contrary to love, as he is entirely sullied by bitterness on the outside, and within he withers away from pain, exhibiting neither beauty nor decorum to the eyes of lovers, but exists full of pain and misery. How can you call someone lovely when the evidence shows they are miserable? True lovers don't care much about the thorns that produce the rose, as long as they can have the rose they desire. Nor do the truly wise prefer beautiful, gilded boxes containing worthless things over the cheapest containers hiding the most precious treasures. Thus, the brides of this world indeed offer sweet and pleasant things; however, later they spread poisons like a ruler. Outwardly, they shine with a rosy, snowy whiteness, yet inwardly, they are full of putrid poison and filth. They love with words, but in their actions, they frequently show their unfaithfulness.
The Hidden Beauty of the Cross
Wisdom reveals that the suffering body of Christ is a vessel for divine glory and the ultimate proof of sacrificial love.
But on the contrary, the wisdom your soul loves is considered humble, lowly, and despicable in appearance; yet inside, it is adorned with the light of life. The body appears dead on the outside, but the brilliance of divinity, which is unseen, shines within. The body seems miserable; but what is hidden is how it is glorified. If you believe in the lowly, then believe in the glorious as well. Such is the beloved who appears so deformed to you; if you were granted the sight of its true beauty, you would faint from the delight of the light, the beauty of its face, and the immeasurable joy, for no one can see it and live. For He is the one whom the angels long to gaze upon. The outward appearance and form of the mortified body shouldn't be seen as a deformity, as you might think, but rather as the greatest beauty; for it’s not what it seems that you should pay attention to, but what it has endured and why. If you want to know the reason, it's clearly due to an excess of love and affection. If you ask why, it’s certain that it’s for you, so that through its deformity it could make you beautiful, through its suffering it could heal you, and through its death it could grant you eternal life. In this way, you will see the beloved through the eye of love, full of charity and affection—someone who didn't just love with words as some do, but proved his love through actions, because he loved even unto death. Therefore, it’s clear that the form and disposition of the outward man, which he acquired through the bitterness of suffering, is more expressive of love than indicative of deformity. Nor does it matter if it seems that light is not seen by one who does not love; for to the sick, light is odious, while to the pure, it is delightful.
The Vision of the True Lover
The disciple accepts the truth of the passion, and Wisdom prepares to instruct him further on the specific mysteries of Christ's suffering.
Disciple: It is truly and undoubtedly so; blessed are the eyes that see this, for it isn't given to everyone, but only to the few who love with fervor. Deceptive grace and vain beauty are therefore false, and anyone who loves according to appearance rather than truth will rightly be considered a fool. Because falsehood is mistaken for truth, it will lack the desired fruit. Wisdom: Therefore, always keep a wholesome memory of my passion in your mind, and I will briefly recount certain aspects of it to your most devoted ears, providing a richer art and material for my love. Oh, let me speak about certain passions of Christ, how a true lover should conform to them, and why God wished to redeem the human race through such a death.
Read the original Latin
Jnterea dum hec agerentur, discipulus assumpta ad deum fiducia, suam quam desponsaverat amicam taliter alloquitur dicens: 0 amantissima sapiencia, que sola perfecte nosti cordis naturam amorosi, tu manifeste scis quod nemo possit amare incognitum. Jgitur ex quo requiris ut te solum diligam, et dilectum cunctis amabilem reddam, da ergo te amplius michi cognoscere, ut que iubes et doces melius valeam adinplere. SAPIENCIA: Processus emanacionis creaturarum a summo rerum vertice deo, secundum ordinem nature fit per descensum ex perfectioribus ad inperfectiora, quia omnes rerum perfectiones quodam ordine a summo rerum cardine deo descendunt. Jpse autem homo naturaliter ab inferioribus incipiens et gradatim ascendens, in divinarum proficit' cognitionem rerum. Unde si ad divinitatis cognitionem pervenire desideras, restat ut per assumptam humanitatem et humanitatis passionem, tamquam perviam regiam gradatim ascendere ad alciora discas. DISCIPULUS: 0 etema sapientia, que de excelso throno, a regalibus sedibus de corde eterni patris in hanc vallem miserie te inclinasti, et triginta tribus annis exilium huius mundi pertulisti, quique nimiam caritatem qua genus humanum dilexisti, per amarissime passionis et mortis tue misterium ostendere voluisti: per hanc mortis tue ineffabilem caritatem te obsecro ex intimis visceribus, quatinus te michi ostendere digneris in forma et dispositione amantissima, quam ex amarissime passionis tue dolore contraxisti.
SAPIENCIA: Quanto ex magnitudine amoris et doloris in morte pallens, obfuscatione quadam mortifera appareo deformior, tanto cordi amoroso et menti bene disposite ero amabilior. Nam sicut amans naturaliter reamari appetit, sic et ab amato amoris sui manifestationem requirit; quia amor inclusus nulli nisi amanti est cognitus. Unde et amantes consweverunt conatibus quibus possunt signa et indicia dilectionis ab amatis expetere; et plerumque contingit, quod tacente lingwa vim amoris inclusi dispositio prodit superinducta, et quid in corde lateat signa pronuntiant exteriora. Non numquam etiam contingit, ut illud quod in amato non amantes indecorum iudicant, id amantes tamquam singulariter decorum extollant. DISCIPULUS: Jn amore quidem huius mundi ut asseris ita esse veraciter cognosco; sed quomodo in homine crucifixo hec esse possint, nondum clare video; quia licet in amato huius mundi nonnumquam inveniatur quod eciam amanti displiceat, sunt tamen alia plura amori congrua que videntem delectant. Hic autem dilectus dolore mortis deformatus, quomodo amabilis videri possit non intelligo, cuius nimirum amori contraria magis videatur dispositio, cum totus ex livore sordeat exterius, interiusque marcescat ex dolore, et neque speciem neque decorem ullum oculis amantium exhibeat, sed plenus dolore et miseriis existat.
Quomodo ergo tu ditis amabilem quem evidentia facti ostendit miserabilem? SAPIENCIA: Veri amatores non multum de spina que rosam gignit curant, dummodo rosam habeant quam habere desiderant. Nec vere sapientes scrinia pulchra et deaurata, que tamen in se vilia continent, capsulis vilissimis preferunt, que pretiosissima ornamenta inclusa abscondunt. Sic sponse huius mundi specietenus quidem dulcia ac suavia offerunt; posterius autem quasi regulus venena diffundunt. Exterius colore roseo niveo candore relucent; interius autem putredine virulenta et sanie ac spurcitia plene sunt. Verbis diligunt; factis autem ut frequentius infidelitatem ostendunt.
At contra anime tue sponsa etema sapientia, exterius quidem secundum faciem humilis, abiecta ac despicabilis putatur; interius autem vive lucis triclinio decoratur. Caro exterius mortua apparet; sed fulgor divinitatis qui non videtur interius lucet. Caro videtur misera; sed latet qualis sit glorificata. Si credis vilia, crede et magnifica. Talis est dilectus quem sic aforis deformatum cernis, ut si daretur ipsum in decore suo vel ad momentum videre, necesse esset te ex lucis amenitate, ex faciei pulchritudine, ex gaudiorum inmensitate deficere, cum nullus homo possit ipsum videre et vivere. Jpse est enim in quem desiderant angeli prospicere.
Porro exterior mortificati corporis dispositio ac forma non est deformitas censenda ut tu putas, sed maxima formositas; quia non qualis apparet qui videtur attendere debes, sed qualia perpessus sit, et unde, et propter quid. Si queris unde, constat quia ex nimia caritate et dilectione. Si propter quid, certum est quia propter te, ut sua deformitate te formosum faceret, suo livore te sanaret, sua morte perhennis vite tibi inmortalitatem tribueret. Sic igitur dilectum amoris oculo respiciendo videbis plenum caritate et dilecdone, qui non solum verbis amavit ut non nulle dilectrices, sed et factis se diligere conprobavit, quia in morte et usque ad mortem dilexit. Sic igitur patet, quod exterioris hominis forma et disposicio quam ex passionis acerbitate contraxit, magis est amoris expressiva, quam deformitatis indicativa. Nec obstat, si- hoc ei qui non amat non videatur; quia oculis egris odiosa est lux que puris est amabilis.
DISCIPULUS: Vere et indubitanter sic est; et beati oculi qui sic vident, quia hoc non est omnium, sed paucorum idest fervide amandum. Fallax proinde gracia et vana est pulchritudo, nec inmerito stultus reputabitur qui secundum faciem et non secundum veritatem amat. Nam quia falsum pro vero redpit, ideo fructu optato carebit. SAPIENCIA: Ad redivivam igitur semper tue menti salubrem passionis mee inprimendam memoriam, amorisque mei artem atque materiam ampliorem prebendam, devotissimis auribus tuis quedam de ea passione breviter replicabo. » o»t oQ^o eco De quibusdam Cristi passionibus, et qualiter verus amator se eisdem debet conformare, et quare deus per talem mortem voluit genus humanum redimere.
Horologium Sapientiae (Clock of Wisdom) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent