The saint believes that all Christians should dedicate time to supernatural contemplation, regardless of their level, because contemplation is necessary for the perfection of virtue. "Those who want to acquire all justice, that is, faith in God, charity to neighbours, and repentance of one's sins, must live... in the quietness of the spirit and in the sweetness of contemplation."

The vocation for mystic contemplation supposes that the soul has the requisites to receive it. Among these, Anthony enumerates:

• purity of heart, which extends to detachment from all things created;
• poverty, which requires the complete plundering, at least on the affective level, of worldly goods;
• humility, which is a superior poverty because it plunders ones own self and recognises the misery and nothingness of human nature.

Another virtue which is particularly useful in contemplation is perfect chastity. Very few mystic authors mention this requirement reserved for a limited group of souls. Saint Anthony undoubtedly speaks from personal experience. He was a white lily of purity. For the majority of Christians who are married, mental purity (mentis puritate) is sufficient.

Text by Antonio Giuseppe Nocilli, adapted by Father Paolo Floretta