Ebook The Degrees of the Spiritual Life

The work which I have here the privilege of introducing to English readers is already well known and highly valued in France and other countries. I have undertaken this translation at the wish of my Abbot, and with the permission of the author, in the confident expectation that a book so clear and admirable will be as much appreciated by English-speaking Catholics as it has been by their brethren on the Continent. For this book is well fitted to become the spiritual companion of souls who are entering on the way of perfection, and they will find in it a sure and faithful guide. Though primarily intended for priests and religious, it is by no means adapted for them alone, and there are few indeed who are in earnest about their salvation who will not get help and light from its perusal. I hope that to many it will become what The Spiritual Combat was to St Francis of Sales, and what that great Saint's own Introduction to the Devout Life has been to countless souls. For the Abbe Saudreau has no new doctrine of his own to proclaim; his work has been to gather together, expound, and co-ordinate the teachings of the Saints.