3. Assiduity
4. Satisfaction
16. In the second place, it is fitting that there be assiduity . Haphazard reading, reading first one author then another, like planting first here then there, is a very serious obstacle. External wandering is a sign of a wandering mind. Such reading cannot be profitable, for it is not fixed in the memory. Gregory provides an example of this when he says that when a man sees another's face but once, he cannot know it perfectly after [this single experience]. But when a man has seen another's face frequently, he knows it after that. And so it is with Sacred Scripture: at first, it has a face that is obscure, but after it has been often seen, it becomes familiar. 16. Secundo oportet habere assiduitatem. Impedimentum enim est maximum lectio vagabunda, quasi plantans modo hic, modo ibi; modo legere unum, modo alium. Vagatio exterior signum est vagationis animae; et ideo talis non potest proficere, quia non figitur in memoria; sicut ponit exemplum Gregorius, quod quando homo videt semel faciem hominis, non ita perfecte postea cognoscit, sed quando frequenter videt, postea cognoscet. Sic de sacra Scriptura: quia primo faciem obscuram habet, postea, quando frequenter videtur, efficitur familiaris.
17. In the third place, there is need for satisfaction. As indeed God proportioned taste and food, in that He gave flavor to food and the power of discrimination to taste, and from these two [attributes] it follows that food is assimilated by the body, so also it is fitting first to take in Scripture, then to chew it, and finally to assimilate it. What does it serve a man to drink dirty water? And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water? Drink instead healthy water, that is, wisdom. 17. Tertio oportet habere complacentiam. Sicut enim Deus proportionavit gustum et cibum, quia cibo dedit saporem, gustui autem discretionem; et ex his duobus cibus incorporatur: sic primo oportet sumere Scripturam postea masticare, demum incorporare. Ad quid homo bibet aquam turbidam? Ieremias: Quid tibi vis in via Aegypti, ut bibas aquam turbidam ? . Sed bibe aquam salutarem, scilicet sapientiae.
5. Good Measure
18. Note that an animal that does not ruminate is impure. Now, rumination consists in this, that an animal has two stomachs. It brings food to its mouth, then ruminates it, then makes it pass into the second stomach. The Psalm reads: How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Do not love the harlot and dismiss your wife: Her I loved and sought after from my youth. Do not take in the acorns and pods of the swine, lest with Absalom you be hung by the hair, that is, by your dispositions.! The teachings of the ages are like the oak: lofty, noble, inflexible. Do not choose to eat the pumpkins of Egypt and the leeks and the garlic, but bread from heaven. And do not be disgusted with that food, do not be carnal as were the sons of Israel. For these found but one flavor, while others, spiritual men, found the sweetness of every taste. 18. Nota, quod animal, quod non ruminat, immundum est. Ruminatio enim fit eo, quod animal habet duos ventres; attrahit cibum ad os et totum ruminat et proiicit in alterum ventrem ulteriorem. -- In Psalmo: Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua, super mel ori meo! . Non diligas meretricem et dimittas sponsam tuam; in Sapientia: Hanc amavi et exquisivi a iuventute mea . Non accipias glandes et siliquas porcorum , ut suspendaris cum Absalon per capillos , scilicet affectus tuos. Doctrinae saeculares sunt sicut quercus altae, proceres, inflexibiles. Noli comedere pepones Aegypti et porros et allia, sed manna de caelo ; et non nauseas super cibo isto, non sis carnalis, sicut filii Israel; et hi non inveniebant nisi unum saporem, sed alii homines spirituales inveniebant omnis saporis suavitatem .
6. Anyone Who Wishes to Obtain Advantages from His Studies Should Be Holy and Should Work
a. Reverent
19. The fourth need is good measure, so that a man seek not to savor beyond his means, but that he do so according to moderation. Hence, the Wise Man says: If you find honey, eat only what you need, lest you become glutted with it and vomit it up. Do not extend yourself beyond the point your intelligence can reach; but neither remain short of it. Wherefore, in order to make this point, as Dionysius [the Pseudo-Areopagite] says, the Seraphim flew with their intermediate wings, [showing] that man should not remain short of his possibilities nor rise beyond them. Likewise, those who sing beyond their range never produce harmony. And Augustine says that those who do not order their studies properly are like colts gamboling hither and thither, while the mare with a steady step goes just where it is good for her to go. This example may be applied to a man of slow intelligence who is able to organize his studies well, as opposed to a man of brilliant intelligence who studies in a disorderly manner. 19. Quartum est commensuratio, ut non velit sapere super vires, sed sapere ad sobrietatem . Unde ait Sapiens: Mel invenisti, comede quod tibi sufficit, ne forte satiatus evomas illud . Non plus te extendas, quam ingenium tuum potest ascendere, nec infra maneas. Unde in designationem huius, ut dicit Dionysius, Seraphim mediis volabant alis, ut nec sistat homo citra id quod potest, nec ascendat ultra id quod potest; sicut illi qui cantant ultra vires, nunquam bonam faciunt harmoniam. -- Et dicit Augustinus, quod illi qui non ordinant studium, sunt sicut pulli equorum, qui modo currunt huc, modo illuc; sed iumentum plano passu tantum vadit, eo quod aeque proficit; sic unus durus, dummodo ordinare sciat studium suum, sicut ingeniosus inordinate studens.
b. Religious
c. Pure
20. Anyone who wishes to obtain advantages from his studies should be holy and should work for a life that is reverent, pure, religious, and edifying. Now the reverent life of the saints consists in this, that in anything they do, they be always in a state of fear, whether going to Mass or to table, whether walking or standing still, for in anything there is a possibility of sin. Then 1 am in dread of all my pains; I know that you will not hold me innocent. The best sign is fear, and the worst, temerity, for such is never corrected. 20. Qui autem vult proficere in hoc studio, oportet, quod habeat sanctitatem et possit studere ad vitam timoratam, impollutam, religiosam, aedificatoriam. -- Haec est vita Sanctorum timorata, ut in his quae agit, semper timeat, sive vadens ad Missam, sive ad mensam, sive stans, sive ambulans, quia in omnibus potest esse peccatum; Iob: Verebar omnia opera mea, sciens, quod non parceres delinquenti . Op- timum signum est timor, et pessimum signum est audacia, quia talis nunquam corrigitur.
d. Edify
21. In the second place, [a saint's] life must be pure, that is, everything must be done out of love for God, and not out of love for something else, since all love is suspect if it is not addressed to God. That is why Augustine — and also Bernard in a letter to a certain monk —write that the apostles' love for the bodily Christ prevented the coming of the Spirit^ What of other forms of love addressed to creatures? My soul refuses comfort, etc. Keep me as the apple of your eye. The apple of the eye is not kept clean when there is mist or dust or liquid on it. 21. Secundo, vita impolluta, quod totum faciat propter amorem Dei, non propter amorem alicuius rei, quia omnis amor suspectus est nisi Dei. Unde dicit Augustinus, et beatus Bernardus in quadam epistola ad quendam monachum, quod dilectio Apostolorum ad carnem Christi impediebat adventum Spiritus sancti. Quid de alio amore creaturarum? Psalmus: Renuit consolari anima mea etc. Custodi me, Domine, ut pupillam oculi . Pupilla non bene custoditur munda, quando est vapor, vel pulvis, vel humor in ea.
22. In the third place, it must be religious , closed as a vineyard wall. And so, it is good that a man restrain his taste, his tongue and his other senses: for if anyone thinks himself to be religious, not restraining his tongue but deceiving his own heart, that man's religion is vain. Hedge in thy ears with thorns. Our life must not be given to discourse, but to tears. 22. Tertio, quod sit vita religiosa, clausa sicut maceria vineae ; sic oportet, quod homo faciat sibi restrictionem gustus, linguae et sensuum ceterorum: quia, si quis putat, se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum; huius vana est religio . Sepi aures tuas spinis . Vita nostra non debet esse data loquelis, sed lacrymis.
23. In the fourth place, (the life of a saint) must edify both nearby and afar, being prepared to lift all men up and to lament if it be a cause of scandal to anyone. And it must beware of inflicting damage upon others: for if I alone have eaten well and others have starved, an evil would have been done. And this is the fruit of the others. 23. Quarto, quod sit vita aedificatoria proximi et remoti, ut sit paratus omnes aedificare et doleat, si quis ex ipso scandalizatur; et debet cavere damna alterius; quia, si ego solus bene comederem, et alii ieiunarent, male factum esset. Et iste est fructus aliorum.
7. Fruit of Wisdom or Zeal
a. Recognition of One's Inner Defects
24. Again, after these things we have spoken of— knowledge and sanctity — there follows the fruit of wisdom or zeal, which consists in four necessary things, that is, recognition of one's inner defects . Wherefore the following inscription appeared on the temple of Apollo: "Know yourself." Without this, it is impossible to attain wisdom. And so, the more a wise man advances, the more he despises himself; and it is a poor merchant who deceives himself: and that is what a man does who has a higher opinion of himself than he deserves. Instead, he should appreciate others and despise himself, and this is the foremost expression of the zeal for wisdom, that a man persuade himself of his own defects and become humble in his own eyes. 24. Item sequitur ex his praedictis, scilicet scientia et sanctitate, fructus sapientiae vel studium, quod consistit in quatuor, quae sunt necessaria, scilicet recognitio internorum propriorum defectuum. Unde in fronte Apollinis scriptum erat: «Recognosce te ipsum»; sine hoc impossibile est venire ad sapientiam. Unde quanto sapiens plus proficit, tanto plus se despicit. Unde malus mercator est qui se ipsum decipit; quod facit qui se appretiatur plus quam valet; sed debet alios appretiari et se despicere; et hoc est principalissimum studium sapientiae, ut sibi ipsi persuadeat homo suos defectus et fiat humilis in oculis suis.
b. Control of the Passions
25. The second aspect of the zeal of wisdom is control of the passions , which are the seven affective dispositions of the soul —four principal and three consequent: fear, sorrow, hope and joy; shame and hatred. It is characteristic of these that they go to excess in all matters. But when a child clamors too loudly, he is restrained. Likewise, a man should dominate and restrain these passions with a kind of judicial censure, so that when sorrow comes, he say to himself, "Remain in peace." And the same with the others. And get rid of this childishness and of these infantile dispositions. For children are the pursuers of passions: accursed is the child who is a hundred years oldlf 25. Secundum studium sapientiae est castigatio passionum, quae sunt septem affectiones animae, quatuor principales et tres annexae: timor, dolor, spes, gaudium; desiderium, verecundia, odium. Etiam in omnibus his contingit excedere. Puer autem, quando nimis clamat, compescitur; sic homo censura quadam iudiciali debet domare et restringere huiusmodi passiones, ut, quando venit dolor, dicatur sibi: sta in pace, et sic de aliis; et praescinde istas puerilitates et pueriles affec- tiones. Pueri enim insecutores sunt passionum; maledictus puer centum annorum .
c. Ordaining of Thoughts
26. The third aspect of the zeal of wisdom is the ordaining of thoughts. A fool will peep through the window into the house. And in this regard, there is great difficulty in containing our imagination so well that in church we think of nothing but the office, and likewise in other circumstances. And it is necessary to ordain such thoughts so that the Holy Spirit be able to enter in the form of wisdom, for the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsel. Hence, there is need for us to use clearly defined materials with which we can be properly concerned. 26. Tertium studium sapientiae est ordinatio cogitationum; unde: Stultus per fenestram prospicit in domum proximi . Et hic est magna difficultas ordinare phantasmata nostra, ut, quando sumus in Ecclesia, nihil cogitemus nisi de officio, et sic de aliis; et necessario oportet ordinare has cogitationes ad hoc, quod Spiritus sanctus intret per sapientiam, quia Spiritus sanctus disciplinae effugiet fictum et auferet se a cogitationibus, quae sunt sine intellectu . Et ideo oportet habere certas materias, circa quas nos exerceamus.
d. Elevation of Desire
27. The fourth aspect of the zeal of wisdom is the elevation of desire . This gives worth to other endeavors, so that forgetting what is behind, we strain forward to what is before. The wise man has eyes in his head. — The heart of a wise man is in his right hand. Now, the zeal of wisdom consists in this, that our endeavor be directed toward nothing but God who is all delight. These four are difficult, unless they are preceded by a fourfold effort: then they are easy. Hence, it is then easy to obtain dominion over the passions, as it is said of a certain philosopher who told his servant: "How severely would I have punished you, had I not been angry!" 27. Quartum studium sapientiae est desiderii sursumactio; hoc facit alia studia valere, ut posteriora obliti extendamus nos ad ea quae sunt priora . Sapientis oculi in capite eius . Cor sapientis in dextera eius . Hoc est sapientis studium, ut non declinet studium nostrum nisi ad Deum, qui est totus desiderabilis . -- Haec quatuor sunt difficilia, nisi habeantur prima studia, et cum his sunt facilia. Unde facile est tunc habere dominium supra passiones, ut dicitur de quodam philosopho, qui dixit servo suo: «Quantum te affligerem, si non essem iratus».