Dom André Poisson (1923-2005) tells readers who wish to learn the prayer of the heart: “I want to point you in a certain direction, to indicate a path you must follow, without knowing in advance exactly where it will lead. The prayer of the heart is not a goal to be reached. It is a manner of being, a manner of listening and moving forward.”

Having followed this path, Bishop Varden, who translated this text into English, testifies that it “opened my eyes to ‘the boundless riches of Christ’; it pierced my heart with the light of a trust I had previously only known notionally…because its author speaks with authority, of things he knows.”