Thomas à Kempis 1471
Thomas à Kempis was born in Kempen in the Rhineland in 1380. He attended school in Deventer in 1392 to 1399 and then went on to join Mount St. Agnes in 1406. He is best known for writing the Imitation of Christ which is one of the most popular and best-known Christian books ever written on devotion. It was considered by many prominent Christians to be a book that everyone should own. He spent his days, writing, teaching and creating copies. One of his copies of the Bible is currently being preserved at Darmstadt, Germany.
He died in 1471 and he was buried in Zwolle. It was not long after this that the Church looked into the life and works of Thomas à Kempis and decided that he should be made into a saint. The Catholic monk was known for his works and his ability to reach people with his teachings. His dedication to his copies and his devotion to God were all things that made him perfect for a saint. Even today his works and his life continue to be of great inspiration to those of the Christian faith.
So to begin the canonization process the remains of Thomas à Kempis were dug up. The man had been over 90 years old and at the time there had been very little doubt that he was dead. But that all changed when the lid of his coffin was removed. The inside of the coffin lid was covered in deep scratches and there were splinters embedded deep within the nails of the poor monk. It seemed that sometime after his burial, Thomas à Kempis had come back to life and had desperately tried to claw his way out of his grave.
This was unfortunate not only because Thomas à Kempis suffered before dying yet again deep within his own grave but it caused the Church to rethink their position on making him a saint. The scratches on the coffin were evidence that Thomas à Kempis was not willing to accept the fate that was set out for him. His inability to accept and face his death calmly showed that he was tied more to the physical world than he was to God and therefore he was denied canonization.