The concept of imitation of Christ, which was put forth in the last issue of this article, seems therefore sufficiently clear. ‘The Christian’, wrote John Climacus, ‘is one who imitates Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as is possible for human beings.’ The imitation of Christ is linked to the doctrine of the image and the likeness. It coincides with the progressive realization of ‘the likeness’. So the more that we come to understand that we are created in the image and   likeness of God, the more likely we are to more sincerely attempt to imitate Christ.

Another question must be asked. For Origen, to follow Christ meant to cultivate the virtues, of which he gave a list: knowledge, wisdom, truth and righteousness to name but a few. These are the attributes of the Divine Word of God, the Logos (i.e., Christ). We know that the West chose to imitate the Word made flesh as he was seen in the mysteries of his life on earth. Origen adopted the same point of view toward the end of his life. For Saint Gregory Nazianzen, to imitate Christ meant trying to become ‘all that he became for us’. Every detail of the mysteries he evoked in his orations called for a participation: ‘Guided by the star, we ran to him, and with the magi we worshipped, and with the shepherds we were illumined, and with the angels we glorified him.

This corresponds well to the essence of the liturgical Anamnesis (i.e., Commemoration – Remembrance), Christ living in the ritual of the Church: ‘At Christmas he is truly born, just as at Easter he truly dies.’

Being conscious of the absolute oneness of Christ, the Christian will avoid the pitfalls of mimicry and formalism. It is not a matter of repeating the physical gestures of Christ but of imitating their spiritual intent, of using the sentiments of Christ as models for our feelings. The imitation of Christ will. Therefore vary according to each person’s vocation. When we put on the sentiments of Christ, we learn how to unconditionally love.