De desiderio æternæ vitæ, et quanta sint certantibus præmia promissa.

The Holy Desire for Eternal Life

Christ stirs the soul with a longing for heavenly glory and calls it to receive this grace with humility and gratitude.

My son, when you feel the desire for eternal blessedness poured into you from above, and you long to go out from the tent of the body, so that you may behold my brightness without the shadow of change — expand your heart, and with all desire receive this holy inspiration.^✦¹² Render the most abundant thanks to heavenly goodness, which acts with you so graciously, visits mercifully, stirs ardently, lifts powerfully — lest by your own weight you slip toward earthly things.³⁴ For you don't receive this by your own thinking or effort, but by the sole condescension of heavenly grace and divine regard — so that you may advance in virtues and in greater humility, prepare yourself for the struggles ahead, and strive to cling to me with your whole heart's affection and to serve with fervent will.^✦⁵⁶⁷⁸

Testing the Purity of Our Longing

Not all desire for heavenly things is pure; the soul must examine whether self-interest mingles with its prayer.

Son, fire often burns, but a flame does not rise without smoke. So it is that some people's desire for heavenly things burns brightly, yet they are not free from the temptation of carnal affection.⁹ Therefore they do not act purely for the honor of God in what they so earnestly ask from Him.¹⁰ Such, too, is your desire, which you have let me know would be so burdensome.¹¹¹² For that is not pure and perfect which is tainted by self-interest.¹³¹⁴

Submitting Desire to the Father's Will

Christ acknowledges the soul's deep longing for glory but calls it to wait patiently in the present time of trial.

Don't ask for what is pleasant and advantageous to you, but for what is acceptable and honorable to me; because if you rightly judge my ordering, you ought to place it before your desire and every desired thing, and follow it. I have come to know your desire, and I have heard your frequent groans. Already you would wish to be in the freedom of the glory of the sons of God; already the eternal home delights you, the heavenly fatherland full of joy.^✦ But that hour has not yet come; there is still another time — a time of war, that is, a time of labor and testing. You long to be filled with the highest good, but you cannot attain this yet. I am; wait for me, says the Lord, until the kingdom of God comes.

The Discipline of the Present Life

The soul must endure contradiction, self-denial, and the surrender of its own will as part of its earthly testing.

You are still to be tested on earth and to be disciplined in many things. Consolation will sometimes be given to you, but an abundant fullness will not be granted.¹⁵ So be strong and stand firm, as steadfast in acting as in enduring what goes against your nature.^✦¹⁶ You need to put on the new self and be changed into a different person.^✦^✦¹⁷ You will often need to do what you don't want, and you'll need to let go of what you do want. What pleases others will move forward; what pleases you will get you no further. What others say will be heard; what you say will be counted as nothing. Others will ask and receive; you will ask and not obtain.

The Hidden Fruit of Humiliation

The faithful servant is tested by obscurity, powerlessness, and the denial of self-will under authority.

Others will be great in the mouths of people, but you will be passed over in silence. To others this or that responsibility will be entrusted, but you will be judged useful for nothing. For on another's account nature will be grieved, but the one who keeps silent will reap great fruit for himself. In these and many similar things the Lord's faithful servant is accustomed to be tested: how he seeks to deny himself in all things and to be broken in all things. There is scarcely anything in which you need to die as much as to see and endure what is against your will—especially when there is a lack of harmony, and things that seem less useful to you are commanded to be done.¹⁸¹⁹ And because you do not dare to resist a higher authority, having been placed under the dominion of one in power, it therefore seems hard to you to walk at the bidding of another and to let go of every opinion of your own.

The Promise of Eternal Fulfillment

Christ consoles the soul with the promise that present sufferings will be repaid with everlasting glory and complete satisfaction.

But consider, son, the fruit of these labors: the swift end and the exceedingly great reward. You'll find no burden there, but the strongest consolation for your patience. For in exchange for this slight willingness that you now freely surrender, you'll have your will forever in the heavens. There indeed you'll find everything you've wished for, everything you could ever desire. There the full abundance of all that is good will be yours, without any fear of losing it. There your will will be one with mine always; you'll desire nothing foreign or merely your own. There no one will resist you, no one will complain about you, no one will hinder you, nothing will stand in your way. But all your desires will be present at once; they'll refresh your whole heart's longing and fulfill it to the fullest.²⁰ There I'll give you glory in exchange for the abuse you endured, a mantle of praise in exchange for sorrow, and in place of the lowest seat, a throne of the kingdom forever. There the fruit of obedience will appear; the labor of penitence will rejoice, and humble submission will be gloriously crowned.²¹

Rejoice Only in God's Glory

The soul is called to humble obedience toward all people and to desire only that God be glorified in it.

Now then, bow yourself humbly beneath everyone's hands, and don't worry about who said this or gave the order. Instead, take great care that—whether a superior, an inferior, or an equal demands or hints at something from you—you accept it all as something good, and strive to fulfill it with a sincere willingness.²²²³²⁴²⁵ Let one person seek this, another that; let one glory in one thing and another in something else—and let them be praised a thousand thousand times over. But as for you, glory in neither this nor that. Instead, rejoice in the contempt of yourself, and in the good pleasure and honor that belong to me alone.²⁶²⁷²⁸ This is what you should desire: that whether through life or through death, God may always be glorified in you.²⁹

Read the original Latin

Fili mi, cum tibi desiderium æternæ beatitudinis desuper infundi sentis, et de tabernaculo corporis exire concupiscis, ut claritatem meam sine vicissitudinis umbra contemplari possis, dilata cor tuum, et omni desiderio hanc sanctam inspirationem suscipe. Redde amplissimas supernæ bonitati gratias, quæ tecum sic dignanter agit, clementer visitat, ardenter excitat, potenter sublevat, ne proprio pondere ad terrena labaris. Neque enim hoc cogitatu tuo aut conatu accipis, sed sola dignatione supernæ gratiæ et divini respectus, quatenus in virtutibus, et majori humilitate proficias et ad futura certamina te præpares mihique toto cordis affectu adhærere et ferventi voluntate studeas deservire.

Fili, sæpe ignis ardet, sed sine fumo flamma non ascendit. Sic et aliquorum desideria ad cælestia flagrant et tamen a tentatione carnalis affectus liberi non sunt. Idcirco nec omnino pure pro honore Dei agunt quod tam desideranter ab eo petunt. Tale est et sæpe desiderium tuum, quod insinuasti fore tam importunum. Non enim est hoc purum et perfectum, quod propria commoditate est infectum.

Pete non quod tibi est delectabile et commodum, sed quod mihi acceptabile atque honorificum; quia si recte judicas meam ordinationem tuo desiderio, et omni desiderato præferre debes, ac sequi. Novi desiderium tuum, et frequentes gemitus audivi. Jam velles esse in libertate gloriæ filiorum Dei, jam te delectat domus æterna, et cælestis patria gaudio plena. Sed nondum venit hora ista; sed est adhuc, est aliud tempus belli, videlicet tempus laboris et probationis. Optas summo repleri bono, sed non potes hoc assequi modo. Ego sum, exspecta me, dicit Dominus, donec veniat regnum Dei.

Probandus es adhuc in terris et in multis exercitandus. Consolatio interdum tibi dabitur, sed copiosa satietas non concedetur. Confortare igitur et esto robustus, tam in agendo quam in patiendo naturæ contraria. Oportet te novum induere hominem, et in alterum virum mutari. Oportet te sæpe agere quod non vis, et quod vis oportet te relinquere. Quod aliis placet, processum habebit; quod tibi placet, ultra non proficiet. Quod alii dicunt, audietur; quod tu dicis, pro nihilo computabitur. Petent alii, et accipient; tu petes nec impetrabis.

Erunt alii magni in ore hominum; de te autem tacebitur. Aliis hoc vel illud committetur, tu autem ad nihil utilis judicaberis. Nam propter alium natura contristabitur, sed magnum fructum sibi silens reportabit. In his et similibus multis probari solet fidelis Domini servus, qualiter se in omnibus abnegare, et in omnibus frangere quærit. Vix est aliquid tale, in quo tantundem mori indiges, sicut videre et pati, quæ voluntati tuæ adversa sunt; maxime autem cum disconvenientia, et quæ minus tibi utilia apparent, fieri jubentur. Et quia non audes resistere altiori potestati, sub dominio constitutus, ideo durum tibi videtur ad nutum alterius ambulare, et omne proprium sentire omittere.

Sed pensa, fili, horum fructum laborum, celerem finem atque præmium nimis magnum, et non habebis inde gravamen, sed fortissimum patientiæ tuæ solamen. Nam et pro modica hac voluntate, quam modo sponte deseris, habebis semper voluntatem tuam in cælis. Ibi quippe invenies omne quod volueris, omne quod desiderare potes. Ibi aderit tibi totius facultas boni sine timore amittendi. Ibi voluntas tua una semper mecum; nil cupies extraneum vel privatum. Ibi nullus resistet tibi, nemo de te conqueretur, nemo te impediet, nihil obviabit: sed cuncta desiderata simul erunt præsentia, totumque tuum affectum reficient, et adimplebunt usque ad summum. Ibi reddam gloriam pro contumelia perpessa, pallium laudis pro mærore, pro loco novissimo sedem regni in sæcula. Ibi apparebit fuctus obedientiæ; gaudebit labor pœitentiæ, et humilis subjectio coronabitur gloriose.

Nunc ergo te inclina humiliter sub omnium manibus, nec sit curæ, quis hoc dixerit, vel jusserit: sed hoc magno opere curato, ut sive Prælatus, sive minor aut æqualis aliud a te exposcerit vel innuerit, pro bono totum accipias, et sincera voluntate studeas adimplere. Quærat alius hoc, alius illud; glorietur ille in illo, et iste in isto; laudenturque millies mille, tu autem nec isto nec illo: sed tui ipsius gaude contemtu, et in mei solius beneplacito ac honore. Hoc optandum est tibi, ut sive per vitam sive per mortem Deus semper in te glorificetur.

Scripture echoes

↩2Cor.5.1-2Cor.5.4 — For we know that if our earthly tent-house is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2Cor.5.2 — Indeed, in this body we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. 2Cor.5.3 — since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 2Cor.5.4 — For indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan under the weight of it — because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
↩Phil.2.13 — For God is the one working in you, both to desire and to work for his good pleasure.
↩Rom.8.21 — that the creation itself also will be set free from its bondage of decay into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
↩Eph.6.13 — Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand firm in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.
↩Eph.4.24 — and put on the new self, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
↩Col.3.10 — and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator

Notes

1 ↩cor rendered as 'heart' per lexeme policy (inner attention, desire, and will).
2 ↩desiderium rendered as 'desire' in the first instance and 'desire' in the second; the shift from nominative to ablative (omni desiderio) is rendered with 'with all desire' to capture the instrumental force.
3 ↩gratias (acc. pl. of gratia) rendered as 'thanks' here in the sense of thanksgiving (gratias agere), not 'grace' — the approved lexicon allows 'thanks' in gratias agere contexts.
4 ↩ne introduces a negative purpose clause ('lest'), faithfully rendered.
5 ↩affectu (affectus) rendered as 'affection' per lexeme policy — here in the positive, prayerful sense of the heart's directed love.
6 ↩gratiæ (gratia) rendered as 'grace' — divine gift/effect, not thanks.
7 ↩neque enim: negative + explanatory, rendered 'For you don't… but' to capture the adversative force.
8 ↩quatenus introduces a purpose clause ('so that'), rendered to show the intended result of divine grace.
9 ↩affectus rendered as affection per lexeme policy; here in the negative sense of disordered attachment.
10 ↩pure rendered as purely (adv.); could also be 'entirely' or 'perfectly' — chosen to convey unmixed motive.
11 ↩et rendered as 'too' (emphatic/continuative), not as simple 'and'.
12 ↩importunum rendered as burdensome; the Latin carries a sense of troublesome, inconvenient, importunate.
13 ↩commoditate rendered as self-interest; the Latin propria commoditas means one's own advantage or benefit.
14 ↩infectum rendered as tainted; literally 'dyed, stained, corrupted'.
15 ↩Satietas rendered 'fullness' to capture the sense of complete satisfaction/satiety; the passage contrasts partial comfort now with the complete fulfillment that awaits in glory.
16 ↩Naturæ contraria ('things contrary to nature') refers to the trials and sufferings that oppose natural human inclination — a key ascetical concept in Kempis.
17 ↩Novum hominem induere and in alterum virum mutari echo Pauline language of interior transformation (cf. Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10).
18 ↩tantundem is a rare form; rendered 'as much' to convey the sense of equal measure between dying to self and enduring what opposes one's will.
19 ↩disconvenientia is rare; rendered 'lack of harmony' to capture the sense of incongruity or discord between what is commanded and what seems useful.
20 ↩affectum rendered as 'heart's longing' to capture the devotional sense of directed desire.
21 ↩fuctus is a rare/variant form, likely for fructus ('fruit'). Translated as 'fruit' following the normalized reading.
22 ↩ergo rendered as 'now then' to capture its inferential force linking back to the promises of the previous section.
23 ↩nec sit curæ: the negative connective nec is rendered naturally as 'don't worry' rather than a stilted 'let it not be of concern.'
24 ↩sed after the colon marks a strong adversative shift from 'don't worry about who' to 'take great care that.'
25 ↩pro bono: idiom meaning 'as something good' or 'as a good thing,' not 'for a good [purpose].'
26 ↩autem rendered as 'but as for you' to capture the adversative shift from others' pursuits to the reader's calling.
27 ↩contemtu (contemptus): here 'contempt' means being held in low regard by others, not the modern sense of disdain. The sense is finding joy in being despised or overlooked.
28 ↩beneplacito: 'good pleasure' or 'goodwill,' referring to God's sovereign approval.
29 ↩ut rendered as 'that' (complementizer after optandum est), introducing the content of what is to be desired.