The Imitation of Christ

 CONTENTS

 THOUGHTS HELPFUL IN THE LIFE OF THE SOUL

 THE INTERIOR LIFE

 INTERNAL CONSOLATION

 AN INVITATION TO HOLY COMMUNION

 BOOK ONE THOUGHTS HELPFUL IN THE LIFE OF THE SOUL

 The First ChapterImitating Christ and Despising All Vanities on Earth

 The Second Chapter Having a Humble Opinion of Self

 The Third Chapter The Doctrine of Truth

 The Fourth Chapter Prudence in Action

 The Fifth Chapter Reading the Holy Scripture

 The Sixth Chapter Unbridled Affections

 The Seventh Chapter Avoiding False Hope and Pride

 The Eighth Chapter Shunning Over-Familiarity

 The Ninth Chapter Obedience and Subjection

 The Tenth Chapter Avoiding Idle Talk

 The Eleventh Chapter Acquiring Peace and Zeal for Perfection

 The Twelfth Chapter The Value of Adversity

 The Thirteenth Chapter Resisting Temptation

 The Fourteenth Chapter Avoiding Rash Judgment

 The Fifteenth Chapter Works Done in Charity

 The Sixteenth Chapter Bearing with the Faults of Others

 The Seventeenth Chapter Monastic Life

 The Eighteenth Chapter The Example Set Us by the Holy Fathers

 The Nineteenth Chapter The Practices of a Good Religious

 The Twentieth Chapter The Love of Solitude and Silence

 The Twenty-First Chapter Sorrow of Heart

 The Twenty-Second Chapter Thoughts on the Misery of Man

 The Twenty-Third Chapter Thoughts on Death

 The Twenty-Fourth Chapter Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

 The Twenty-Fifth Chapter Zeal in Amending our Lives

 BOOK TWO THE INTERIOR LIFE

 The First Chapter Meditation

 The Second Chapter Humility

 The Third Chapter Goodness and Peace in Man

 The Fourth Chapter Purity of Mind and Unity of Purpose

 The Fifth Chapter Ourselves

 The Sixth Chapter The Joy of a Good Conscience

 The Seventh Chapter Loving Jesus Above All Things

 The Eighth Chapter The Intimate Friendship of Jesus

 The Ninth Chapter Wanting No Share in Comfort

 The Tenth Chapter Appreciating God's Grace

 The Eleventh Chapter Few Love the Cross of Jesus

 The Twelfth Chapter The Royal Road of the Holy Cross

 

 BOOK THREE INTERNAL CONSOLATION

 The First Chapter The Inward Conversation of Christ with the Faithful Soul

 The Second Chapter Truth Speaks Inwardly Without the Sound of Words

 The Third Chapter Listen Humbly to the Words of God. Many Do Not Heed Them

 The Fourth Chapter We Must Walk Before God in Humility and Truth

 The Fifth Chapter The Wonderful Effect of Divine Love

 The Sixth Chapter The Proving of a True Lover

 The Seventh Chapter Grace Must Be Hidden Under the Mantle of Humility

 The Eighth Chapter Self-Abasement in the Sight of God

 The Ninth Chapter All Things should be Referred to God as their Last End

 The Tenth Chapter To Despise the World and Serve God is Sweet

 The Eleventh Chapter The Longings of our Hearts Must Be Examined And Moderated

 The Twelfth Chapter Acquiring Patience in the Fight Against Concupiscence

 The Thirteenth Chapter The Obedience of One Humbly Subject to the Example of Jesus Christ

 The Fourteenth Chapter Consider the Hidden Judgments of God Lest You Become Proud of Your Own Good Deeds

 The Fifteenth Chapter How One Should Feel and Speak on Every Desirable Thing

 A Prayer that the Will of God Be Done

 The Sixteenth Chapter True Comfort Is to Be Sought in God Alone

 The Seventeenth Chapter All Our Care is to Be Placed in God

 The Eighteenth Chapter Temporal Sufferings Should Be Borne Patiently, After the Example of Christ

 The Nineteenth Chapter True Patience in Suffering

 The Twentieth Chapter

 Confessing Our Weakness in the Miseries of Life

 The Twenty-first Chapter

 Above All Goods and All Gifts We Must Rest in God

 The Twenty-Second Chapter

 Remember the Innumerable Gifts of God

 The Twenty-Third Chapter

 Four Things Which Bring Great Peace

 A Prayer Against Bad Thoughts

 A Prayer for Enlightening the Mind

 The Twenty-Fourth Chapter

 Avoiding Curious Inquiry About the Lives of Others

 The Twenty-Fifth Chapter

 The Basis of Firm Peace of Heart and True Progress

 The Twenty-Sixth Chapter

 The Excellence of a Free Mind, Gained Through Prayer Rather Than By Study

 The Twenty-Seventh Chapter

 Self-Love is the Greatest Hindrance to the Highest Good

 A Prayer for Cleansing the Heart and Obtaining Heavenly Wisdom

 The Twenty-Eighth Chapter

 Strength Against Slander

 The Twenty-Ninth Chapter

 How We Must Call Upon and Bless the Lord When Trouble Presses

 The Thirtieth Chapter

 The Quest of Divine Help and Confidence in Regaining Grace

 The Thirty-First Chapter

 To Find the Creator, Forsake All Creatures

 The Thirty-Second Chapter

 Self-Denial and the Renunciation of Evil Appetites

 The Thirty-Third Chapter

 Restlessness of Soul -- Directing Our Final Intention Toward God

 The Thirty-Fourth Chapter

 God is Sweet Above All Things and in All Things to Those Who Love Him

 The Thirty-Fifth Chapter

 There is No Security from Temptation in This Life

 The Thirty-Sixth Chapter

 The Vain Judgments of Men

 The Thirty-Seventh Chapter

 Pure and Entire Resignation of Self to Obtain Freedom of Heart

 The Thirty-Eighth Chapter

 The Right Ordering of External Affairs Recourse to God in Dangers

 The Thirty-Ninth Chapter

 A Man Should Not Be Unduly Solicitous About His Affairs

 The Fortieth Chapter

 Man Has No Good in Himself and Can Glory in Nothing

 The Forty-First Chapter

 Contempt for All Earthly Honor

 The Forty-Second Chapter

 Peace is Not to Be Placed in Men

 The Forty-Third Chapter

 Beware Vain and Worldly Knowledge

 The Forty-Fourth Chapter

 Do Not Be Concerned About Outward Things

 The Forty-Fifth Chapter

 All Men Are Not to Be Believed, for It Is Easy to Err in Speech

 The Forty-Sixth Chapter

 Trust in God Against Slander

 The Forty-Seventh Chapter

 Every Trial Must Be Borne for the Sake of Eternal Life

 The Forty-Eighth Chapter

 The Day of Eternity and the Distresses of This Life

 The Forty-Ninth Chapter

 The Desire of Eternal Life the Great Rewards Promised to Those Who Struggle

 The Fiftieth Chapter

 How a Desolate Person Ought to Commit Himself Into the Hands of God

 The Fifty-First Chapter

 When We Cannot Attain to the Highest, We Must Practice the Humble Works

 The Fifty-Second Chapter

 A Man Ought Not to Consider Himself Worthy of Consolation, But Rather Deserving of Chastisement

 The Fifty-Third Chapter

 God's Grace Is Not Given to the Earthly Minded

 The Fifty-Fourth Chapter

 The Different Motions of Nature and Grace

 The Fifty-Fifth Chapter

 The Corruption of Nature and the Efficacy of Divine Grace

 The Fifty-Sixth Chapter

 The Fifty-Seventh Chapter

 A Man Should Not Be Too Downcast When He Falls Into Defects

 The Fifty-Eighth Chapter

 High Matters and the Hidden Judgments of God Are Not to Be Scrutinized

 The Fifty-Ninth Chapter

 All Hope and Trust Are to Be Fixed In God Alone

 BOOK FOUR AN INVITATION TO HOLY COMMUNION

 The Voice of Christ

 The First Chapter

 The Great Reverence With Which We Should Receive Christ

 The Second Chapter

 God's Great Goodness and Love is Shown to Man in This Sacrament

 The Third Chapter

 It Is Profitable to Receive Communion Often

 The Fourth Chapter

 Many Blessings Are Given Those Who Receive Communion Worthily

 The Fifth Chapter

 The Dignity of the Sacrament and of the Priesthood

 The Sixth Chapter

 An Inquiry on the Proper Thing to Do Before Communion

 The Seventh Chapter

 The Examination of Conscience and the Resolution to Amend

 The Eighth Chapter

 The Offering of Christ on the Cross Our Offering

 The Ninth Chapter

 We Should Offer Ourselves and All That We Have to God, Praying for All

 The Tenth Chapter

 Do Not Lightly Forego Holy Communion

 The Eleventh Chapter

 The Body of Christ and Sacred Scripture Are Most Necessary to a Faithful Soul

 The Twelfth Chapter

 The Communicant Should Prepare Himself for Christ with Great Care

 The Thirteenth Chapter

 With All Her Heart the Devout Soul Should Desire Union with Christ in the Sacrament

 The Fourteenth Chapter

 The Ardent Longing of Devout Men for the Body of Christ

 The Fifteenth Chapter

 The Grace of Devotion is Acquired Through Humility and Self-Denial

 The Sixteenth Chapter

 We Should Show Our Needs to Christ and Ask His Grace

 The Seventeenth Chapter

 The Burning Love and Strong Desire to Receive Christ

 The Eighteenth Chapter

 Man Should Not Scrutinize This Sacrament in Curiosity, But Humbly Imitate Christ and Submit Reason to Holy Faith

All Men Are Not to Be Believed, for It Is Easy to Err in Speech

The Disciple

GRANT me help in my needs, O Lord, for the aid of man is useless. How often have I failed to find faithfulness in places where I thought I possessed it! And how many times I have found it where I least expected it! Vain, therefore, is hope in men, but the salvation of the just is in You, O God. Blessed be Your name, O Lord my God, in everything that befalls us.

We are weak and unstable, quickly deceived and changed. Who is the man that is able to guard himself with such caution and care as not sometimes to fall into deception or perplexity? He who confides in You, O Lord, and seeks You with a simple heart does not fall so easily. And if some trouble should come upon him, no matter how entangled in it he may be, he will be more quickly delivered and comforted by You. For You will not forsake him who trusts in You to the very end.

Rare is the friend who remains faithful through all his friend's distress. But You, Lord, and You alone, are entirely faithful in all things; other than You, there is none so faithful.

Oh, how wise is that holy soul who said: "My mind is firmly settled and founded in Christ." If that were true of me, human fear would not so easily cause me anxiety, nor would the darts of words disturb. But who can foresee all things and provide against all evils? And if things foreseen have often hurt, can those which are unlooked for do otherwise than wound us gravely? Why, indeed, have I not provided better for my wretched self? Why, too, have I so easily kept faith in others? We are but men, however, nothing more than weak men, although we are thought by many to be, and are called, angels.

In whom shall I put my faith, Lord? In whom but You? You are the truth which does not deceive and cannot be deceived. Every man, on the other hand, is a liar, weak, unstable, and likely to err, especially in words, so that one ought not to be too quick to believe even that which seems, on the face of it, to sound true. How wise was Your warning to beware of men; that a man's enemies are those of his own household; that we should not believe if anyone says: "Behold he is here, or behold he is there."

I have been taught to my own cost, and I hope it has given me greater caution, not greater folly. "Beware," they say, "beware and keep to yourself what I tell you!" Then while I keep silent, believing that the matter is secret, he who asks me to be silent cannot remain silent himself, but immediately betrays both me and himself, and goes his way. From tales of this kind and from such careless men protect me, O Lord, lest I fall into their hands and into their ways. Put in my mouth words that are true and steadfast and keep far from me the crafty tongue, because what I am not willing to suffer I ought by all means to shun.

Oh, how good and how peaceful it is to be silent about others, not to believe without discrimination all that is said, not easily to report it further, to reveal oneself to few, always to seek You as the discerner of hearts, and not to be blown away by every wind of words, but to wish that all things, within and beyond us, be done according to the pleasure of Thy will.

How conducive it is for the keeping of heavenly grace to fly the gaze of men, not to seek abroad things which seem to cause admiration, but to follow with utmost diligence those which give fervor and amendment of life! How many have been harmed by having their virtue known and praised too hastily! And how truly profitable it has been when grace remained hidden during this frail life, which is all temptation and warfare!