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Thomas A Kempis


dUSt

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Okay, he wrote "The Imitation of Christ", which undoubtedly has helped thousands if not millions of people in their faith.

Does anybody know if there's been any talk about making him a saint? Am I out of the loop on this? Did he lead a life worthy of sainthood?

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Woa. I found this on a website. Very disturbing...

[i]"I had also always wondered why nobody had canonised Thomas à Kempis, author of the Imitation of Christ, which has inspired so many and a copy of which Pope John Paul I was allegedly holding when he was found dead. Well, here was the gruesome answer. Apparently when his coffin was opened for formal identification of the remains at the beginning of the process, he was found to be holding clumps of his own hair tightly in his hands. It seems he must have been buried while in a coma, and not dead, and would have woken up to find himself buried alive. The clumps of hair suggested he might have succumbed to despair, which of course would bar him from sainthood. It seems the case was just dropped at that point and never revived."[/i]

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Thy Geekdom Come

[quote name='dUSt' date='Sep 2 2004, 06:17 PM'] Woa. I found this on a website. Very disturbing...

[i]"I had also always wondered why nobody had canonised Thomas à Kempis, author of the Imitation of Christ, which has inspired so many and a copy of which Pope John Paul I was allegedly holding when he was found dead. Well, here was the gruesome answer. Apparently when his coffin was opened for formal identification of the remains at the beginning of the process, he was found to be holding clumps of his own hair tightly in his hands. It seems he must have been buried while in a coma, and not dead, and would have woken up to find himself buried alive. The clumps of hair suggested he might have succumbed to despair, which of course would bar him from sainthood. It seems the case was just dropped at that point and never revived."[/i] [/quote]
That's creepy, but I'd want to know the source...

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theculturewarrior

found this at [url="http://www.newadvent.org"]http://www.newadvent.org[/url]

It would seem to indicate he lived and died a holy man. :)

[quote]In person Thomas is described as a man of middle height, dark complexion and vivid colouring, with a broad forehead and piercing eyes; kind and affable towards all, especially the sorrowful and the afflicted; constantly engaged in his favourite occupations of reading, writing, or prayer; in time of recreation for the most part silent and recollected, finding it difficult even to express an opinion on matters of mundane interest, but pouring out a ready torrent of eloquence when the conversation turned on God or the concerns of the soul. At such times often he would excuse himself, "My brethren", he would say, "I must go: Someone is waiting to converse with me in my cell." A possibly authentic portrait, preserved at Gertruidenberg, bears as his motto the words: "In omnibus requiem quaesivi et nusquam inveni nisi in een Hoecken met een Boecken" (Everywhere I have sought rest and found it nowhere, save in little nooks with little books). He was laid to rest in the eastern cloister in a spot carefully noted by the continuator of his chronicle. Two centuries after the Reformation, during which the priory was destroyed, the holy remains were transferred to Zwolle and enclosed in a handsome reliquary by Maximilian Hendrik, Prince-Bishop of Cologne. At present they are enshrined in St. Michael's Church, Zwolle, in a magnificent monument erected in 1897 by subscriptions from all over the world and inscribed: "Honori,non memoriae Thomae Kempensis, cujus nomen perennius quam monumentum" (To the honour not to the memory of Thomas à Kempis, whose name is more enduring than any monument). It is interesting to recall that the same Maximilian Hendrik, who showed such zeal in preserving and honouring the relics of à Kempis, was also eager to see the cause of his beatification introduced and began to collect the necessary documents; but little more than a beginning was made when he died (1688) and since that date no further steps have been taken. [/quote]

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Piccoli Fiori JMJ

yeah it was, they'd open up coffins and see that they had woken up and started scratching the lid of the coffin, kinda sad though... but they weren't exactly on top of things back then...

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I have his collected works. I once tried to memorize the Raven. I only got through 5 paragraphs before i gave up.

Nevermore.

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They drain your blood and fill it with nasty preservative stuff so it's pretty much a given. If nothing else, that would kill you.

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Thy Geekdom Come

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 2 2004, 06:50 PM'] I have his collected works. I once tried to memorize the Raven. I only got through 5 paragraphs before i gave up.

Nevermore. [/quote]
:rolling: :rolling: :rolling: :rolling:

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