The Imitation of Christ (Penguin Classics) by Thomas à Kempis

Author:Thomas à Kempis [Kempis, Thomas à]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780141932002
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

How the heart and soul should seek union with Christ in His Sacrament

DISCIPLE: Lord, if only I might seek You alone, so that I can open my heart to You and rejoice in You, as my soul desires. Then no one would ever despise me, nor any creature disturb or notice me, so that You alone might speak to me and I to You, as lovers speak to each other, face to face, or like a conversation between friends.1 It is my prayer and desire to be totally united to You and to remove my heart from all created things and increasingly delight in heavenly and eternal things, through Holy Communion and frequent celebration of the Mass. O my Lord and God,2 when shall I be wholly united to and absorbed into You and unaware of my self? You in me and I in You, may we abide in one for ever.3

You are indeed my Beloved, a paragon among ten thousand,4 in whom my soul rejoices to dwell all the days of my life.5 You are indeed the giver of peace, in whom is perfect peace and true rest, without which there is nothing but labour, sadness and endless misery. You are indeed the one true and hidden God,6 whose dealings are not with the wicked but with the simple and humble.7 Lord, how sweet it is for Your Spirit to reveal Your graciousness to Your children, refreshing them with the most sweet bread, which comes down from heaven.8 ‘No nation, however great, has a god so close at hand, but the Lord our God is close to us.’9 You comfort the faithful daily and raise their hearts to heaven by giving Yourself to be their food and delight.

What other race is so favoured as Christian people? What creature under heaven is so blessed as the devout soul into whom God enters, thus sustaining them with His glorious Body? O unutterable grace, O admirable worthiness, O boundless love dispensed only to humanity. ‘What shall I return to the Lord for all His bounty to me?’10 Nothing that I can give will be more acceptable to Him than my whole heart becoming inwardly united to Him in total surrender. When my soul is fully united to God, my whole being will be filled with joy. Then He will say to Me, ‘If you abide in Me, I will abide in you’,11 and I shall answer Him, ‘Lord, live with me I pray, for I will gladly stay with You. My only desire is that my heart be united to You.’

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