The ground of leccherie schulde be distroied with goostli travaile and not with bodili.
The Spiritual Root of Purity
True chastity is achieved not through bodily penance, but through the grace of Jesus and the cultivation of humility.
But this work against the root of lust must be spiritual—done through prayer and spiritual virtues—rather than bodily, through any physical penance. For know this well: even if you keep vigil and fast and scourge yourself and do everything you can, you'll never have that purity and chastity without the gift and the grace of humility. You would sooner kill yourself than kill the fleshly stirrings and delights of lustful desire—whether in your heart or in your flesh—by any bodily penance. But by the grace of Jesus in a humble soul, the root can be blocked and destroyed, and the spring can be dried up—and that is true chastity in body and soul.
Discernment of Spiritual Sins
The author warns against the blindness of prioritizing fleshly sins over spiritual ones like pride and envy, which are more foul in God's sight.
And the same can be said of pride, covetousness, and others like them; for you could live even if you were neither proud nor covetous, and therefore you should destroy every feeling of them as much as you can. But with gluttony you should rise up and strike away every disordered stirring, and keep the ground whole.1 And therefore I say that anyone who rises more fully and more sharply against the feeling of fleshly liking in food and drink than against the feeling and stirring of pride—for those seem fair and are not easily reproved—or of envy, anger, covetousness, or lechery, is half blind.2 They don't yet see with spiritual eyes how foul pride and envy are in God's sight. I believe that if a person could see with spiritual eyes how foul pride and greed are to God, and how contrary they are to Him, they would loathe the stirrings of pride and its vain delight much more. They would also shudder and rise up more against the evil will of envy or anger toward a fellow Christian than against many impulses of gluttony or lust.3 Nevertheless, not everyone thinks so; for commonly people are more afraid to feel a stirring of fleshly sin, and take more distress over it, than over great delights in vainglory or other spiritual sins.4 But they aren't wise; if they understood Holy Scripture and what the teachers say about this, they would find it to be just as I’ve said—though I can't and won't go into that now.5
Read the original Latin
But this travaile agen the ground of leccherie nameli schal be goostli, as bi prayers and goostli vertues, and not bodili bi no bodili penaunce. For wite thou wel, though thou wake and faste and scourge thisilf and doo al that thou can, thou schal nevere have the clennesse and that chastité withoute the gifte and the grace of mekenesse. Thou schulde mowe rathere slee thisilf thanne thou schuldest slee fleischli stirynges and likynges of lustis of leccherie, oither in thi herte or in thi fleisch, bi ony bodili penaunce. But bi the grace of Jhesu in a meke soule, the ground mai be stoppid and distroied, and the springe mai be dried and that is veri chastité in bodi and soule.
And the same manere mai be seid of pride, coveitise, and siche othere; for thou myghttest lyve though thou were neither proud ne covetous, and therfore thou schalt distroie alle the felynges of hem as moche as thou myght. But in glotonye thou schal arise and smyte awey alle unskilful stirynges, and save the ground hool. And therfore he that riseth agens the feelynge of fleischli likynge in mete and drinke more fulli and more scharpli thanne agen the feelynge and the stirynge of pride, for thei seme faire and are not lightli reprevyd, or of envie, ire, coveitise, or leccherie, I seie that he is half blynd. For he seeth not yit goostli the unclennesse of pride and envie, how foul it is in Goddis sight. I hope yif a man myght see with his goostli iye hou foule pride and coveitise aren in the sight of God, and hou contrarie to Him, he schulde more lothe the stirynge of pride and the veyn delite of it; and also he schulde more agrise and arise agen an yvel wil of envie or ire to his even Cristene, thanne agens many stirynges and likynges, oithir of glotonye or leccherie. Nevertheles, alle men wenen not so, for comonli men aren more arwgh for to fele a stirynge of fleischli synne, and have for it more hevynesse, thanne for grete likynges in veynglorie or othere goostli synnes. But thei aren not wise, for yif thei wole undirstonde Holi Writ and doctours sawes thereof, schulde thei fynde as I saie, whiche y ne mai ne wole not reherce now.
Notes
- 1 ↩unskilful = unreasonable/disordered (not merely 'unskilled'); ground hool = the necessary natural basis of appetite left intact, since one must eat.
- 2 ↩thei seme faire: the spiritual vices (esp. pride) appear attractive or respectable and so escape easy rebuke, unlike fleshly sins.
- 3 ↩agrise = shudder/recoil in horror; even Cristene = fellow Christian (not 'even Christian' in the modern concessive sense).
- 4 ↩arwgh (ME arwe) = timid/afraid; hevynesse = sorrowful heaviness/distress, not mere physical weight.
- 5 ↩doctours sawes = maxims/sayings of the doctors (Fathers/theologians); y ne mai ne wole not = double negative meaning neither can nor will.
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