L’imitation de Jésus-Christ

The Imitation of the Christ has an important place in Christian literature. Written by the monk Thomas à Kempis in the first half of the fifteenth century, this little book has been read and meditated upon by generations of lay people wishing to deepen their spiritual life. It is one of several testimonies to the spiritual renewal of the times, given the name Devotio moderna, which opposed the path of inwardness away from a violent and splintered world. The Christian life of every age is described in this book. Grace and temptation are returned to their "roots": the existence of love and evil. The author describes in detail the forms of each of these, urging the reader to interior conversion. Above all, the Imitation calls for that purification of heart which is necessary to understand and experience the gospel.