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Document Details : Title: Liturgical Sources in De imitatione Christi Author(s): POIRTERS, Ad Journal: Studies in Spirituality Volume: 32 Date: 2022-2023 Pages: 303-336 DOI: 10.2143/SIS.32.0.3292463 Abstract : The life that Thomas a Kempis (1379/80-1471) led as a canon regular at the convent of Sint-Agnietenberg in Zwolle was shaped to a large extent by his participation in the various kinds of worship that were practised there. It is not surprising that some of the texts he prayed in this liturgical context found their way into his De imitatione Christi. They influenced its vocabulary and are quoted or echoed. This article seeks to go some way towards documenting the Imitatio’s indebtedness to liturgical sources, and thereby demonstrate that liturgy made a more significant contribution to the materials from which Thomas built his discourse than is often recognized. The methodological issues involved in this undertaking, and the general results yielded by an attempt to overcome them, are discussed first. After this, the Imitatio’s use of one liturgical source, the collect of the seventeenth Sunday after the octave of Pentecost, is discussed in greater depth by way of example. A survey of liturgical building blocks is provided in the appendix. |
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