What a wonderful book! I feel like I've found my own personal workbook for spiritual study and growth, my guide to living a more spiritual life. Ms. Long has translated The Imitation of Christ using verse - a daunting task - with clarity and enlightened grace. Her words speak to my soul. Many of the lessons in her book are difficult, but we are told that if we make the effort to follow them we can become stronger in spirit, grow in our love for each other, and deepen our love of God - experience a "spirit quickening." I'm grateful for this book, and I recommend it to anyone who may be searching for inner peace and a better way to live life.

What a pleasure it is as a reader to find a book that opens a window on a person's heartfelt search for wisdom and spirituality. The lessons in this book are sometimes difficult, but the author always renders them with grace, giving equal value to both the struggle and the reward. Too often, we take the message of works like this for granted. With energy and intelligence, Ms. Long gives us poetry that helps us to rediscover what a 'life well lived' can be. I highly recommend it.

SPIRIT QUICKENING is truly a spiritual comfort. Long's writing really touches the reader and offers a message of faith and hope. This is a book to be read again and again. It really makes you aware of God's power and presence. What a gift to have this version of THE IMITATION OF CHRIST in words one can understand.

Hay momentos en que nesecitamos crecer espiritualmente, este es un de esos libro que por años a ayudado a miles de personas a levantarlos de ese letargo espiritual y comensar a caminar una ves mas por la senda del Señor. Dividido por temas si vuscas algo en especifico, pero para mi la mejor manera de usarlo es abrirlo al azar y usar una de las fraces para meditar con ella todo el dia

Unlike what the review says, this is actually the only SPANISH edition of this great Christian classic available in the United States. This book has inspired many saints over the past 600 years since its first appearance in Latin. The Imitation of Christ was at one time second only to the Holy Bible in popularity.

William Griffin's translation of this great classic is truly inspiring. It is filled with wit, soul, humor and insight into the choices we make in following the teachings of Jesus Christ. This should be required reading for all Christians and non-Christians alike. There are so many catch phrases that keep running through my head. I read this book daily for inpiration. Moreover, once the reader is familiar with the text, you can go to those sections that pertain to the daily issues that challenge us daily. This book is a must for any "seekers" personal library. Thank you, Mr. Griffin for thia great translation and my God continue to bless you and your family......Chet Nichols, Northbrook, Illinois....(....)

The Encyclopedia Britannica calls it "The most influential work in Christian Literature." I'm going to have to disagree slightly and relegate it to 2nd place with the Bible still in 1st, however, this book is truly amazing. If the older versions read like the King James Bible, this one reads like the Message. Where else will you hear God say, "I'm miffed!"? Truly worth reading; this is a definite bridge to a classic Christian work for the younger generation.

Wonderful book full of wisdom with great appeal for believers who want to grow spiritualy. Non-believers curious about Catholism should find this book very interesting since it contains the main spiritual beliefs. 'Four Things Which Bring Great Peace','Prudence in Action', 'Avoiding Idle Talk', 'Trust in God against Slander', 'Meditation' and 'Bearing with the Faults of Others', are but a few of the wonderful 114 short chapters in this easy to read translation. The 114 chapters are divided into four books: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul, The Interior Life, Internal Consolation,and An Invitation to Holy Communion.

Anyone who has read "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A. Kempis may be left wondering if this Catholic brother had any devotion to Mary. The Imitation of Mary is a resounding "Yes!". Here, Thomas shows his deep insight into the prerogatives, graces and glory of Mary. Writing about the "Grandeurs and Glories of Mary", Thomas exclaims, "O Mary, greater than the heavens, you have the world under your feet and you are seated close to God, on the throne of honor which Jesus gave you." Here, Thomas shows his deep insigt into scriptures, for Mary as "Mother of the Lord" is the new Queen-Mother and just as Solomon who points towards Christ, "stood up to meet her [his mother] and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king's mother, who sat at his right." (2 Kings, 2:19) so does Jesus seats his mother at his right hand side. Elsewhere, Thomas writes saying that "by testimony of the Holy Scripture Mary was from all time, and will be always, the holiest virgin among all virgins, the most beatiful women among all women, the sweetest mother among all mothers." The Imitation of Mary is a wonderful introduction to true devotion to Mary. Read it prayerfully, read it slowly and above all read it meditatively to enter into the Mystery of Christ and his love for his mother. Thomas is, once more, a sure guide leading you along a sound and faithful path to Mary and with Mary to Jesus.

This ancient collection of prayers offers no dust to the modern reader, but instead a brutally honest and deeply profound outpouring of the heart. Suitable for use in public worship or in private devotions, these are the kind of prayers that overturn every stone in the heart and strip the soul bare before God.

You won't find an endless chatter of Christian chliches in this book, neither will you be bogged down in extranious "thee's" and "thou's". While it still maintains a poetic nature, these prayers will hit home with the modern (or more accurately, postmodern) reader who wants to bask in the mystery of God while still struggling to live a "real" life.

I picked up the book because I enjoyed an excerpt of a Kempis I read in college. I now treasure it as one of my top-ten most life impacting books. Don't read it unless you're ready to have your life turned inside-out. It's a sure-fire laugh and cry, rejoice and repent, powerhouse of a book.

Written in the 15th Century and directed towards monks, this is a devotional for Christian living and Monastic life. While noting the time period helps give depth to the historical backdrop of when Thomas was writing this book, it is perhaps more important to know the audience. The intended audience for The Imitation of Christ was monks. This is obvious in the text and it should be kept in mind while reading this work.

This highly influential work has a very simple message: live like Christ. Presented in this book, it is a very strict message. Thomas takes a very strict interpretation of following Christ and the message is very much rooted in the idea of works. It is the actions that one must perform, and not so much the inner state (though he does stress that the inner state is important). This would be a difficult message to take or to give, but again, we must consider the audience: monks living in a monastery. They must live a harsher life and because of their vows, this devotional makes perfect sense.

This can be read as a historical document in Christianity or as a devotional. Either way, one can find great value and and some illumination of the words of Christ through this volume.

Thomas a Kempis was medival monk and priest (1380-1471) who served as chronicler of the monastery at Mt. St. Agnes. During his long life of scholarship, he wrote several biographies of church fathers and a number of devotional works. The "Imitation of Christ" remains his most famous work and the one that has best stood the test of time. Indeed, one of the wonderful things about this work is that it reminds us that the life of the mind is not a creature of the Enlightenment. Even during the so-called Dark Ages there were brilliant scholars with a wide knowledge of both scripture and philosophy. Reflecting its vibrant insight into the human condition, the "Imitation of Christ" remains influential on both sides of the Reformation divide. It reportedly was, for example, one of John Wesley's favorite devotionals.

The "Imitation of Christ" is divided into 4 books, each undertaking a basic theme for development. They are, respectively, the Spiritual Life, the Inner Life, Inward Consolation, and the Blessed Sacrament (i.e., the Eucharist). In turn, each book is sub-divided into numerous chapters, each a page or two long. All of which makes the "Imitation of Christ" a useful book for daily devotionals. One can skip around freely within the book, dipping in as the mood strikes. Yet, I think one is well-served by reading it through at least once. Only then does one see Thomas' thought in its fully-developed form. Do be sure to get a good translation. I am fond of the one by Leo Sherley-Price.

Thomas a Kempis was medival monk and priest (1380-1471) who served as chronicler of the monastery at Mt. St. Agnes. During his long life of scholarship, he wrote several biographies of church fathers and a number of devotional works. The "Imitation of Christ" remains his most famous work and the one that has best stood the test of time. Indeed, one of the wonderful things about this work is that it reminds us that the life of the mind is not a creature of the Enlightenment. Even during the so-called Dark Ages there were brilliant scholars with a wide knowledge of both scripture and philosophy. Reflecting its vibrant insight into the human condition, the "Imitation of Christ" remains influential on both sides of the Reformation divide. It reportedly was, for example, one of John Wesley's favorite devotionals.

The "Imitation of Christ" is divided into 4 books, each undertaking a basic theme for development. They are, respectively, the Spiritual Life, the Inner Life, Inward Consolation, and the Blessed Sacrament (i.e., the Eucharist). In turn, each book is sub-divided into numerous chapters, each a page or two long. All of which makes the "Imitation of Christ" a useful book for daily devotionals. One can skip around freely within the book, dipping in as the mood strikes. Yet, I think one is well-served by reading it through at least once. Only then does one see Thomas' thought in its fully-developed form. Do be sure to get a good translation. I am fond of the one by Leo Sherley-Price.

There's a good reason this book is a spiritual classic. Although we will all probably disagree with some of Thomas a Kempis' theology, this book is really pretty biblical. That means it will make the reader uncomfortable at times. It forces us to reflect on our failings and on the fact that this life is not meant to be a bed of roses, though our culture tells us otherwise. Because of this, it is easy to think of the book as "gloomy." A Kempis did focus more on the sorrows of life than the joys. Nevertheless, this book presents a voice that needs to be heard.

Also, the book isn't all gloom and doom. I have found it very comforting at what is a rather rough period in my life. On one morning, the words in book 3, chapter 57 really spoke to me. A Kempis imagines Jesus to be saying, "I am still ready to help you and comfort you even more than before, if you trust in me and call upon me in a prayerful way.... If you feel yourself often set upon or badly tempted, still all is not lost. You are not God; you are a human being.... How can you always carry on in unwavering virtue when Lucifer could not while he was in heaven nor could Adam while he was in paradise?" This is not the only place in the book where there is a strong emphasis on God's grace and mercy. What could be more comforting?

I haven't read any other translations of the book, so I can't compare Creasy to other translators. I can say that I found the book relevant and easy to understand.

This translation helps the words of this prolific and devout writer come alive for the reader in very profound ways. The suggestions, arguments, insights, and pronouncements of Thomas a Kempis have very modern and immediate applications. His "dialogs" with Jesus can sing with love, longing, and awe or speak plainly to the very practical. This is an accessible book of meditations that offers inspiration and comfort in a language that brings the 15th century straight into the 21st. It's a book to keep and savor over and over again.

Thomas a Kempis lived in a world torn asunder by the Plague, political upheaval, and deep crisis in the Church-a world perhaps not so different from ours. Thomas chose to leave his embattled world for the monastery and devote his life to God. Escapism? Retreat? Hardly. Thomas shows us with great pain, passion, and eloquence how monastic life is the ultimate battle, that between the spirit and the flesh, with stakes no less than one's eternal salvation. "Imitations" teaches us how to be humble before God and each other, and how to live in a manner pleasing to God. It offers up devotional prayers that help us move toward a real and meaningful relationship with Jesus. And in Book Four, it provides profound reflections on the Eucharist that, for Catholics, take this Sacrament to a whole new level of significance, mystery, and beauty.

In many ways the book is not comforting, for it offers no easy answers. Instead, it challenges us to look at our thoughts and actions with utmost clarity and honesty. This is neither easy nor comfortable, but in the end, our only road to peace. Thomas's writing has certainly stood the test of time. After over five hundred years, his words still ring true, and loudly.