The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises
1910
The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises
1910
Translated by Geraldine Emma Hodgson
Richard Rolle was a 14th-century English hermit who abandoned conventional monastery life to pursue something more dangerous and alive: direct communion with God through inner fire. This collection gathers his most vital prose treatises, including the foundational 'Form of Perfect Living,' which maps the soul's struggle against its three great enemies: spiritual weakness, worldly desire, and the catastrophic trade of eternal joy for temporary pleasure. Rolle writes not as a theologian but as a mystic who has burned with divine love, urging readers toward inner purity, vigilant prayer, and a love for God so total it consumes the self. These are among the oldest sustained voices in English spiritual literature, predating Chaucer, and they throb with an urgency that feels startlingly modern: the hunger for something real beyond the machinery of religious obligation. The 1910 translation preserves Rolle's raw emotional intensity while rendering his Middle English accessible, making this essential reading for anyone drawn to the mystics who came before Julian of Norwich and beyond.
Editions
X-Ray
“If thou wilt be well with GOD, and have grace to rule thy life, and come to the joy of love: this name JESUS, fasten it so fast in thy heart that it come never out of thy thought. And when thou speakest to Him, and through custom sayst, JESUS, it shall be in thine ear, joy; in thy mouth, honey; and in thine heart, melody: for men shall think joy to hear that name be named, sweetness to speak it, mirth and song to think it. If thou thinkest (on) JESUS continually, and holdest it firmly, it purges thy sin, and kindles thine heart; it clarifies thy soul, it removes anger and does away slowness. It wounds in love and fulfils charity. It chases the devil, and puts out dread. It opens heaven, and makes a contemplative man. Have JESUS in mind, for that puts all vices and phantoms out from the lover.””
— Richard, of Hampole Rolle
“Also, we ought to work in this time of grace; for we are GOD’S bought thralls, with the price of His dear-worthy Blood, to work in His vine-yard: and yet He doth promise us reward, if we do with good-will that which, as a debt, we ought to do.””
— Richard, of Hampole Rolle
“And S. Gregory says:”
— Richard, of Hampole Rolle
Link to this book
Add a free, dofollow link to Lex on your blog, forum, syllabus, or reading list.
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8ba"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises by Richard, of Hampole Rolle free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8ba)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8ba][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises by Richard, of Hampole Rolle free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8baCite this book
Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.
Richard, of Hampole Rolle. The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8ba.Richard, O. H. R. (1910). The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8baRichard, of Hampole Rolle. The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-form-of-perfect-living-and-other-prose-treatises-5391bf96-f5eb-41bf-badb-fb54f62cf8ba.