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 use another way. And therefore, every one guiding himself partly by the counsel and directions of his spiritual master — partly by the experience of his own comfort and profit — must lay hold of those meditations and forms of prayer which arm him best to this end, although it is not amiss to " prove all for perhaps our Lord will open to me a way which I thought He had held very close shut

5. By what has been said I conclude, that those who desire daily to climb the mystical ladder of Jacob, which St. Augustine calls the " ladder of paradise," and St. Bernard, " the ladder of men who are religious the steps of which are, reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation — will find in this book matter and instruction fit for this ascent, relying principally upon God's grace, by whose favour we shall all be able to climb and arrive to that union with our Lord, who is at the top inviting us to mount up thereby; and to this end He sends His holy angels who ascend and descend for our good: they ascend to present to God our desires and petitions, and they descend with the good despatch of them, and always animate us to climb up every day with great perseverance, until we enter into the paradise of our God, where we may see Him and enjoy Him, world without end. Amen.