And the abbot listened with an attentive smile.
'I marvel not that you loved him.

Reading in these pages, I am delighted by the graces of his mind, and taught by the sanctity of his spirit.

At the very beginning, how sweetly does his voice sound.
Listen.

"Trusting in the Lord's command, I knock at the doors of the heavenly mystery, that He may open to my understanding His flowery abodes, and that, permitted to enter the celestial garden, I may pluck spiritual fruit without the sin of the first man.

Verily this book shines like a lamp; it is the salve of a wounded spirit, sweet as honey to the inner man.