IMITATION OF CHRIST (De imitatione Christi). – A medieval ascetical work, one of the most sublime and widely diffused in the world. It consists of four books or treatises: i. Book I, Admonitions Useful for the Spiritual Life, in 25 chapters; II. Book II, Admonitions Drawing Inward, in 12; III. Book III, On Interior Consolation, in 59, in the form of a dialogue between the Lord and the faithful soul; IV. Book IV, On the Sacrament of the Altar, comprising 18 chapters, also in the form of a dialogue, using the formula “The Beloved Speaks” (Vox Dilecti), “The Disciple Speaks” (Vox discipuli).
Each book may be considered independently of the others; yet as they now stand, they form an organic and complete unity, almost a spiritual directory. Book I generally contains general advice; Book II offers more specific counsel for a more intense interior life, while Book III, the finest of all, presents the life of grace in its fullness; Book IV
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Mortification, the practice of Christian virtues, and constant union with Jesus Christ are the three fundamental points of the Imitation of Christ, embracing the whole of Christian asceticism, suited to all souls. In this teaching, the Imitation of Christ reflects a tendency that may be called “affective”: the practice of the love of God as the dominant note of the entire work (“Magna res est amor, magnum omnino bonum,” III, 5, 3). This is one of the reasons for its universality and its unmistakable charm.
Lacking scientific form and purpose, the Imitation of Christ transcends every category and temporal limit. It is universal and perennial: it exerts the deepest and most lasting influence in the life of souls and of the Church.
As for the special theological importance of certain features, one should recall its contribution to the problem of the discernment of spirits (“motus naturae et gratiae”) in chapters 54 and 55 of Book III (cf. A. Chollet, Discernement des esprits, in DThC, IV, cols. 1385–88), and the clarification on grace in I, 10 (for which cf. P. Debongnie, Debetur gratia, in Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 12 [1940], pp. 145–54).
THE AUTHOR. – For centuries there has been debate about the author, and the history of the controversy itself is interesting. With sufficient certainty, it can be affirmed that the work was published anonymously. When it spread beyond its place of origin, it was attributed to various writers (not fewer than two hundred, according to Fr. Brehm), among whom Gersen of Vercelli, Gerson of Paris, and Thomas à Kempis stand out.
The real controversy arose at the beginning of the 17th century, after Bellarmine noted in his De Scriptoribus Eccl. (Rome 1613, p. 233) that a passage from the Imitation of Christ was quoted in the Collationes ad Fratres Tolosanos, considered the work of St. Bonaventure. Two parties then emerged, the Gersenists and the Kempists, who drew Roman Congregations and the French Parliament into the dispute. Congresses were even convened with the participation of leading representatives of French scholarship, among whom
IMITATION OF CHRIST – Codex Paulicianus or Wiblingensis, described by C. Wölfsgruber in 1880, transcribed by N. V. with the date 1884. F. Ulrichus states that the scribe is Nicolaus Voet, adding the date meccocchii – Archive of the Abbey of St. Paul (Austria).
illustrates the divine nourishment. Thus the path of perfection is outlined according to the three “ways”: purgative, illuminative, and unitive. A thorough study of the Imitation of Christ has revealed not only its Benedictine spirit but also its singular affinity with the Rule of St. Benedict. The two greatest medieval ascetical masterpieces complement each other: the Rule guides souls to perfection, and the Imitation of Christ shows them and illuminates the spiritual heights to be attained.
Clearly, the Imitation of Christ is a typical monastic work, written by a monk for monks (cf. I, 17–20 and 25, I; III, 10, 2); yet this does not in any way prejudice its universality: through its profound knowledge of the human heart and the superior wisdom of its teaching, it admirably suits all states of life and all particular circumstances in which a soul may find itself.
Irreproachable in its doctrine, the pious author, although well acquainted with the theological and philosophical teaching of his time, never espouses any particular theories rooted in positive or scholastic theology: he remains outside and above every school, and his teaching is eminently practical. He is not unaware of the heights and mystical joys of contemplation, nor of the painful trials that precede these divine favors, but he speaks of them only insofar as he alludes to them from an immediately practical point of view. Thus the description of the “wondrous effects of divine love” (III, 5), a true spiritual canticle, fully accords with the charity produced in the soul by extraordinary contemplation, while the “exilium cordis” of Book II (ch. 9) seems to foreshadow the “dark night” of St. John of the Cross.
(from The Imitation of Christ, being the Autograph manuscript of Thomas à Kempis, reproduced in facsimile from the original, by Ch. Ruetens, London 1879)
IMITATION OF CHRIST – Codex of the Imitation transcribed by Thomas à Kempis (1441), f. 10, containing ch. 13 of Book I. Brussels, Royal Library, cod. 5855–61.
Incipit libellus confocatio ad inferentem autem
Whence a little book, imitating the bees, for a time —
a year of the vanities of the world. And the Lord made the whole book
and called it the book of the sons of the earth, and imitated it to the end
of all things. O high calling of the book, generation
by generation and all the bees’ time, and generation
by generation and all the bees’ time, and generation
by generation and all the bees’ time, and generation
by generation and all the bees’ time, and generation
by generation and all thePer et omen apiculis
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Per et omen apiculis tempus et generatio
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Per et omen apiculis tempus et generatio
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Per et omen apiculis tempus et generatio
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Per et omen apiculis tempus et generatio
Per et omen apiculis
Per et omen apiculis tempus et generatio
Per et omen apiculis
Per et omen apiculis tempus et generatio
Per et omen apiculis
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As for the question of Germanic idioms, which some have noted in the Italian of C., a much more abundant series of evident Italianisms has been opposed.
Finally, the Italian of C. has been considered the most genuine and representative expression of modern devotion. But it must be noted that, while it agrees in method and doctrine with what is known Windesheim (v.), it does not necessarily follow that it is a product of the same. Moreover, this school, which was eminently traditional, propagated medieval little works through its scriptoria.