That thorwgh besi desire and travaile in mekenesse and charité, a man cometh sunnere
The Labor of Humility and Charity
The author encourages the reader to focus on the active pursuit of humility and charity as the foundation for a peaceful and well-ordered life.
to other virtues than by working on those virtues themselves.1 So get yourself humility and charity; and if you're willing to labor and work hard to have them, you'll have more than enough to do in acquiring them. They will rule and moderate you very privately—how you should eat and drink and meet all your bodily need—so that no one will know of it unless you choose; and it will not be in perplexity, nor in doubt, nor in anger and heaviness, but in the peace of a glad conscience with a steady restfulness.23 I've said more than I intended on this matter; still, if you can, follow my advice, and I trust God will make all well.
The Chasm of Sin
Using the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the author illustrates how the 'image of sin' acts as a great chasm separating the soul from Jesus.
By what I've said then, you can somewhat see in this image of sin how much it holds you back. The Gospel records how Abraham spoke to the rich man buried in hell: 'A great chasm is fixed between us and you, so that those who want to cross over to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us' (Luke 16:26).✦4 There is a great chaos—to put it plainly, a great darkness—between us and you, so that we cannot come to you, nor you to us.5 This dark image in your soul, and in mine as well, can be called a great chaos; it blocks us so that we cannot come to Abraham—who is Jesus—and it keeps him from coming to us, so that he will not.6
Read the original Latin
to othere vertues to travaile in hemself.
Gete to thee thanne mekenesse and charité, and yif thou wole traveile and swynke bisili for to have hem, thou schal mowe have inow for to doo in getynge of hem. Thei schal rule and mesure thee ful pryveli, hou thou schalt ete and drynke and socoure al thi bodili nede, that ther schal no man wite it but yif thou wole, and it schal not be in perplexité, ne in dwere, ne in angirnesse and hevynesse, but in a pees of glaad conscience with a sad restfulnesse. I speke forthere thanne I thought for to have spoken in this matier, but neverthelees doo, yif thou mai, as y sai, and I hope God schal make al wel.
Bi this thanne that I have seid mai thou sumdel see in this ymage of synne hou moche it letteth thee. The Gospel seith how Abraham spak to the riche man that was biried in helle on this wise: Est chaos magnum inter nos et vos firmatum, ut hii qui volunt transire ad vos, non possunt, nec huc transmeare (Luke 16:26). There is a gret chaos (that is a grete myrkenesse to sai) is bitwix us and yow, that we moun not come to you ne yee to us. This myrke image in thi soule and in myn also mai be callid a greet chaos, for it letteth us that we moun not come to Abraham, whiche is Jhesu, and it letteth him that he wole not come to us.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.16.26 — And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who wish to cross from here to you are not able, nor can any cross over from there to us.
Notes
- 1 ↩Section text is a phrase completing the chapter title claim (through busy desire and travail in meekness and charity, a person comes sooner…). ME 'to … to …' is read as comparative: sooner to other virtues than by travailing in them as ends in themselves. 'hemself' = the other virtues considered in isolation.
- 2 ↩ME dwere = doubt/uncertainty/dread; rendered as 'doubt'.
- 3 ↩ME sad here means settled/steadfast, not mournful; rendered as 'steady restfulness'.
- 4 ↩Source embeds the Vulgate Latin of Luke 16:26 (Est chaos magnum...); rendered in modern English. chaos kept in Hilton's later gloss as a technical term.
- 5 ↩myrkenesse: murk/darkness; Hilton glosses Latin chaos as spiritual darkness, not mere disorder.
- 6 ↩letteth him that he wole not come: the image hinders Christ's coming by making him unwilling to come while the image remains; not mere physical inability.
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