From the Foreword, written by His Grace, Bishop BASIL, "In the book you now hold, Archimandrite Zacharias enjoins us to live in remembrance of our First Love, or in other words, to draw ever nearer to God. He embellishes St. John's Icon [of the Ladder] with motifs from his own experience: we discern clearly for example the image of his spiritual grandfather, St. Silouan the Athonite, standing on the thirtieth and final step of the ladder, in the embrace of Chris the Rewarder of the contest. St. Silouan in turn grasps the hand of his spiritual son Blessed Elder Sophrony of Essex, whose own arm is outstretched as he reaches towards his son, Father Zacharias, and beyond him to all of us as we attempt to make our way up the ladder."
[snip]
"He describes the first stage as a visitation of the Divine Spirit, which encourages man to conclude a covenant with God. The second stage consists of a long and arduous struggle through God's providential withdrawal of His grace; it is during this stage that we learn the painful truth about ourselves as we are instructed in the ways of the Lord by the Holy Spirit. The last stage involves our reacquisition - this time for all eternity - of the inalienable grace of salvation."
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