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Preface

Thomas à Kempis

By Michael R. Heinlein

Referring to the Gospel of John 14:6, The Imitation of Christ summarizes the principal directive on which Christians must base their life: “Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living.”

Said to have been written between 1418 and 1427, The Imitation’s entire project is helping the reader pattern his or her life on Jesus Christ, pure and simple. That might seem like a “no-brainer” to us, but at the time it was regarded as a bit radical. Many in the Church had lost their way, choosing the easier ways of hedonism and sin rather than the arduous path of holiness. This was particularly true among the clergy. Their spirituality was sorely lacking, and their moral life was, too. From the clergy to the laity, the Church suffered from a widespread lack of spiritual depth.

Sadly, the worst of such behavior was typified at the highest level of the Church — namely, the papacy. The Church today has become a bit spoiled, with six of the eight pontiffs of the twentieth century either canonized or with active causes promoting their canonization. This was not always the case. Consider just two examples, both of which would have been in the memory of the author and the first readers of The Imitation.

In the mid-eleventh century, Pope Benedict IX held the office of the papacy on three separate occasions. After two expulsions, he decided he wanted to marry, so he finally left the papacy after selling his office to his godfather. He was described by Saint Peter Damian (1007–1072) as “a demon from hell in the disguise of a priest.”

Then there was the Western Schism, during which three different men claimed to be pope simultaneously between the years 1378 and 1417. The consequences of this schism divided not only the Church, but all of Europe. Rooted in corruption and greed, it was a source of great scandal that provided a fertile field for sowing the seeds of the Protestant Reformation.

Unfortunately, though, it got even worse before it got better. The reign of Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), regarded by many as perhaps the most corrupt and morally bankrupt of papacies, followed the publication of The Imitation. He is known not only for harboring mistresses in the papal apartments and fathering children with them, but also for hosting orgies in papal residences.

Many in the Church during these times knew that something was wrong. Many longed for a more pious practice of the Faith, a simpler spirituality where one could root life completely and solely in Jesus Christ — “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

This was the aim of Gerard Groote when he founded the Brothers of the Common Life in the fourteenth century. The community’s undogmatic style and desire for a simple, pious Christian life quickly became popular through preaching and the establishment of schools throughout Germany and the Netherlands. Initially open to all as a lay community, it eventually became ordered to clerical life. The Brotherhood, therefore, functioned as a reform movement intended to foster a greater sense of spirituality among clergy and religious in an effort to stem the tide of corruption and lax morality known in such quarters. The Brotherhood largely died out following the Protestant reformation, although its last member — by way of the Augustinian canons — died in 1865. Its appeal, however, spread far and wide to clergy and laity alike, and the basic principles that inspired the movement remain relevant in our own day.

The Brotherhood’s unique brand of spirituality, known as the devotio moderna, consisted of deepening one’s interior life through contemplation and reflection on one’s own relationship with God, and the retrieval of simple, pious ways of showing him love, particularly through devotion. The Imitation, originally written for clergy and religious, became a neat summary of the Brotherhood’s spirituality of putting Christ, and imitation of his life, at the center of one’s spirituality.

Authorship of The Imitation traditionally has been attributed to the medieval scholar Thomas à Kempis, who was a member of the Brotherhood of Christians and a prominent figure in the devotio moderna movement. He was a protégé of Florentius Radewyn, successor to the community’s founder Gerard Groote. He was born around 1380, the son of a blacksmith and a schoolmistress, and the name à Kempis, which would come to be his most common identifier, came from his western German hometown of Kempen. He became a student of the Brothers of the Common Life by the age of twelve at Deventer in the Netherlands. His education within the community was steeped in its deeply Pietistic tradition. This education would prove to be a foundation for the rest of his life and career.

À Kempis would spend the remaining seventy years of his life at the Augustinian monastery of Mount St. Agnes at Zwolle, Netherlands. He entered around 1403, when his own blood brother was serving as prior. By about 1413, à Kempis was ordained to the priesthood.

What is remembered of his career is his composition of spiritual texts in the form of sermons, prayers, hymns, and the like. He is known for having published works on the lives of the Brotherhood’s founders, Groote and Radewyn. Additionally, he is remembered as a copyist — that is, one who copied the Bible in handwritten form, a task that took years to complete. This was commonly work conducted in scholarly monasteries before the invention of the printing press. À Kempis was known to have completed at least four copies in his life. Because of his involvement in this work, and his related knowledge of Scripture, his writings are saturated with scriptural references, particularly from the New Testament.

À Kempis died in 1471, and his relics remain enshrined in Zwolle today. While many of the great spiritual masters have been beatified or canonized, no such recognition has been afforded to à Kempis. Despite evidence from those who lived with him attesting to his holy life, as well as the widespread cultus emanating from the popularity of The Imitation of Christ, he has not yet been beatified by the Church.

A beatification process was initiated on his behalf about two centuries after his death, but the cause was put to a stop and never reopened after its founding bishop died. It has been widely reported that one of the reasons for this is that à Kempis may have been buried alive. When his remains were exhumed, it is reported that the inside of his casket lid contained scratch marks in the wood, and there were fragments of the wood under his fingernails. If such was the case, then he would have died without witnesses, which means it is possible he died rejecting the Faith in some way, especially in such terrible circumstances. Some have attributed this, however, to internal Church politics. Other accounts of à Kempis’ death do not indicate any such possibility.

Historians are unsure if authorship of The Imitation is entirely from the hand of à Kempis alone. It could be that he served as an editor for a collection of an array of writings pertaining to the spirituality of devotio moderna, from sermons and the like, originating from among members of the Brotherhood. Regardless, The Imitation has proven to be one of the most frequently read books of all time. It is said to be the second most published book in history, runner-up only to the Bible itself. First published on the eve of the Protestant Reformation, coinciding with the widespread use of the printing press, the text’s influence was quickly apparent.

The practical spiritual advice of The Imitation has been of great help to many in their varied spiritual journeys. It has played a central role in the spiritual lives of many heroes of the Faith, including Saint Thomas More, who said it was one of three books every Christian should own.

Scholars have claimed that many of the themes of the devotio moderna movement influenced the thought of the Protestant reformers. The Imitation became influential and formational for many involved in the Counterreformation, including Saint Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Ignatius’ own Spiritual Exercises are based, in part, on The Imitation, which he came to know during his own conversion experience. Saint Francis de Sales called the text “a charming labyrinth of piety.”

The Imitation’s renown as one of Christianity’s most read texts is a fond reminder of the contributions of those who belonged to the Brotherhood, particularly Thomas à Kempis, and their desire to build up the Body of Christ by fostering imitation of the Head. After all, where else but from Christ do we learn how to make sense of life? He teaches us how to live as the men and women God made us to be, modeling the life of virtue and the primacy of charity. Christ’s way frees us from blockades and distractions and keeps us focused on our goal through prayer.

Christ, too, teaches us how to handle the complexities and burdens of life, such as embracing our struggles and sufferings as an opportunity to share in his Cross, our hope and salvation. The Imitation promotes all of this, as well as a strong Eucharistic devotion, seen as an opportunity for us to focus and be nourished in our total desire to imitate Christ. The Imitation beckons its readers to know him who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” and to be like Christ in all our thoughts, words, and deeds.