Thomas A Kempis 1.18 - The example of the holy fathers, and their legacy

Consider the Holy Fathers as vivid examples, where we see real perfection and religion shining. Compared to them, everything we do is so little that it amounts to nothing. Now, what is our life when compared to theirs? Those saints and friends of Christ served the Lord in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in labor and weariness, in vigils and fasts, in prayer and holy meditations, in persecutions and many insults.

And oh how many troubles -- serious ones -- they suffered. Those Apostles, Martyrs and Confessors, Virgins, and all the others who willingly followed the footsteps of Christ. When it came to their souls they hated them in this world so that they might keep them in eternal life. And what about the hardships of the holy fathers in the desert, who renounced their lives -- what long and serious temptations they suffered! Think how often were they assailed by the enemy, what serious and passionate prayers they offered to God, what strict fasts they undertook, what great enthusiasm and eagerness for spiritual growth. Think how strongly they waged war to tame their vices, how pure and upright was their intention toward God. Throughout the day they worked, and the night they filled with prayer -- though even when they were working they scarcely stopped praying in their minds. 

They spent all their time usefully. Every hour seemed short to devote to God. And through the great sweetness of contemplation, they even forgot the need of bodily refreshment. All riches, reputation, honors, friends, relatives -- they renounced them; they desired nothing from the world. They took the bare necessaries of life; they would rather not be servants of their bodies even in necessity. So they were poor in earthly things, but so rich in grace and virtue. On the outside they were needy, on the inside they were filled with grace and heavenly comforts.

They were strangers to the world, but close to God as kinsmen and friends. To themselves they seemed nothing, to the world they seemed contemptible; but in the sight of God they were precious and chosen. They stood fast in true humility, they lived in simple obedience, they walked in love and patience; and so every day they prospered and lived in great favor before God. The saints are given as an example to all religious people to challenge us to accomplish well, rather than how the many lukewarm tempt us to lack of effort.

How great was the enthusiasm of all the oath-taking religious when they first joined the holy institution! They were so devoted to prayer! There was rivalry for holiness! They had such great self-discipline! Their reverence and obedience flourished in all things under the rule of the spiritual master! The traces of them that remain until now testify that they were truly holy and perfect, supplying the world with those who strove so energetically. Now a man is counted great if he is not a transgressor, and if he is able to endure with patience. 

The temperature of our times is one of negligence, that we so quickly decline from the former love, and it is tiresome to be alive because of fatigue and lukewarmness. May the growth of virtue not become dormant in you, since you have seen so many examples of those who are devoted. 

Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis, 1.18

Translation focused on contemporary English and preservation of rhetorical force and art