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and to arrive at the other, is in every way for men impracticable and impossible. For those who step outside this straight path and order wander much. For just as it is not possible without a ladder ever to ascend into a high house, (326) or to be found inside that very royal chamber, where the king himself abides, before being in the royal courtyards themselves, so it is impossible for one who has not walked according to the said order to enter into the kingdom of heaven; for all such people are outside the royal road, let no one deceive them, they proceed imperceptibly in their error.

But O Lord, the guide of the lost, the unerring path for those coming to you, turn us all back and stand us at this ladder of yours and, to take hold of it, guide our hands with your hand and strengthen us to be lifted from the earth and to step on the first rung, so that we may know that we have grasped something somewhere and have been lifted a little from the earth. For we must first ascend a little towards you, so that you, the good Master, may descend greatly and be united with us. Show us, Master, the forecourt gate of your kingdom, so that, persevering at it, we may knock, until the gate is opened for us through the death according to choice, and being inside and knocking at one gate and opening these, you yourself, having heard our sighs and the beatings of our breast, may hasten to descend from your high upper rooms, O most compassionate and merciful God, and we may hear the sound of your all-pure feet and know that you are opening the inner gates, which are closed to us sinners, and coming to us, you may say: “Who is it that is knocking?”. And we, answering with shouting and wailing, may say to you with trembling and joy. It is we, Master, we your unworthy, poor, rejected and wicked servants, we who until now have been wandering wretchedly in mountains and cliffs and abysses; (327) it is we who have foolishly defiled your holy baptism, who have denied the covenants made with you; it is we who have fled and willingly defected to your enemy and the plotter against our souls. Now therefore, remembering you and your love for mankind and goodness, having fled from there and become weary, we have come in great fear and trembling.

Forgive and be not angry with us, Master, but taking pity and having mercy on us wretches, open to us, Lord, and do not remember our evils; nor bear a grudge for our ingratitude - for we have been standing and knocking for a long time - nor disregard us, your servants, lest we grow disheartened and turn back. We have grown weary knocking at the gates of the forecourts of your kingdom; open to us, you who by nature love mankind, having compassion on us. For if, opening a little, you open to us the door of your mercy, who seeing you will not shudder? Who in fear and trembling will not fall down and beg for mercy? Who, seeing you, who has myriads of angels and thousands of thousands of archangels and thrones and authorities, leaving the things above and coming down to us and meeting us and opening, and benevolently receiving us and falling on our necks and kissing us, will not at once be astounded and be undone as if dead? And his bones will be poured out like water on the earth and he will weep night and day, contemplating the ocean of your compassion and goodness and beholding in a mirror the glory and splendor of your face. Glory to you, who has so ordained. Glory to you, who has been pleased to be seen by and united with us. Glory to you, who through great compassion are revealed and seen by us, you who are invisible by nature even to the (328) very