What peril it is to men that in the bigynnynge of here turnynge to God leeven to sone the
The Peril of Premature Contemplation
Beginners who abandon vocal prayer and bodily discipline for meditation too soon risk pride, error, and the loss of grace.
the common prayer ordered by the Church, and give themselves entirely to meditation.1 Then by this you may see that these people—if any are like this—who, at the beginning of their conversion or soon after, when they've felt a little spiritual comfort either in devotion or in knowledge, and aren't yet established in it, leave such vocal prayer too soon, and other bodily exercises, and give themselves wholly to meditation.2 They aren't wise, for often in the quiet of their meditation they imagine and think of spiritual things according to their own wits, and follow their bodily feeling, and haven't yet received grace for that.3 And therefore through lack of discretion they often overstrain their minds and break their bodily strength, and so they fall into fantasies and singular notions, or into open errors, and by such vanities they hinder the grace that God gives them.4 The cause of all this is a secret pride and presumption about themselves: as when they've felt a little grace, they suppose it's so great—surpassing others—that they fall into vainglory and so lose it. If they knew how little what they feel is, compared with what God gives or can give, they would be ashamed to say anything about it, unless there were great need.5
The Harmony of Voice and Heart
The Psalmist provides a model for prayer that integrates both the voice and the heart, countering the error of neglecting vocal prayer.
David speaks of this kind of vocal prayer in the Psalms: Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi; voce mea ad Dominum deprecatus sum (Psalm 141:2).✦6 The prophet David, to stir others both in heart and mouth, said: "With my voice I cried to God, and with my speech I pleaded with our Lord."
Read the original Latin
comone praier of the ordenaunce of Holi Chirche and gyven hem to meditacion hooli.
Thanne mai though bi this see, that thise men, yif ony ben siche, that in the bigynnynge of here conversioun or soone aftir, whanne thei han felid a litil of goostli comfort either in devocion or in knowynge, and not aren stablid yit therinne, thei leven siche praier vocal to sone, and othere bodili exercise, and gyven hem hooli to meditacion. Thei aren not wise, for ofte in reste of here meditacion thei ymagen and thenken of gostli thinges after here owen wittes, and folwen here bodili felyng, and han not yit receyved grace therto. And therfore thei bi undiscrecion, ofte sithes overtravailen hire wittes and breken here bodili myght, and so thei fallen into fantasies and singulere conceites, or into open errours, and letten the grace that God gyveth hem bi sich vanytees. The cause of al this is a prevei pride and presumpcion of hemself, as whanne thei han felid a litil grace thei wenen that it is so mykil, passand othere, that thei fallen in veynglorie and so thei leesen it. Yif thei wisten how litil it were that thei feelen in regard of that God geveth or mai geven thei schulde be aschamed for to speke ought therof, but if it were in grete nede. Of this maner of praiere bi speche speketh David in sautier thus: Voce mea ad dominum clamavi; voce mea ad dominum deprecatus sum (Psalms 141:2). David the prophete, for to stire othere men bothe with herte and with mouth seide: With my vois I criede to God, and with my speche y bisoughte oure Lord.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.141.2 — May my prayer be set before you as incense; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Notes
- 1 ↩This section is a grammatical fragment continuing the chapter title ('…leave too soon the…'). Rendered as the completed object clause; the finite sense is supplied by the title and neighboring sections.
- 2 ↩ME 'though' here is taken as 'thou' (you): 'Thanne mai though bi this see' = 'Then by this you may see'.
- 3 ↩'reste of here meditacion' rendered as 'the quiet of their meditation' (the still, unoccupied interval of meditating), not mere physical rest.
- 4 ↩'singulere conceites' kept as 'singular notions' (private, self-willed spiritual ideas), not modern 'conceit' as vanity alone. 'letten...bi sich vanytees' taken as hindering grace by means of those vanities.
- 5 ↩'but if' = 'unless' (ME exceptive conditional), not adversative 'but if'.
- 6 ↩Latin lemma retained from source; citation is Vulgate Psalms 141:2 (modern/Hebrew Ps 142:1). Final Moses resolution deferred.
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