Hou men schulde praie, and whereon the poynt of the thought schal be sette in prayere.
The Upward Ascent of Prayer
True prayer is the heart's detachment from earthly concerns and its natural, grace-kindled rising toward the presence of God.
And in your prayer you must not set your heart on any earthly thing; instead, all your labor should be to draw your thoughts in from every looking upon earthly things, so that your desire may be, as it were, bare and naked of all earthly things, always rising upward into Jesus Christ as if you were in His presence—whom you can neither see bodily as He is in His Godhead, nor by any bodily likeness in the imagination; but through devout beholding of His precious manhood you may feel His goodness and the grace of His Godhead, when your desire is eased and helped and, as it were, made free and strong, clear of all fleshly thoughts and affections, and is greatly lifted up by a spiritual power into the spiritual savor and delight of His spiritual presence—and hold still there for much of the time of your prayer, so that you have no great thought of any earthly thing, or else such thoughts trouble you only a little. If you pray this way, you are praying well; for prayer is simply the heart's desire rising toward God by withdrawing the mind from all earthly thoughts. Prayer is like a fire, which by its nature leaves the lowliness of the earth and always rises into the air. In the same way, when desire in prayer is touched and kindled by the spiritual fire that is God, it naturally rises up to Him from whom it came.
Read the original Latin
And in thi praier thou schalt not sette thyn herte in ony erthly thynge, but al thi travail schal be for to drawe in thi thoughtis fro alle bihooldynges of alle erthli thinges, that thi desire myght be, as it were, bare and nakid from alle ertheli thinges, evermore upward stiynge into Jhesu Crist as yif thu were in His presence whom thou may neither see bodili as He is in His Godhede, ne bi bodili liknes in ymaginacion; but thou may thorugh devout biholdynge of His precious manhede fele His godenesse and the grace of His Godhede, whanne thi desire is esid and holpen and as it were maad free and myghti from alle fleschli thoughtes and affeccions, and is mykil lifted up bi a goostli myght into gosteli savour and delite of His goostli presence, and holde stille thereinne mykil of the tyme of thi praiere, so that thou hast no grete mynde of noon ertheli thynge, or elles the mynde dereth thee but litil. Yif thou praye thus, than can thou preyen wel; for praier is not ellis but a stiynge desire of the herte to God bi a withdrawinge of thi mynde from alle ertheli thoughtes. And so is praier likenyd to a fier whiche of the owen kynde leeveth the lowenesse of the erthe and alwei stieth up into the eir. Right so desire in praier, whanne it is touchid and lightned of the goostli fier whiche is God, it is ay upstyande to Hym kyndeli whom it com fro.
Scala Perfectionis (The Scale of Perfection) 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