Imitation of Christ
After the Bible the most widely read book, consisting in a collection of thoughts aiming on Christian perfection.
About the book
The Imitation of Christ, is a Catholic devotional book written around 1420, with emphasis in the interior life and withdrawal from the mundanities of the world. It is considered the most read book in the Christianhood after the Bible.
Many Saints profited from its reading.
Saint Francis de Sales, recommends this book for meditation in his Introduction to Devout Life (Filoteia), as well as Dom Chautard in "The Soul of All Apostolate".
Saint Therese of Liseux tells us (in History of a Soul) that "for many years" this was the only book she was able to get spiritual progress. It is also known that Saint Thomas More and Saint Ignatius of Loyola read this book frequently.
It is definitely an excellent book for meditation.
In our site, we took the liberty to divide the chapters, one for each day in the calendar year. The book has only 114 chapters, so it get 3 cycles in the calendar year:
- From January 1st to April 24th
- From April 25th to August 16th
- From August 27th to December 7th
- A partial run from December 8th to December 31st
Sources:
- New Advent - Catholic Enclyclopedia
- Wikipedia
- Book Introduction to Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales
- Book History of a Soul by Saint Therese of Liseux