German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Henry Suso
Henry Suso, OP (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich Seuse or Heinrich von Berg in German; 21 March 1295 – 25 January 1366) was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth centu ...
between 1328 and 1330. The book belongs to the tradition of
Rhineland mystics
The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval mystical group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the Catholic Church (though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German mysticism. It was founde ...
and
German mysticism
The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval mystical group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the Catholic Church (though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German mysticism. It was founde ...
. It was quickly translated into a range of European languages and (alongside Pseudo Bonaventure's ''
Meditations on the Life of Christ
The ''Meditations on the Life of Christ'' ( la, Meditationes Vitae Christi or '; Italian ''Meditazione della vita di Cristo'') is a fourteenth-century devotional work, later translated into Middle English by Nicholas Love as ''The Mirror of the ...
'' and Ludolph of Saxony's''Life of Christ'') it was one of the three most popular European devotional texts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Editions and Texts
The book was translated into
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
as ''The Seven Points of True Love and Everlasting Wisdom''; a translation into modern English renders the Latin title "Clock of Wisdom" as ''Wisdom's Watch on the Hours.'' It circulated widely in vernacular languages such as English, French, Dutch, and Italian as well as surviving in more than 233 medieval Latin manuscripts.
Contents
The Horologium is divided into two books. Book 1 contains 16 chapters and focuses on considerations around Christ's passion whilst book 2 contains 8 chapters.
*Chp 1 How souls are drawn to God
*Chp 2 How the passion of Christ is a prelude to the knowledge of God
*Chp 3 Christ's sufferings and how they were necessary
*Chp 4 How the soul finds Christ through penance
*Chp 5 A lamentation over the loss of fervour
*Chp 6 The divine spouse is eternal wisdom
*Chp 7 Divine wisdom is both lovable and terrible
*Chp 8 Divine visitations come and go, and how the soul should respond
*Chp 9 Why divine wisdom allows people to suffer
*Chp 10 Of the torments of hell
*Chp 11 Of the joys of heaven
*Chp 12 Dealing with objections
*Chp 13 How it is profitable to suffer tribulations
*Chp 14 How profitable it is to consider Christ's passion
*Chp 15 How a true disciple should conform himself to the passion
*Chp 16 A commendation of the Virgin Mary
Book 2 includes a focus upon Eucharistic theology.
Influences
Henry Suso
Henry Suso, OP (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich Seuse or Heinrich von Berg in German; 21 March 1295 – 25 January 1366) was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth centu ...
was a follower of
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart''Consolation of Philosophy'', recording both Suso's frustrations and disappointments as well as spiritualising ways of dealing with them.
In chapter 9 Suso records an imaginary conversation with God in which he makes a comment about it not being surprising that God has so few friends when religious people encounter so many difficulties. This comment may have influenced traditions which claimed that
Teresa of Avila
Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name.
It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...
made the quip "no wonder you have so few friends Lord, when you treat them so badly."Henry Suso, Wisdom's Watch Upon the Hours (trns Edmund Colledge)
Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
Press, 2019, p.48 Retrieved 13 May 2020
See also
*
Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...
*
Catholic spirituality
Catholic spirituality includes the various ways in which Catholics live out their Baptismal promise through prayer and action. The primary prayer of all Catholics is the Eucharistic liturgy in which they celebrate and share their faith together, ...