latin · religious

Imitation of Christ

c. 1418–1427 CE · Medieval Christianity (15th century CE) · Windesheim / Mount Saint Agnes, Low Countries

Book I — Admonitions Useful for a Spiritual Life

1He who follows Me, shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord.
2These are the words of Christ, by which we are admonished
3to imitate His life and manners,
4if we would be truly enlightened and delivered from all blindness of heart.
5Let it therefore be our chief study to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ.
6The doctrine of Christ excels all the doctrines of holy men;
7and he who has the Spirit will find hidden manna therein.
8What will it avail thee to dispute profoundly of the Trinity,
9if thou be void of humility, and consequently displeasing to the Trinity?
10Verily, sublime words make not a man holy and just;
11but a virtuous life makes him dear to God.
12I had rather feel compunction than be able to define it.

On Vanity

13Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, but to love God, and to serve Him only.
14This is the highest wisdom, by contempt of the world to tend to the kingdom of heaven.
15It is vanity, therefore, to seek after perishable riches, and to trust in them.
16It is vanity also to hunt after honours, and to raise oneself to a high station.
17It is vanity to follow the lusts of the flesh, and to desire that for which one must afterwards be grievously punished.
18It is vanity to wish for long life, and to have little care of a good life.
19It is vanity to attend only to the present life, and not to look forward to those things which are to come.
20It is vanity to love that which passeth away with all speed,
21and not to hasten thither where everlasting joy remaineth.

On Reading the Scriptures

22Truth, not eloquence, is to be sought for in Holy Scripture.
23Each part of the Scripture is to be read with the same spirit with which it was written.
24We should rather look for profit from the Scriptures than for subtlety in speech.
25If thou desirest to draw profit, read with humility, simplicity, and faith,
26and seek not at any time to have the name of learning.

Book II — On the Inner Life

27The kingdom of God is within you, saith the Lord.
28Turn thee with thy whole heart unto the Lord,
29and forsake this miserable world,
30and thy soul shall find rest.
31Learn to despise outward things, and to give thyself to things inward,
32and thou shalt see the kingdom of God come within thee.
33For the kingdom of God is peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,
34which is not given to the wicked.

On the Love of Solitude and Silence

35Seek a fitting time to be at leisure with thyself,
36and think oftentimes of the mercies of God.
37Take pleasure not in what is curious, but in what is useful.
38If thou wilt withdraw thyself from vain conversation, and from useless coming and goings,
39and from listening to news and rumours,
40thou shalt find sufficient and fitting time for good meditation.
41The greatest saints avoided the society of men when they could, and chose to live to God in secret.

Book III — On the Voice of Christ Speaking Inwardly

42I will hear what the Lord God shall speak within me.
43Blessed is the soul who hears the Lord speaking within him,
44and receives from His mouth the word of consolation.
45Blessed are the ears that listen to the whispers of divine speech,
46and give no heed to the whispers of this world.
47Blessed indeed are those ears which hear not the outward voice which soundeth,
48but the inward truth which teacheth.

The Prayer of Surrender

49Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.
50I am thy servant, give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
51Incline my heart unto the words of thy mouth;
52let thy speech distil as the dew.
53The children of Israel spake in old time unto Moses:
54Speak thou unto us, and we will hear:
55let not the Lord speak unto us, lest we die.
56Not so, Lord, not so do I pray;
57but rather with the prophet Samuel, I humbly and earnestly entreat:
58Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.

Book IV — On the Blessed Sacrament

59Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you, saith the Lord.
60The bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
61Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you;
62do this in remembrance of Me.
63Whosoever eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.
64The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.

notes

The Imitation of Christ (De Imitatione Christi) is a devotional book traditionally attributed to Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471), a Dutch canon regular of the Windesheim Congregation who lived in the monastery of Mount Saint Agnes near Zwolle. Composed between about 1418 and 1427, it is one of the most widely read Christian devotional works ever written — second only to the Bible itself in the number of editions printed and languages translated. The work is organised into four books: on general spiritual admonitions, on the inner life, on inward consolation, and on the Blessed Sacrament. Its central teaching is that authentic Christian life consists not in doctrinal or scholastic mastery but in the concrete imitation of Christ's humility, obedience, and love — an interior turning away from the world toward the still voice of God speaking within. The text emerged from the Devotio Moderna movement, which emphasised personal, interior piety over external ritual and complex speculative theology. It has been carried by soldiers into battle (from Ignatius of Loyola to Rudolf Höss), by monastics into cells, and by ordinary believers into daily lives across five centuries. The famous opening (Book I, 1-11) and the "kingdom of God is within you" passages of Book II have influenced Christian meditation traditions from Ignatian retreats to modern contemplative practice. Translation: William Benham, "The Imitation of Christ," London: Bell, 1874 (revised from the anonymous 1530s English rendering). Public domain.

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