Foreword

My reader and friend,

let me help your soul

contemplate the virtues of man,

for grace works upon nature.

But do not forget

that these considerations of mine,

though they may seem very human to you,

must be priestly as well,

since I have written them

for you and for myself

— and I have put them into practice too —

before God.

I ask Our Lord

that these pages

may be of use for us.

May we profit by them

and be moved by them

so that in our lives

our deeds may leave behind

a deep and fertile furrow.