That hunger and othere peynes of the bodi letteth moche goostly wirkynge.
The Balance of Body and Spirit
The author advises maintaining bodily health to support spiritual contemplation, while accepting unavoidable suffering with patience and humility.
For know well that for any man or woman occupied in spiritual thoughts, unreasonable pain of hunger willfully taken on, or sickness in the stomach or the head or any other part of the body through your own fault by too much fasting or in any other way, will greatly hinder the spirit and much impede him from knowing and beholding spiritual things—unless he has more grace.12 It is true that bodily pain—whether from penance, sickness, or physical labor—sometimes doesn't hinder the fervor of love for God in devotion, but often increases it. Truly, I trust that it does hinder the fervor of longing in contemplation, which cannot be had or firmly felt except in great rest of body and soul.34 Therefore, act wisely regarding your own needs: keep your body in a reasonable state, and then endure whatever God sends—whether health or sickness.5 Accept it in a general way, and don't willfully grumble against God.6
Read the original Latin
For wite thou wel that what man or woman schal ben occupied in goostli thoughtes, unskilful peyne of hungir wilfulli taken, or sikenesse in the stomac or in the heed or in ony othir partie of the bodie, for the defaute of thisilf bi to moche fastynge or in ony othir wise, schal moche lette the spirit and moche hyndre him from the knowynge and the biholdynge of goosteli thynges, but he have more grace. For though it be so that bodili peyne, othir of penaunce othir of siknesse, or ellis bodili occupaccion, sumtyme letteth not the fervour of love to God in devocioun but often encresith it. Sothli y hope that it letteth the fervour of lust in contemplacion, whiche mai not be had ne felid sadli, but in gret reste of bodi and soule. Forthi doo thou skilfulli that longeth to thee and kepe thi bodili kynde up resoun and suffre than til God sende what He wole, be it heele or sikenesse. Take it generali and grucche not agens God wilfulli.
Notes
- 1 ↩ME unskilful here means unreasonable/immoderate, not 'unskilled'; wilfulli taken means deliberately undertaken (e.g. excessive fasting).
- 2 ↩ME but + subjunctive = unless; rendered as 'unless he has more grace.'
- 3 ↩ME lust here is desire/longing (for contemplation), not carnal lust; rendered 'longing' to avoid modern misreading.
- 4 ↩ME sadli = firmly, steadily, solidly (not 'sadly').
- 5 ↩ME kynde = nature/constitution; 'bodily nature' kept for Hilton's sense of natural bodily condition.
- 6 ↩ME generali: accept health or sickness as from God's general disposal, without fretting over particulars; rendered 'in a general way.'
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