Thanks for the reply Fred. This helps. Yes, I know what “imitation” means and that’s basically what Thomas a Kempis is doing but I should have asked my question this way…. are we supposed to believe that Thomas a Kempis was inspired my God to write this? Because when I read this book, I just could not believe how powerful the words were. I also asked the manager of the Catholic bookstore and she believes he was. Nonetheless, either way the book is very inspiring(no pun intended) I’ll be reading it over again and again because I can take everything from the book and transfrom my life with it(as well as the bible, we all know this) ” title=”Smile” /> . I just went to my local Catholic bookstore and purchased a laminated Catholic Verse Finder as well as Imitation of Mary aslo by Thomas a Kempis. I can’t wait to read this one!