ABSTRACT
William explicitly stated as his main intention in writing that he sought to produce a text that could lead to a turning away from the world and incite love of God-that is, to effect a fundamental conversion of life. This chapter argues that William's mode of composition marshals' central traditions of thought and practice to create a work that, according to the relevant standards of William's time and milieu, indeed could be seen as conducive to this aim. Learning lectio diuina was a process of learning a practice rather than acquiring a body of knowledge. Through the stages of lectio, meditatio, and oratio, the reader recollects his innermost self in his secretum internae visionis, in a prayerful meditation on the implications of the biblical text, its relevance for his own life. It is an active process, requiring intense effort on the part of the reader, but the rewards promised are bountiful.
