Ascents Of The Heart

Beatus vir cujus est auxilium abs te, ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. Ascensor iste in Scriptura sacra aliquando dicitur ovis perdita, aliquando filius prodigus, recedens a patre. Recessit enim a suo pastore et Patre in desertum hujus mundi, quod regio est a Deo longinqua tribus descensionum gradibus. Primus fuit a Dei magistra voluntate recedere, et suam sibi propriam magistram constituere, divinae voluntati suam praeferendo; secundus fuit a sua voluntate in carnis voluptates descendere, carnis curam in desideriis faciendo; tertius vero, a seipso sub se in terrena effluere, mundum et ea quae in mundo sunt quaerendo. Primum recessit a Deo intro ad se, secundo ab intus extra juxta se, tertio extra se. Prima dieta remotum, secunda remotiorem, tertia eum fecit remotissimum. Prima est voluntatis perversio, secunda carnalis delectatio, tertia terrenorum ambitio. His gradibus ad desertum ad regionem longinquam usque ad Babylonem descendit. Sed quia, juxta prophetam, etiam ibi aliquando liberatur, attendendum quomodo per trinam ascensionem ab hac trina descensione ad Deum redeat, quia inde incipit ascendere, ubi descendendo pervenit. Primus ascensionis gradus est terrena contemnere, paupertatem illam appetendo qua pauper in cella ditior fit in conscientia; secundus est carnis delectationes ex toto conterere, carnalia desideri vigiliis, jejuniis et orationibus domando; tertius voluntatem suam Deo et praelatis suis supponere, humilitatem in corde, patientiam in ore, perseverantiam exhibendo in opere. Nam haec tria verae obedientiae sunt necessaria, exemplo illius qui factus est obediens Patri, mitis et humilis corde, et tanquam ovis ad victimam ductis non aperuit os suum, perserverans usque ad mortem crucis. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber III, Tit LI, De ascensionis cordis ad Deum gradibus Source: Migne PL 177.669c-670a

Blessed the man whose help is from you, he has arranged ascents in his heart. 1 This one who ascends is sometimes spoken in Sacred Scripture as the lost sheep, and sometimes as the prodigal son, leaving the father. For by three descending steps he withdrew from his shepherd and father into the waste of this world, which region is far from God. First was the withdrawing from the magisterial will of God to establish his own will as magisterial, preferring his own to the Divine. Second was the descent from His pleasure to the pleasures of the flesh, completing the cares of the flesh in its desires. The third, however, was to descend from himself, below himself, passing into the things of the world, in the seeking of the world and the things of it. Firstly then he withdrew from God into himself and secondly in himself to those things of him, and thirdly to those things outside. The first made the Deity remote, the second more remote, the third the most remote. The first is the perversion of the will, the second the delights of the flesh, the third worldly ambition. These steps lead down to the waste, to that distant region, and even to Babylon. But because according to the prophet there may sometimes be liberation there, one must consider the three ascents which return one to God from the three descents, for there the ascent begins where the descent has brought one. The first ascent is to scorn the things of the world and to desire that poverty by which the poor man in a cell is more rich in his conscience. The second is to crush down the pleasures of the flesh, conquering the carnal desires with fasting and prayer. The third is to place oneself under the will of God and His prelates. being humble in heart, patient in speech, and exhibiting perseverance in works. For these are the three necessities of true obedience, as according to the example of that one who 'was made obedient to the Father,' 2 'Meek and humble in heart,' 3 'And as a sheep led to slaughter He did not open His mouth,' 'persevering even to death on the cross.' 4 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 3, Chapter 51, On The Ascending Steps of the Heart to God 1 Ps 83.6 2 Philip 2.8 3 Mt 11.29 4 Isaiah 53.7, Philip 2.8