It is easy these days to get caught up in the pre-Christmas rush buying presents, sending cards, putting up decorations, and attending drinks and parties, only to find that we have left no time to prepare for the coming of Christ.
Advent, from the Latin “Adventus”, is the first four weeks of the liturgical year in the lead-up to the birth of the Saviour. What better way to prepare to welcome Jesus into our world and our hearts, than by personal prayer and reflection?
In this we can be assisted by the beautiful meditative prayers of Saint Thomas À Kempis, the 15th century author of that great classic book of Christian devotion, The Imitation of Christ.
The selection of prayers by Saint Thomas in this book is taken from his Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ, one of his lesser known works concerned with the life and death of Our Lord, his Resurrection and Ascension, and Pentecost.
Other prayers in this book include some from the 19th century collection of indulgenced devotions known as The Raccolta, first compiled by Father Telesphorus Galli, canon of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.
Several of the lovely novenas included here come from Father Francis Xavier Lasance's Prayer-Book for Religious of 1914. They have been edited and adapted, where necessary, to make them suitable for the use of lay persons.
This little Kindle ebook contains an active Table of Contents with hyperlinks to all the prayers in it and is equivalent in length to 35 A4 printed pages.
Thomas a Kempis (1380 - 1471)
Was a canon regular of the late medieval period and the most probable author of The Imitation of Christ, which is one of the best known Christian books on devotion. His name means "Thomas of Kempen", his hometown, and in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen. He also is known by various spellings of his family name: Thomas Haemerken; Thomas Hammerlein; Thomas Hemerken and Thomas Hämerken.His first tenure of office as subprior was interrupted by the exile of the community from Agnetenberg (1429). A dispute had arisen in connection with an appointment to the vacant See of Utrecht. Pope Martin V rejected the nomination of Bishop-elect Rudolf van Diepholt, and imposed an interdict. The Canons remained in exile in observance of the interdict until the question was settled (1432). During this time, Thomas was sent to Arnhem to care for his ailing brother. He remained there until his brother died November, 1432. Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises, composition, and copying. He copied the Bible no fewer than four times,[3] one of the copies being preserved at Darmstadt, Germany in five volumes. In its teachings he was widely read and his works abound in Biblical quotations, especially from the New Testament.
Thomas a Kempis was a late Medieval Catholic monk and probable author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the best known Christian books on devotion.
His writings are all of a devotional character and include tracts and meditations, letters, sermons, a life of Saint Lydewigis, a Christian woman who remained steadfast under a great stress of afflictions, and biographies of Groote, Radewijns, and nine of their companions. Works similar in content to the Imitation of Christ, and pervaded by the same spirit, are his prolonged meditation on the life and blessings of the Savior and another on the Incarnation. Both of these works overflow with adoration for Christ.
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