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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Eighteenth Chapter
THE EXAMPLE SET US BY THE HOLY FATHERS
CONSIDER the lively examples set us by the saints, who possessed the light of
true perfection and religion, and you will see how little, how nearly nothing,
we do. What, alas, is our life, compared with theirs? The saints and friends of
Christ served the Lord in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in work and
fatigue, in vigils and fasts, in prayers and holy meditations, in persecutions
and many afflictions. How many and severe were the trials they suffered -- the
Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and all the rest who willed to follow in
the footsteps of Christ! They hated their lives on earth that they might have
life in eternity.
How strict and detached were the lives the holy hermits led in the desert! What
long and grave temptations they suffered! How often were they beset by the
enemy! What frequent and ardent prayers they offered to God! What rigorous fasts
they observed! How great their zeal and their love for spiritual perfection! How
brave the fight they waged to master their evil habits! What pure and
straightforward purpose they showed toward God! By day they labored and by night
they spent themselves in long prayers. Even at work they did not cease from
mental prayer. They used all their time profitably; every hour seemed too short
for serving God, and in the great sweetness of contemplation, they forgot even
their bodily needs.
They renounced all riches, dignities, honors, friends, and associates. They
desired nothing of the world. They scarcely allowed themselves the necessities
of life, and the service of the body, even when necessary, was irksome to them.
They were poor in earthly things but rich in grace and virtue. Outwardly
destitute, inwardly they were full of grace and divine consolation. Strangers to
the world, they were close and intimate friends of God. To themselves they
seemed as nothing, and they were despised by the world, but in the eyes of God
they were precious and beloved. They lived in true humility and simple
obedience; they walked in charity and patience, making progress daily on the
pathway of spiritual life and obtaining great favor with God.
They were given as an example for all religious, and their power to stimulate us
to perfection ought to be greater than that of the lukewarm to tempt us to
laxity.
How great was the fervor of all religious in the beginning of their holy
institution! How great their devotion in prayer and their rivalry for virtue!
What splendid discipline flourished among them! What great reverence and
obedience in all things under the rule of a superior! The footsteps they left
behind still bear witness that they indeed were holy and perfect men who fought
bravely and conquered the world.
Today, he who is not a transgressor and who can bear patiently the duties which
he has taken upon himself is considered great. How lukewarm and negligent we
are! We lose our original fervor very quickly and we even become weary of life
from laziness! Do not you, who have seen so many examples of the devout, fall
asleep in the pursuit of virtue!
