The Imitation of Christ

By Thomas à Kempis | Translated by Ronald Knox & Michael Oakley The late fourteenth century witnessed the beginning of a new spiritual movement. This movement, as Church historian Henri Daniel-Rops has described, was animated by a desire “for a humble, simple life, soundly based upon discipline and temperate habits,” and its rule of life has been enshrined in this timeless masterpiece: The Imitation of Christ. Spiritual inspiration and sustenance for such saints as Ignatius of Loyola, Thomas More, and Thérèse of Lisieux and second only to the Bible as devotional reading, The Imitation has been translated innumerable times from the original Latin into practically every language of the world.  The Imitation was meant to be, surely, what it is—a sustained irritant which will preserve us, if it is read faithfully, from sinking back into relaxation: from self-conceit, self-pity, self-love. It offers consolation here and there, but always at the price of fresh exertion, of keeping your