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Thomas a Kempis
Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471). Born Thomas Hemerken in Kempen, Germany, around 1380, he was a Catholic monk, priest, and mystic whose life centered on spiritual devotion. At 13, he joined the Brethren of the Common Life in Deventer, Netherlands, drawn to their emphasis on personal piety and education. By 1406, he entered the Augustinian monastery of Mount St. Agnes near Zwolle, where he spent over six decades copying manuscripts, including four complete Bibles, and writing works of profound spirituality. Ordained a priest in 1413, he took on minor roles like sub-prior but focused on contemplation and guiding novices. His most famous work, The Imitation of Christ, written in Latin, urges readers to detach from worldly desires and follow Jesus’ humility, proclaiming, “Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living.” This text and his other writings, like meditations and saintly biographies, reflect a quiet faith that avoids worldly acclaim. Living simply, he rarely left the monastery and died there on July 25, 1471. His legacy endures through his universal call to holiness, inspiring Christians across centuries.
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Thomas a Kempis, in 'The Disciple' sermon, humbly acknowledges his weaknesses, sins, and need for God's grace and mercy. He seeks comfort, help, and transformation through a deep, intimate relationship with God. Kempis desires to be consumed and transformed by God's love, to be united with Him in spirit, and to find his ultimate joy and fulfillment in God alone.
We Should Show Our Needs to Christ and Ask His Grace
THE DISCIPLE O MOST kind, most loving Lord, Whom I now desire to receive with devotion, You know the weakness and the necessity which I suffer, in what great evils and vices I am involved, how often I am depressed, tempted, defiled, and troubled. To You I come for help, to You I pray for comfort and relief. I speak to Him Who knows all things, to Whom my whole inner life is manifest, and Who alone can perfectly comfort and help me. You know what good things I am most in need of and how poor I am in virtue. Behold I stand before You, poor and naked, asking Your grace and imploring Your mercy. Feed Your hungry beggar. Inflame my coldness with the fire of Your love. Enlighten my blindness with the brightness of Your presence. Turn all earthly things to bitterness for me, all grievance and adversity to patience, all lowly creation to contempt and oblivion. Raise my heart to You in heaven and suffer me not to wander on earth. From this moment to all eternity do You alone grow sweet to me, for You alone are my food and drink, my love and my joy, my sweetness and my total good. Let Your presence wholly inflame me, consume and transform me into Yourself, that I may become one spirit with You by the grace of inward union and by the melting power of Your ardent love. Suffer me not to go from You fasting and thirsty, but deal with me mercifully as You have so often and so wonderfully dealt with Your saints. What wonder if I were completely inflamed by You to die to myself, since You are the fire ever burning and never dying, a love purifying the heart and enlightening the understanding.
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Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471). Born Thomas Hemerken in Kempen, Germany, around 1380, he was a Catholic monk, priest, and mystic whose life centered on spiritual devotion. At 13, he joined the Brethren of the Common Life in Deventer, Netherlands, drawn to their emphasis on personal piety and education. By 1406, he entered the Augustinian monastery of Mount St. Agnes near Zwolle, where he spent over six decades copying manuscripts, including four complete Bibles, and writing works of profound spirituality. Ordained a priest in 1413, he took on minor roles like sub-prior but focused on contemplation and guiding novices. His most famous work, The Imitation of Christ, written in Latin, urges readers to detach from worldly desires and follow Jesus’ humility, proclaiming, “Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living.” This text and his other writings, like meditations and saintly biographies, reflect a quiet faith that avoids worldly acclaim. Living simply, he rarely left the monastery and died there on July 25, 1471. His legacy endures through his universal call to holiness, inspiring Christians across centuries.