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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 emphasizes the importance of striving for inward freedom and mastery over oneself, directing all actions to be in alignment with God's will. He encourages seeking divine guidance in all matters, similar to how Moses sought advice from the Lord in the tabernacle. By turning to the secret chamber of the heart in earnest prayer, one can receive divine aid and avoid being deceived by false appearances and empty words.
The Right Ordering of External Affairs; Recourse to God in Dangers
THE VOICE OF CHRIST MY CHILD, you must strive diligently to be inwardly free, to have mastery over yourself everywhere, in every external act and occupation, that all things be subject to you and not you to them, that you be the master and director of your actions, not a slave or a mere hired servant. You should be rather a free man and a true Hebrew, arising to the status and freedom of the children of God who stand above present things to contemplate those which are eternal; who look upon passing affairs with the left eye and upon those of heaven with the right; whom temporal things do not so attract that they cling to them, but who rather put these things to such proper service as is ordained and instituted by God, the great Workmaster, Who leaves nothing unordered in His creation. If, likewise, in every happening you are not content simply with outward appearances, if you do not regard with carnal eyes things which you see and hear, but whatever be the affair, enter with Moses into the tabernacle to ask advice of the Lord, you will sometimes hear the divine answer and return instructed in many things present and to come. For Moses always had recourse to the tabernacle for the solution of doubts and questions, and fled to prayer for support in dangers and the evil deeds of men. So you also should take refuge in the secret chamber of your heart, begging earnestly for divine aid. For this reason, as we read, Joshua and the children of Israel were deceived by the Gibeonites because they did not first seek counsel of the Lord, but trusted too much in fair words and hence were deceived by false piety.
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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.