Hou a man schal be schapen to the image of Jhesu, and Jhesu schapen in hym.
Reformed to the Image of Christ
By breaking down the image of sin through grace, the soul is reshaped into the image of Jesus through humility and charity.
But do as I've said—or better, if you can—and I hope that by the grace of Jesus you'll put the devil to shame and break down all such wicked stirrings so they won't harm you much. And in this way this image of sin can be broken down and destroyed in you—the image by which you've been misshapen away from the natural form of the image of Christ.✦1 Then you'll be shaped again into the image of Jesus through humility and charity; and eventually, you'll be fully shaped into the image of God—here in this life, as a shadow through contemplation, and in the bliss of heaven, in full truth.✦2
The Spiritual Birth of Christ Within
Using Saint Paul's metaphor of childbirth, the author explains that Christ is conceived in the soul by truth but must be fully formed through the fullness of charity.
Saint Paul speaks of this process of being shaped into the full likeness of Christ in this way: Filioli, quos iterum parturio, donec Christus formetur in vobis (Galatians 4:19).✦ My dear children, whom I labor over as a woman bears a child, until Christ is formed again in you.✦3 You have conceived Christ through the truth, and He has life in you to the extent that you have a good will to serve and please Him—but He isn't yet fully formed in you, nor are you in Him through the fullness of charity.4 Therefore, Saint Paul labored over me and you—and others as well—just as a woman bears a child, until Christ has His full form in us and we in Him.
The Only Way to Contemplation
True contemplation is only accessible through the door of Christ, requiring the soul to be first reformed in His humanity through humility and charity.
Anyone who thinks they can reach the work and full use of contemplation without this path—that is, without the fullness of the virtues—is not entering through the door, and as a thief, they will be cast out. I’m not denying that by God’s gift a person may at times have a taste and a glimmer of the contemplative life—some even at the very beginning—but they won't have the settled experience of it.5 For Christ is the door and the gatekeeper, and without His leave and His livery no one can come in, as He says Himself: Nemo venit ad patrem nisi per me (John 14:6).✦6 No one comes to the Father except through Me. This means that no one can come to the contemplation of the Godhead unless they are first reformed by the fullness of humility and charity into the likeness of Jesus in His humanity.✦
Read the original Latin
But doo as I have seid, and betere yif thou may, and I hope bi grace of Jhesu thou schal make the devel aschamed, and alle sich wickid stirynges thou schalt breke adoune, that thei schal not moche dere thee. And upon this maner wise mai this image of synne be broken doun and destroied in thee, bi the whiche thou art forschapen fro the kyndeli schap of the ymage of Crist. And thanne schalt thou be schapin agen to the ymage of Jhesu bi mekenesse and charité; and thanne schalt thou be ful schapen to the image of God, heere lyvynge bi a schadewe in contemplacion, and in the blis of hevene be ful sothfastnesse.
Of this schapynge to the ful liknesse of Crist speketh Seynt Poul thus: Filioli, quos iterum parturio, donec Christus formetur in vobis (Galatians 4:19). Mi dere children, whiche y bere as a woman berith a child, unto Crist be agen schapen in you. Thou hast conceived Crist bi truthe, and He hath liyf in thee in as moche as thou hast a good wille for to serve Hym and please Hym, but He is not yit ful schapen in thee, ne thou in Him bi fulheed of charité. And therfore Seynt Poul baar me and thee and othere also with traveile, as a woman bereth a child, unto the tyme that Crist hath His ful schap in us and we in Hym.
Whoso weneth for to come to the workyng and to the ful use of contemplacioun and not bi this way, that is for to sai not bi fulheed of vertues, he cometh not in bi the dore, and therfore as a theef he schal be caste out. I seie not but that a man bi gifte of God mai have bi tymes a taastynge and a glymerynge of lif contemplatif, sum man in the bigynnynge, but the saad feelynge of hit schal he not have. For Criste is the doore and porter, and withoute His leve and His lyveray mai there no man come in, as He seith Hymsilf: Nemo venit ad patrem nisi per me (John 14:6). No man cometh to the Fadir but bi Me. That is for to seie, no man mai come to the contemplacion of the Godheed but he be first reformed bi fulhed of mekenesse and charitee to the liknesse of Jhesu in His manhede.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Col.3.10;Rom.8.29;2Cor.3.18 — and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator Rom.8.29 — For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 2Cor.3.18 — And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
- ↩Gen.1.26-Gen.1.27;Col.3.10;Rom.8.29 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Col.3.10 — and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator Rom.8.29 — For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
- ↩Gal.4.19 — My children, for whom I am again in labor pains until Christ is formed in you—
- ↩Gal.4.19 — My children, for whom I am again in labor pains until Christ is formed in you—
- ↩John.14.6 — Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'
- ↩John.14.6 — Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'
Notes
- 1 ↩ME forschapen = misshapen/deformed/reshaped away from; kyndeli schap = natural/innate form (not 'kindly' in the modern sense).
- 2 ↩charité rendered as charity (theological virtue) rather than generic love, paired with humility as the reshaping virtues. Parallel bi/be treated as 'by... by' (shadow vs. full truth), not as a second main verb 'be'.
- 3 ↩Middle English 'agen schapen' renders Latin formetur with Hilton's preferred image-language of reshaping/re-forming, continuous with the chapter's 'schapen to the image of Jhesu'.
- 4 ↩'Charité' here is the theological virtue in its fullness (fulheed of charité), not mere almsgiving; rendered 'charity' to keep that load.
- 5 ↩ME saad means firm, settled, solid, mature; rendered here as 'settled experience' rather than mere emotion, contrasting occasional taste/glimmer with stable possession of contemplative life.
- 6 ↩ME lyveray is a lord's livery—the badge or clothing that marks a servant as belonging to him. Kept as 'livery' to preserve Hilton's feudal-service image of entering under Christ's mark and authority.
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