LibraryThing likes to tell me things on the sideboard of my Home Page I have with them. Today, July 25, they told me that it is the anniversary of the death of Thomas á Kempis. He died today in 1471.
It is nice to be reminded of this, as I am in the process of doing St. Louis de Monfort's 33-day preparation for consecration to Jesus through Mary. St. Louis quotes a lot from Thomas a Kempis' excellent book Imitation of Christ. Here is the excerpt for the 11th day:
Imitation of Christ, by Thomas á Kempis: Book 1, Chapter 25
On the Fervent Amendment of our Whole Life
When a certain anxious person, who often times wavered between hope and fear, once overcome with sadness, threw himself upon the ground in prayer, before one of the altars in the Church and thinking these things in his mind, said "Oh, if I only knew how to persevere," that very instant he heard within him, this heavenly answer: "And if thou didst know this, what would thou do? Do now what you would do, and thou shall be perfectly secure."
And immediately being consoled, and comforted, he committed himself to the Divine Will, and his anxious thoughts ceased. He no longer wished for curious things; searching to find out what would happen to him, but studied rather to learn what was the acceptable and perfect will of God for the beginning and the perfection of every good work.
A great quote, which gives a solution to St. Augustine's problem with conversion - he knew what he had to do, but he just couldn't do it.
The next quote is not from someone known for his holiness, but it bears repeating:
"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
Groucho Marx
2 comments:
Please keep friends in your prayers; a family with 3 boys and 3 girls where all the boys are autistic. One of the sons suffered a seizure Friday and died... St. Philomena, pray for us.
We certainly shall. God bless.
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