Sermons to the Novices Regular

Thomas à Kempis, the beloved author of The Imitation of Christ, turns his attention to those taking their first steps on the spiritual path. These thirty sermons, delivered to novices entering monastic life, offer hard-won wisdom on the art of becoming holy: learning obedience before commanding, embracing humility before seeking greatness, finding God in silence before the world demands your voice. Each sermon pulses with the same quiet urgency that made The Imitation of Christ the most widely read devotional work in Western history. Here is spiritual formation in its rawest form: the slow, often painful work of stripping away ego, accepting thecloister's constraints as liberation, and discovering that true freedom lies in surrender. For modern readers seeking depth amid superficiality, these ancient words offer something startling: a pathway to authenticity through discipline, a countercultural invitation to what Kempis calls the "inner life" where Christ truly dwells.