The Life of Christ (Vita Jesu Christi): Vol. 1, Reader's Edition
by Ludolph the Carthusian | Translated by Victor Cauchi
- Product Code: tloc1
- Publication date: April 4, 2025
- Pages: 546
- Size: 6 x 9
$25.95
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[Please pray for the repose of the translator, Victor Gauchi, who went to his eternal reward on September 4, 2025. He leaves behind a loving wife and daughter. Requiescat in pace.]
This translation of the Life of Christ has been culled from two different sources and edited into 91 consecutive chapters. The Prologue and the first 43 chapters have been translated from the Middle English as contained in the manuscript at the London, British Library, Ms. Additional 16609. These chapters also include an interlude starting at the end of chapter 34, and numbered as chapters 35 to 39, as kept in the manuscript at the Edinburgh, University Library, Ms. 22.
The second part contained in Volume II of this edition corresponds to Volume 3 of The Life of Our Adorable Redeemer Jesus Christ, illustrated with several notes by Juan Dadreo, Doctor of Theology at The University of Paris, and translated and supplemented from Spanish by Fr. Antonio Rosello y Sureda, an apostolic missionary priest. The chequered life of Ludolph the Carthusian (c. 1295–1378) found its spiritual contentment in the writing of his colossal work on the Vita Jesu Christi in Latin. The book on the Life of Christ occupied some forty years of Ludolph’s life in a charterhouse in Mainz. It has been styled as a summa evangelica and as it contains a series of meditations, spiritual instructions and prayers, it has also served to many a medieval scholar as a collation of dogmatic and moral dissertations. These are still worthy of great note today as they were mostly prior to the pre-Reformation period of the Roman Church.
Since the early years of first going to the press in Latin the book has been printed in some sixty editions and translations. These have often served as a source of meditation, contemplation and prayer to several saintly figures. In this novel work, translated for a wider audience, the translator has given us an edition which we hope will be a source of inspirational beauty of Christ’s life for all who wish to follow Him closely in their own lives. -
Since all sanctification and perfection are contained in the life of the God-Man, Jesus Christ Our Lord, the better we get to know His life, the closer we will be to the sublime goal God had in mind when He created us. Ludolph’s Life of Christ is a priceless companion to the Gospels and leads to that goal. —Dom Pius Mary Noonan, O.S.B., Prior of Notre Dame Priory, Tasmania, author of Fig Leaves Are Not Enough, Whilst It Is Day, The Grace to Desire It and Divine Providence and Human Freedom (Cana Press)
This spiritual classic is addressed to all. It aims to be practical, rather than speculative, Wilmart, the famous Benedictine scholar, said, “It is no exaggeration to say that it is one of the most beautiful and learned works to have come to us from the Middle Ages...almost the whole of Patristic literature is included in it.” Its holy Carthusian author—never canonised, because the Carthusians don't bother to keep a score of their saints—offers an historical vision of salvation, from Christ's going out from the Father to his final glory. Its popularity and influence is shown by the fact that by the late 19th century, it had already gone through something like sixty complete editions. May this translation continue the good work! —Fr. Giles Gonacher, OSB, Pluscarden Abbey
The Carthusian Ludolph's Life of Christ is not so much a biography of the Lord as a compendium of contemplative Christology. Saying even this does not do it justice. Influential across centuries, it was foundational in St. Ignatius of Loyola's conversion of life, and a strong influence on Ignatian spirituality, especially its particular method of meditation. The influence it could have in our day resides in those who would take time to read this fine modern edition of a classic of Christian spirituality. —Fr. Hugh Somerville Knapman, OSB, author of Ecumenism of Blood: Heavenly Hope for Earthly Communion (Paulist Press)
I am thrilled that Ludolph the Carthusian’s masterpiece The Life of Christ is available in this convenient Reader’s Edition. The Life of Christ marked a breakthrough in pious imagination, zooming in on the details of the Gospel and bringing them to life. Ludolph claims no mystical insight but simply draws from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to inform his reading of the sacred text. And by doing so, he went on to influence later saints such as Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Ávila, and Francis de Sales. Thanks to these two affordable volumes, he can influence us as well. —Michael P. Foley, Professor of Patristics at Baylor University and author of Lost in Translation: Meditating on the Orations of the Traditional Roman Rite (Angelico Press, 2023)
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