Inter ipsos proximos, quis cui praeponendus sit, distinguitur
The Spiritual Ark of the Heart
The breadth of the heart is likened to a spiritual ark, where each person is assigned a dwelling-place according to their dignity.
Since, then, in treating of love, we have shown, according to its law, what a person owes to themselves and what to their neighbor — though so great a multitude doesn't allow us to supply bodily need to everyone — it remains for a careful discernment to determine, among those themselves, who should be preferred to whom. So let us think of the breadth of our heart as a kind of spiritual ark, built of incorruptible wood — that is, good character and virtues — and within it, as we arrange the dwelling-places and their sadder, that is, spiritual resting-places, let us assign each one individually, according to each person's dignity or rank.
Enemies in the Lower Places
Enemies are placed in the lowest dwelling-places of the heart, yet even they receive the comfort of prayer and the aid of shared earthly life.
Therefore, let us enclose the beasts — those that rage in a bestial manner, thirsting for our blood with savage fury, that is, our enemies — in the lower places; and to them let us offer the comfort of prayer and, after the rest, the aid of shared earthly life. But because there are inner and outer dwelling-places, let exterior things suffice for those of this class who are outwardly situated; yet those who, in outward appearance at least, share the common faith with us — let not the inner dwelling reject them.
The Wayward in the Middle Rank
Those stained by earthly wisdom and bodily desire occupy a middle place, receiving prayer, encouragement, and rebuke, with closer kin and servants given the more intimate position.
The place above these is given to the reptiles and beasts of burden — those who, though wise in earthly ways, stain themselves with the filth of the belly and the foulness of lust, and cast themselves down below the human level; yet they do nothing inhuman, nothing cruel, nothing harmful against us. To these let us offer the remedy of prayer, the aid of encouragement, the cauterizing of rebuke, and — before the lower ones, but after the higher — the supplement of necessity. Among these, let those who are closer to us by the bond of blood or the kindness of service be assigned the intimate place in this rank; yet let the rest not be excluded from the outer places.
The Higher Places for the Steadfast
Those who neither rise to perfection nor sink to brutality are placed in the higher regions, with the closest in blood, friendship, or kindness given the most inward place.
But now, in the higher places, let us situate people — those who, even though they are not carried above the human level by a desire for perfection, nevertheless do not sink down into the savagery of beasts, the pleasure of cattle, or the filth of reptiles. There is a further degree of distinction here: the closer someone is to us by blood, or the more pleasing by friendship, or the more generous in bestowing kindnesses, the more inward a place they should have in the dwelling of our heart.
The Birds and the Place Above All
Those borne aloft on spiritual wings occupy the highest places, with spiritual friends cherished most tenderly, and Jesus alone enthroned above all as the maker and restorer of the ark.
Furthermore, let the higher place be yielded to the birds—those who, borne above on the spiritual wings of virtue, are carried beyond the level of ordinary humanity. The nearer they are to God, the higher they ought to be in this spiritual ark. Among these, whoever are joined to us by the sweetest bond of spiritual friendship should be stored away in the innermost and most hidden places of our heart—let them be cherished more tenderly, held more closely, and loved more sweetly. There is, moreover, a place more eminent than all the rest. Jesus alone—without companion, beautiful in his sitting above—is at once the maker and restorer of this spiritual ark. He arranges all the lower regions with his own sweetness. In all things let him be tasted, in all things let him give fragrance, in all things let him shine, in all things let him gleam. And let him draw the entire lower breadth to the single cubit of his love by a straighter line.✦ He alone in all things, he alone before all things—he both stirs our affection and demands our love. For himself he requires a seat in the dwelling of our heart: not only a more powerful one, but a higher one; and not only a higher one, but a more inward one.
The Rule of Loving Preference
The chapter closes with a governing principle: prefer the higher rank over the lower, yet within each rank give care to the more inward.
Let this principle, then, be observed in making these distinctions: since the willingness to care for all has been preserved, and since present need is enough for everyone, let the higher rank be preferred over the lower. But within each individual rank, let care be given to the more inward rather than the more outward.
Read the original Latin
Quoniam igitur de charitate tractantes, secundum ejus legem, quid homo sibi, quid proximo debeat, ostendimus, cum omnibus ad corporalem necessitatem sufficere tanta nos multitudo non sinat ; restat, ut, inter ipsos, quis cui praeponendus sit, ratio consulta, discernat. Consideremus itaque cordis nostri latitudinem, quasi arcam quamdam spiritalem, lignis imputribilibus, moribus scilicet bonis virtutibusque compactam ; in qua mansiunculas et tristegas, spiritalia videlicet receptacula collocantes, singulis singula, pro cujuslibet dignitate vel ordine, deputemus. Igitur bestias, bestiali scilicet more saevientes, ac sanguinem nostrum ferali rabie sitientes, inimicos videlicet nostros, in inferioribus includamus; quibus et orationis solatium, et post ceteros, communis hujus vitae praebeamus subsidium. Sed quia sunt mansiunculae interiores et exteriores, de hoc hominum genere his, qui foris sunt, exteriora sufficiant ; illos vero qui, specietenus licet, communem nobiscum sortiuntur fidem, interior mansio non repellat. Superior his locus reptilibus, jumentisque conceditur, qui terrena licet sapientes, ac semetipsos ventris sordibus, ac libidinis spurcitia maculantes, infra hominem sese dejiciunt; nihil tamen inhumanum, nihil crudele, nihil in nos moliuntur adversum. His et orationis remedium, et adhortationis auxilium, et correptionis cauterium, et prae inferioribus, sed post superiores, necessitatis praebeamus supplementum. Inter quos, qui vel sanguinis communione, vel officii humanitate nobis viciniores sunt, in isto gradu intima sortiantur; ab exterioribus ceteri non excludantur. Jam vero in superioribus homines collocemus : illos nimirum qui, etsi supra hominem perfectionis desiderio non vehuntur, non tamen in bestias feritate, non in pecudes voluptate, non in reptilia sordibus devolvuntur.
Est in hoc quoque gradus; quanto quis nobis aut carne propinquior, aut amicitia gratior, aut beneficiorum fuerit largitione propensior, tanto sit et in pectoris mansione interior. Porro locus excelsior volatilibus cedat; qui supra hominem virtutum pennis spiritualibus vecti, quanto Deo sunt propinquiores, tanto in arca hac spirituali esse debent superiores. Inter quos quicunque dulcissimo nobis spiritualis amicitiae vinculo copulantur, in interioribus ac secretioribus pectoris nostri locis suavius recondantur, astringantur arctius, dulcius foveantur. Est praeterea locus ceteris omnibus eminentior, cujus spiritualis hujus arcae fabricator simul ac reparator Jesus solus sine comite speciosus insidens, ac inferiora omnia sua suavitate componens, in omnibus sapiat, in omnibus fragret, in omnibus luceat, in omnibus splendeat, totamque inferiorem latitudinem ad unum suae dilectionis cubitum linea rectiore traducat. Ipse solus in omnibus, ipse solus prae omnibus, et affectum nostrum afficit, et amorem exigit ; ipse sibi sedem, non solum potiorem, sed et superiorem, nec solum superiorem, sed et interiorem in pectoris nostri mansione requirit. Haec itaque ratio in hac distinctione servetur, ut servata omnibus consulendi voluntate, cum ad omnes praesens indigentia sufficiat, inferiori gradus superior praeponatur, in singulis autem gradibus interiori potius consulatur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gen.6.15 — And this is how you shall make it: three hundred cubits shall be the length of the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height.
Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) companion
Reorder one love at a time, daily
Use the study map with the free Chosen Portion app's daily readings to work through Aelred at a sustainable pace.
Aelred wrote the Mirror as a rule for daily interior discipline in community, and Chosen Portion carries that discipline forward as a short ordered reading each day.
- All 3 books and 102 chapters mapped into 4 weekly themes with page-level pointers
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