The Imitation of Christ: A Spiritual Commentary and Reader’s Guide

373 Pages·2005·1.25 MB·English

by  Thomas à Kempis

THE
IMITATION OF CHRIST
THOMAS À KEMPIS
A Spiritual Commentary and Reader’s Guide
Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R
_____________________
Thomas à Kempis. The Imitation of Christ: A Spiritual
Commentary and Reader’s Guide © 2005 by Ave Maria
Press, Inc.
The text of The Imitation of Christ is taken from The
Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis: A New Reading
of the 1441 Autograph by William C. Creasy, Copyright
© 1989, published here by arrangement with Mercer
University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission, except in the case of reprints in the context of
reviews. Written permission may be obtained from
Christian Classics™, Ave Maria Press®, Inc., P.O. Box
428, Notre Dame, IN 46556.
www.christian-classics.com
International Standard Book Number: 0-87061-234-4
Text design by Brian C. Conley
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is
available.
In memory of
Msgr. William L. Nolan
“Father Bill”
(1916–2000)
“If a man wishes to come after me,
he must deny his very self,
take up his cross,
and follow in my steps.”
Mark 8:34
Contents
Introduction
How to Read The Imitation of Christ
Book One:
Useful Reminders for the Spiritual Life
Book Two:
Suggestions Drawing One Toward the Inner Life
Book Three:
Of Inner Comfort
Book Four:
The Book on the Sacrament
Epilogue
Suggested Readings
Introduction
Ever since its appearance in the early fifteenth
century, The Imitation of Christ1 has enjoyed a wide
reading audience. After the Bible, it is commonly referred
to as the most widely read book in all of Christian
literature. Although doubts about the identity of its author
remain, most scholars agree that it was probably written
by Thomas à Kempis (c. 1379–1471), a canon regular at
the monastery of Mt. St. Agnes, northeast of Zwolle in
present day Holland. They also recognize it as one of the
finest expressions of the movement of late medieval piety
and devotion known as the Devotio moderna.
Inspired by the evangelical preaching of Master
Gerard Groote (1340–84) and profoundly influenced by
the spirituality of the Rhineland mystic, John Ruysbroeck
(1293–1381), the “Modern Devotion” was noted for its
practical focus on “living in Christ, reading Scripture,
progressing in moral sanctity, and developing
interiority.”2 One of its finest expressions of this
movement was the “Brothers of the Common Life,” a
loosely organized group of priests and laity, who lived in
community, led popular missions, and wrote great
numbers of books and tracts of popular devotion.3
Suspicious of the subtle distinctions and over-
intellectualized atmosphere of late medieval
scholasticism, the brothers ran their own schools that
focused on instilling a well-rounded, humanist education
and where Christian piety was at the center and not on the
periphery of their students’ lives. Noted for their
emphasis on living out the practical dimensions of one’s
Christian calling, these schools would greatly influence
the spiritual and intellectual life of northern Europe for
centuries to come.4
Thomas à Kempis was educated in the local grammar
school in his hometown of Kempen and, at the age of
thirteen, joined his older brother John to continue his
education with the Brothers of the Common Life at their
at monastery school at Deventer in the diocese of Utrecht.
In 1399, he entered Mt. St. Agnes, a contemplative
branch of the order that followed the rule of St.
Augustine and where his older brother John had recently
been installed as Prior. At the monastery, Thomas led the
life of a quiet religious. Professed in 1406 and ordained
to the priesthood in 1413, he was the chronicler of the
monastery and spent much of his time copying the
Scriptures and other liturgical books for use at the
monastery. He was elected sub-prior in 1425 and is
known to have authored a number of biographies and
books of pious devotion. His greatest work, The Imitation
of Christ, was probably written in the period shortly
before and after his priestly ordination.5
The Imitation has been described as “a philosophy of
Light and of Life.”6 Written in a simple yet attractive
Latin style, it steers clear of needless speculation so
characteristic of the intellectual climate of the day and
focuses instead on the practical exigencies of leading a
holy life in a world beset by trials and constant
temptations. In doing so, it seeks to mend the rift between
learning and devotion that had entrenched itself in the
mindset of late-medieval Catholicism and which would
haunt western theology for centuries. The result is a
healthy appreciation of learning in the service of
Christian virtue and a deep suspicion of the rarified
intellectual debates promulgated in the universities of the
time. Its occasional ranting against the academic life
should be understood in the context of the environment it
was reacting against and judged in the light of its deep
respect for learning as a vehicle for growth in the virtues
and deepening one’s relationship with Christ. Although
the great breadth of Thomas’s learning is in evidence on
nearly every page of this great “Summa of Spirituality”
(summa spiritualitatis),7 such knowledge is clearly used
in the service of the Gospel and with the primary aim of
deepening the reader’s faith.
Written by a religious, with the other members of his
community for his primary audience, the work exhibits