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Book One Chapter IV Of prudence in what we do
We must not trust every word or impulse, but cautiously and patiently weigh the matter according to God.
Alas! oftentimes is evil more readily believed and spoken of another than good; so weak are we.
But perfect men do not easily believe every tale-teller; for they know human weakness is prone to evil, and very apt to slip in speech.
It is great wisdom not to be rash in what is to be done, and not to persist obstinately in our own opinions.
It is a part of this wisdom, also, not to believe everything men say, nor straightway to pour into the ears of others what we have heard or believed.
Take counsel of a wise and conscientious man, and seek rather to be instructed by one that is better, than follow thy own inventions.
A good life maketh a man wise according to God, and giveth great experience.
The more humble anyone is in heart, and the more in subjection to God, so much the wiser will he be in all things, and the more at peace.
Practical Reflections
Nothing is more opposite to charity, or more fatal to salvation, than the evil reports we make of one another, whether they be true or false; because they irritate the mind, disorder the heart, foment divisions, and embitter hatreds, and because we cannot obtain God’s pardon for them, unless we resolve, in our confessions, to repair the evil we have done and to reconcile those we may have set at variance.
We should therefore, neither spread evil reports of others, nor listen to them; and if we do hear anything against our neighbour we should be careful not to repeat it.
Prayer
Grant, O my Saviour, that I may observe, with the greatest care, Thy precept of charity towards my neighbour, to love him as Thou has loved us since this is absolutely necessary of salvation.
Give me also that tenderness of charity which may prevent from from wounding it in any way; for Thou has said that to offend our neighbour is to wound the apple of Thine eye.
Grant therefore that I may avoid Thy displeasure by not incurring the displeasure of my neighbour. Amen
“Turn to the Lord with all your heart, forsake this sorry world, and your soul will find rest.”
Thomas Kempis
Thomas à Kempis
’That gentle and anxious Augustian’ as one of his translators called him [1]
Thomas à Kempis (1379-1471) was born in the town of Kempen along the Rhine, within the Holy Roman Empire, now part of modern Germany. His family name, Hemerken (meaning little hammer), reflected his father’s trade as a blacksmith. His mother was a school mistress.
At the age of twelve, while learning Latin in Deventer, Thomas became familiar with the Brethren of the Common Life, a lay monastic community founded eighteen years earlier by Geert Groote and Floris Radewyns. The pair had been the catalyst for a widespread spiritual renewal, known as the Devotio Moderna (Modern-Day Devout), calling for a rediscovery of the simple apostolic faith. In 1406, after leaving school, Thomas followed his brother Jan into the Augustinian monastery of Mount St. Agnes, a Brethren congregation in the nearby city of Zwolle. Except for a brief exile, Thomas spent the remainder of his long life there.
In an age of clerical corruption, the Brethren devoted themselves to holiness, challenging laity and priests alike with their authentic piety. They founded schools, served the poor, taught the Scriptures and copied manuscripts. As Thomas was educated, he spent most of his time in the latter exercises and personally copied the Bible no fewer than four times.[2]
In the course of instructing novices, he wrote four booklets which were later combined and published anonymously in 1418 under the title of the first: On the Imitation of Christ. Its central themes are devotion to God, humility, contempt of the world, and meditation on the sufferings of Christ. The work also serves as a brief manual on the monastic life—especially a kind of interior monasticism, unconcerned with outward appearances, but rather with ‘the transformation of one’s way of life’. [3]
The success of the Imitation was both immediate and enduring so that by the 18th century no book, apart from the Bible, had been translated into more languages. [4]
It remains to this day perhaps the most widely read Christian devotional and a classic expression of the Devotio Moderna. Thomas authored many other works including biographies on de Groote and Radewijns (who was his spiritual father).
As Thomas’ reputation grew many sought him for spiritual guidance, but he avoided all visitors as far as courtesy would allow. The conversation for which he longed best is described in the 2nd chapter of book three of the Imitation. Toward the close of his life, he wrote, ‘I have sought rest everywhere, but I have found it nowhere except in a little corner with a little book.'[5]
Thomas died at the venerable age of 92. The Brethren remembered him as a ‘kind man, in love with Christ, a comforter to those in temptation and trouble’.[6]
A statue of Thomas à Kempis at his home town of Kempen. An ironic tribute to a man who ‘loved to be unknown’
1. E. M. Blaiklock, Introduction to The Imitation of Christ (1979), Hodder and Stoughton, p102. Vincent Sculley, Thomas à Kempis, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14 (1912) Robert Appleton Company.
3. Greg Peters, Imitating Christ, Christian History: Medieval lay mystics, Issue 127, p27.4. von Habsburg, Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi, 1425-1650 (2011), Ashgate.
5. The Imitation of Christ, (1974) J. M. Dent & Sons, London, p12.
6. Chronicle of Mount St Agnes, ch. 30.