4

Therefore to the cry of prayer through Christ crucified, by Whose blood

we are purged of the filth of vice, do I first invite the reader, lest

perchance he should believe that it suffices to read without unction,

speculate without devotion, investigate without wonder, examine without

exultation, work without piety, know without love, understand without

humility, be zealous without divine grace, see without wisdom divinely

inspired. Therefore to those predisposed by divine grace, to the humble and

the pious, to those filled with compunction and devotion, anointed with the

oil of gladness [Ps., 44, 8], to the lovers of divine wisdom, inflamed with

desire for it, to those wishing to give themselves over to praising God, to

wondering over Him and to delighting in Him, do I propose the following

reflections, hinting that little or nothing is the outer mirror unless the

mirror of the mind be clear and polished.

Bestir yourself then, O man of God, you who previously resisted the pricks

of conscience, before you raise your eyes to the rays of wisdom shining in

that mirror, lest by chance you fall into the lower pit of shadows from the

contemplation of those rays.