Centuries Ago Speak Today Part 1

Reading the Imitation of Christ is as good as it gets. Although not everything hits the mark, it certainly has enough that does, which makes it easy to see why this book is the number two best seller of all times. Most books have some content with lots of fluff and needless decoration and pointless illustrative stories, but this book gives you something to sink your teeth into almost every page. Soul searching throughout.

Here are some passages taken from the book. I always like to take notes when reading a book, so that later I have something to look back on to refresh my memory. Now, thanks to this blog, you get to see some of the stuff I thought noteworthy to write down.

What good is it to be able to explain the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity if you displease the Blessed Trinity by your lack of humility? It is a good life that makes you pleasing to God, not high-sounding words and clever expressions. It is better to feel contrition for your sins than to know how to define it.

If you knew everything there was to know yet did not have charity, what good would it be to you when you comer before the judgment seat of God, Who will judge you by your deeds, not by your learning?

The more you know, the more harshly you will be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be conceited, therefore, because of your abilities. Instead, have fear, because greater talents demand greater responsibility before God.

The more you are aware of what goes on in yourself, and the more simple of heart you become, the easier it will be for you to understand sublime things; for then, you receive the light of understanding from above.

Who has a harder fight on his hands than the man who tries to conquer himself? Your goal, then, is: conquer self; become morally stronger; advance a little in virtue every day!

Humble knowledge of self is a surer way to God than a lot of learning.

On the Day of Judgment you won't be asked what you have read by what you have done; not how well you have spoken but how well you have lived.

Yes, and you are truly learned if you give up your own will to do the Will of God.

True peace of heart is found in resisting passions, not in giving in to them. There is no peace of soul in the sensual man, in the man who is given over to the pursuit of vain worldly attractions, but there is peace in the spiritual man.

Those, however, who are under obedience more from necessity than from love, will always be discontented; they become depressed for the slightest reason; nor will they ever gain peace of mind until they obey with their whole heart out of love for God.

Why were some of the saints so perfect and so occupied with divine things? Because they tried to kill in themselves the desire for all earthly things, so that they might cling to God with their whole heart and be free to think of Him alone. You are too occupied with your own whims and fancies, too concerned with passing things. Rarely do you completely conquer even one vice; nor are you on fire with the burning desire to improve yourself spiritually day by day. Therefore, you remain cold and indifferent. If you mortified your body and did not allow distractions to enter your mind, you would appreciate divine things and would experience heavenly contemplation.

If you were just a little severe with yourself in the beginning, you would be able to do things with greater joy and ease later on.

Do not be harsh with others who are tempted, but console them as you yourself would wish to be consoled. The beginning of temptation is a wavering will and little trust in God; as a rudderless ship is driven about aimlessly by waves, so a careless and irresolute man is tempted in many ways.

Someone has said very aptly: "Resist the beginnings; remedies come too late, for by long delay the evil has gained momentum." (Ovid, De Remed. II, 91).

Men usually judge things as they want them to be, not as they are, because their perspective is off balance through personal feeling. If God were the only object of your desire, you would not be disturbed so easily by opposition to your senses.

An old habit is hard to break, and no one is willing to be led farther than he can see. If you rely more upon your intelligence or effort than upon submission to Jesus Christ, you will become a truly enlightened man only with great difficulty. God wants to be perfectly subjected to Him, and by burning love to surpass the powers of human reason.

Try to bear patiently the defects of others; after all, you have faults which they must endure, too.

If you cannot make yourself as you would like to be or should be, how can you expect to bed other to your will? You want them to be perfect, yet you do not correct your own faults.

On the holy hermits of the desert...What frequent and ardent prayers they offered to God! What rigorous fasts they observed! How great was their enthusiasm for spiritual progress! How brave the fight they waged to conquer evil habits!

How negligent and lukewarm we are today! How quickly we lose our first fervor and become weary of life from laziness.

As your intention is, so will be your progress. If you desire spiritual perfection, you must be very diligent. If the strong-willed man fails frequently, what of the man who has difficulty making a decision?

Read what stirs up devotion in the heart, not what merely occupies the mind.

The only one who commands others safely is the one who has learned to obey.

What a clear conscience you would have, if you never went after passing joys or entangled yourself in worldly affairs!

A devout person advances in virtue and learns the hidden truths of the Scriptures in silence. In the privacy of his room he cleanses himself nightly in tears, that he may become the more intimate with his Creator the farther he withdraws from the tumult of the world.


More to come soon...