This practical guide to the spiritual life, cherished by monks, beguines, and lay folk for eight centuries, can still lead men and women to God. The Golden Epistle first appeared in s1145 and has been ascribed to several different authors, among them Bernard of Clairvaux and Guigo the carthusian. Today its author is known to have been William of Saint Thierry, a Cistercian monk of the abbey of Signy and a friend of Saint Bernard. It was read continuously throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times, especially y lay men and women seeking guidance in their spiritual lives.