Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 12. De persecutione lesu et fuga eius in
Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 12. De persecutione lesu et fuga eius in
Egypt. I bless you and give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings most high, for the persecution and tribulation you endured in your childhood, when you fled from the face of the most wicked King Herod, and were forced to leave your homeland as an exile and a stranger, entering the region of Egypt secretly, from which you once led the children of Israel out by the mighty hand. I praise and glorify you for that laborious journey and long pilgrimage you endured in a foreign land, living for seven years among barbarous nations and people who were very different from you. Oh, how cruel is the wickedness that seeks to kill the author of life and to drive the king of heaven from his own homeland! Oh, how many tears would flow if someone saw such a dear and beautiful little child fleeing and leaving with his most elegant mother in the secret shadows of the night into a land they did not know! Truly, this article about persecution is unique in its patience and teaches all the faithful of Christ that they must endure many persecutions from the wicked. I praise and honor you, Lord Jesus, for that blessed return from Egypt, for that repeated journey back to your homeland, for the shared life with your parents in the city of Nazareth, where you lived innocently among friends and relatives, but led a poor life with your mother and the holy Joseph in sweet companionship. Grant me now, loving Jesus, the ability to imitate even in a small way this act of patience, not to complain against the injuries inflicted, but to humbly yield to an angry person, to bear with them if anyone mocks me, or has caused me trouble in any way, and to fervently intercede for their salvation without becoming angry with them, but rather to attribute everything to the ancient serpent who tempted them. Grant me the peace to maintain harmony with my brothers, to willingly serve them, and to patiently endure whatever hardships we face together in this life for the glory of your name.
Read the original Latin
Aegyptum.
Benedico et gratias ago tibi, Domine lesu Christe, rex regum altissime, pro tua persecutione et tribulatione in puerili aetate tibi facta, quando a facie impiissimi Herodis regis fugisti et tamquam exul et peregrinus a propria patria locompulsus es exire et regionem Aegypti latenter intrare, de qua olim filios Israel in manu potenti eduxisti.
Laudo et glorifico te pro laboriosa via illa et longa peregrinatione, quam in isterra aliena pertulisti habitans septem annorum spatio inter barbaras nationes et homines tibi valde dissimiles.
O quam saeva impietas auctorem vitae velle occidere et regem caeli de propria patria velle exturbare.
O quantae lacrimae fluerent, si quis tam carum et pulchrum puerulum cum elegantissimae formae virgine matre in secretae noctis umbraculo fugere et exire in terram, quam non noverant, conspexisset?
Vere singularis patientiae est iste persecutionis articulus et docet omnes Christi fideles multas debere eos persecutiones ab impiis pati.
Laudo et honorifico te, Domine lesu, pro beato illo reditu ex Aegypto, pro iterata illa remeatione in patriam tuam, pro sociali inhabitatione cum parentibus tuis in civitate Nazareth, ubi cum amicis et propinquis innocenter conversatus es, sed pauperem vitam cum matre et sancto loseph dulci consortio duxisti.
Concede mihi nunc, amande lesu, vel in tantillo hunc patientiae passum imitari, non murmurare adversus iniurias illatas, sed humiliter cedere homini irato, lo sustinere, si quis irriserit, aut detraxerit, aut in aliquo mihi molestus fuerit, atque pro salute eius ferventer intercedere nec homini indignari, sed antiquo serpenti, qui ipsum temptaverit, totum po-is tius imputare.
Da mihi pacem servare cum fratribus meis, libenter obsequi illis patienterque ferre cum ipsis quamcumque penuriam in temporalibus ad tui nominis laudem.
Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ companion
à Kempis wrote 86 of these — you've prayed 8
The full cycle, from the creation of man to Pentecost, runs as free daily devotionals in Chosen Portion.
à Kempis structured the work as day-by-day thanksgiving over the whole life of Christ, and Chosen Portion runs that original cycle as a modern daily devotional from creation to Pentecost.
- All 86 meditations in modern readable English, one per day — about three months of guided prayer
- Resurrection-appearance meditations (21 chapters) continue your Eastertide after the guide ends
- Daily reminder plus progress tracking, so the practice survives past Holy Week