Monthly Archives: July 2012

The Thirty-Third Chapter: Restlessness of Soul–Directing Our Final Intention Toward God

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Thirty-Third Chapter: Restlessness of Soul–Directing Our Final Intention Toward God

The Voice of Christ

MY CHILD, do not trust in your present feeling, for it will soon give way to another. As long as you live you will be subject to changeableness in spite of yourself. You will become merry at one time and sad at another, now peaceful but again disturbed, at one moment devout and the next indevout, sometimes diligent while at other times lazy, now grave and again flippant.

But the man who is wise and whose spirit is well instructed stands superior to these changes. He pays no attention to what he feels in himself or from what quarter the wind of fickleness blows, so long as the whole intention of his mind is conducive to his proper and desired end. For thus he can stand undivided, unchanged, and unshaken, with the singleness of his intention directed unwaveringly toward Me, even in the midst of so many changing events. And the purer this singleness of intention is, with so much the more constancy does he pass through many storms. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXXIII.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXXIII.: Restlessness of Soul–Directing Our Final Intention Toward God

The mind of man goes to and fro, without ever resting, and his heart is borne along by the same inconstancy. Now, those changes which take place in us, sometimes in spite of ourselves, are either temptations which we must combat, or misfortunes which we must bear, or else trials to which we must humbly submit. And this is why we should labour without intermission to purify our wills, which alone are under our own control; otherwise we must quickly fall either into sin or into trouble, or into both together. He who wishes sincerely to be to God and only to Him, does not fear the attacks of hell, for he knows that he is invincible in Him who strengthens him. He does not grow irritated with himself; he sees his weaknesses with a peaceful mind; he glories in his infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in him (2 Corinthians x2:9).

ASPIRATION.

Grant, O God, that my soul may be entirely thine, at all times and for ever; and that by my perpetual fidelity, I may merit eternal happiness. Amen.

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Thirty-Second Chapter: Self-Denial and the Renunciation of Evil Appetites

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Thirty-Second Chapter: Self-Denial and the Renunciation of Evil Appetites

The Voice of Christ

MY CHILD, you can never be perfectly free unless you completely renounce self, for all who seek their own interest and who love themselves are bound in fetters. They are unsettled by covetousness and curiosity, always searching for ease and not for the things of Christ, often devising and framing that which will not last, for anything that is not of God will fail completely.

Hold to this short and perfect advice, therefore: give up your desires and you will find rest. Think upon it in your heart, and when you have put it into practice you will understand all things. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXXII.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXXII.: Self-Denial and the Renunciation of Evil Appetites

What is man when delivered up to himself, to his mind governed by no rules, to his desires, to his passions? A slave to the numerous errors which in turn seduce him; a slave to his sinful desires and to the objects of those desires; is there a more degrading servitude than his? And this, O my God! is the state of every creature that refuses to submit himself entirely to Thee. In order to be free, it is necessary to obey. Perfect liberty is nothing but the perfect accomplishment of the evangelical precepts and counsels, and all these precepts and counsels may be reduced to the renunciation of one’s self. Man then is free like God Himself, of whom he becomes the true image; he is free, for this absolute abnegation of himself delivers him from the two-fold slavery of error and of the passions. We are the children of the fret: by the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free (Galatians 4:31Open Link in New Window).

Grant me, O Lord, the inestimable treasure of wisdom; to the end that I may soar above the judgments and the prejudices of the world and all human considerations; that I may discover the nothingness of all created objects; that an utter contempt may lead me to a perfect detachment from them; and that entertaining such a proper idea of them as I ought, I may neither love nor esteem any other but Thee; adhere entirely to Thee as to my all, and this with an inviolable fidelity, for ever and ever. Amen.

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Thirty-First Chapter: To Find the Creator, Forsake All Creatures

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Thirty-First Chapter: To Find the Creator, Forsake All Creatures

The Disciple

O LORD, I am in sore need still of greater grace if I am to arrive at the point where no man and no created thing can be an obstacle to me. For as long as anything holds me back, I cannot freely fly to You. He that said “Oh that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest!” [37] desired to fly freely to You. Who is more at rest than he who aims at nothing but God? And who more free than the man who desires nothing on earth?

It is well, then, to pass over all creation, perfectly to abandon self, and to see in ecstasy of mind that You, the Creator of all, have no likeness among all Your creatures, and that unless a man be freed from all creatures, he cannot attend freely to the Divine. The reason why so few contemplative persons are found, is that so few know how to separate themselves entirely from what is transitory and created. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXXI.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXXI.: To Find the Creator, Forsake All Creatures

Until our Iife is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3Open Link in New Window), we belong to Him but imperfectly, we are not one with the Son and with the Father; we are not consummated in unity; there is something between us and God; we cling still to ourselves and to creatures; our love is divided; sometimes it springs towards heaven, and sometimes it crawls on the earth. In order to live the life hid with Jesus Christ in God, we must break the bonds which attach us to the world. Then, separated from all that is transitory, enveloped, so to speak, with the Divine Being, plunged in his light, the soul sees but Him alone,only feels itself in Him, sees only by his truth and by his love, which He communicates to it by inexplicable and marvellous means. Intimately united to the Son, and through the Son to the Father, Jesus Christ, its model and its spouse, renders it more and more conformable to himself. Let us therefore hasten to break our chains, let us seek Jesus alone, let us desire Him only: to whom should we go? He has the words of eternal life. Let us leave everything in order to follow Him, and let the dead bury their dead (Luke 9:60Open Link in New Window).

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  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Thirtieth Chapter: The Quest of Divine Help and Confidence in Regaining Grace

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Thirtieth Chapter: The Quest of Divine Help and Confidence in Regaining Grace

The Voice of Christ

MY CHILD, I am the Lord Who gives strength in the day of trouble. Come to Me when all is not well with you. Your tardiness in turning to prayer is the greatest obstacle to heavenly consolation, for before you pray earnestly to Me you first seek many comforts and take pleasure in outward things. Thus, all things are of little profit to you until you realize that I am the one Who saves those who trust in Me, and that outside of Me there is no worth-while help, or any useful counsel or lasting remedy.

But now, after the tempest, take courage, grow strong once more in the light of My mercies; for I am near, says the Lord, to restore all things not only to the full but with abundance and above measure. Is anything difficult for Me? Or shall I be as one who promises and does not act? Where is your faith? Stand firm and persevere. Be a man of endurance and courage, and consolation will come to you in due time. Wait for Me; wait–and I will come to heal you. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXX.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXX.: The Quest of Divine Help and Confidence in Regaining Grace

Although men know that the present life is but a state of transition, there is in them, nevertheless, an extraordinary leaning towards concentrating themselves in that short life, and judging of things only by their relation to it. They desire above all to be happy; but they wish to be so here below; they seek on the earth a happiness which is not there and which cannot be there; and in doing so they miserably deceive themselves. Some place it in the pleasures and riches of the world. Others, convinced of the nothingness of these, turn to God; but they wish that the desire of felicity, which torments them, should be satisfied from the present moment, always ready to make themselves uneasy and to complain, when God withdraws sensible graces from them, or when He tries them by sufferings or by temptations. They do not comprehend that human nature is in a diseased condition, and incapable in that state of all real happiness; that the trials, of which they complain, are the necessary remedies which the heavenly physician makes use of, in his goodness, in order to heal them, and that all our hopes on this earth, and all our peace, consist in abandoning ourselves entirely to Him, with a confidence full of love. And this is why the prophet-king returns so often to this PRAYER.: Have mercy on me, O Lord, for 1 am weak: heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled (Psalms 6:3Open Link in New Window).

ASPIRATION.

Abandon me not, O God! to the disorder of my passions, but be Thou their master by thy grace, and keep me always in the possession of thy love. Amen.

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Twenty-Ninth Chapter: How We Must Call Upon and Bless the Lord When Trouble Presses

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Twenty-Ninth Chapter: How We Must Call Upon and Bless the Lord When Trouble Presses

The Disciple

BLESSED be Your name forever, O Lord, Who have willed that this temptation and trouble come upon me. I cannot escape it, yet I must fly to You that You may help me and turn it to my good. Now I am troubled, Lord, and my heart is not at rest, for I am greatly afflicted by this present suffering.

Beloved Father, what shall I say? I am straitened in harsh ways. Save me from this hour to which, however, I am come that You may be glorified when I am deeply humbled and freed by You. May it please You, then, to deliver me, Lord, for what can I, poor wretch that I am, do or where can I go without You? Give me patience, Lord, even now. Help me, my God, and I will not be afraid however much I may be distressed. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXIX.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXIX.: How We Must Call Upon and Bless the Lord When Trouble Presses

The first movement of the soul, when tried by temptation, should be to humble itself, to acknowledge its weakness, and to have recourse immediately, with a lively faith, to Him who is its strength. Lard, save me, I perish (Matthew 8:25Open Link in New Window): and God will hasten to the aid of that poor soul; He will stretch forth his all-powerful hand to aid it: He wilt command the winds and the sea, and there shall come a great calm (Matt 8:26Open Link in New Window). Then again, when the heart is bent down by afflict ion, oppressed by anguish, what should it do? It should throw itself on the breast of God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3Open Link in New Window).

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  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩