2016 Reprint of 1950 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This classic work is considered "a course in spiritual strategy" and one of the great works in ascetical theology. The identity of its author still remains a mystery but many attribute it to the Italian Theatine, Lawrence Scupoli. It was first published in Venice in 1589 and was a favorite book of St. Francis de Sales, the great master of the spiritual life. The purpose of this book is to help lead the soul to spiritual perfection. To clarify the meaning of perfection it tells us that it does not consist in external works and practices, but it is all interior; it means knowing and loving God, despising and mastering in us all our evil inclinations, so that we may be able to submit and abandon entirely to God, out of love for Him.