This, therefore,
is the tree of life indeed,
the word of the Father,
the wisdom of God in the highest,
which in the hearts of the saints,
as in an unseen paradise,
is sown in fear,
watered by grace,
dies through grief,
takes root by faith,
buds by devotion,
shoots up through compunction,
grows by longing,
is strengthened by charity,
grows green by hope,
puts out its leaves and spreads
its branches through caution,
flowers through discipline,
bears fruit through virtue,
ripens through patience,
is harvested by death, and
feeds by contemplation.
–Hugh of St. Victor (c. 1096–1141)
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