The purpose of this collection is to calm your soul and teach you to follow Christ, born in Bethlehem for our salvation, who died for us, rose again, and is rising again—all with faith and love coming to Him.
This book is often called the most popular Christian book after the Bible. Written in simple language, “The Imitation of Christ” seeks to bring the gospel truths “into life.” Thomas à Kempis, on the one hand, abstracts from scholasticism and clericalism, and on the other—from mystical speculations in the spirit of Eckhart. Thomas à Kempis, by the words of Father Georgy Chistyakov, “at the dusk of the Middle Ages brought together the experience of Christian hesychasm in the West.” The book was popular in Rus’ as well—there were eight translations from the 16th century. It was loved by early Russian intelligentsia (Gogol, Aksakov, and others). It was used in their works by St. Demetrius of Rostov and St. John of Tobolsk.