Formula of devotion

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The devotion formula (from Latin devotio "submission", also humility formula ) is a rhetorical self-humiliation. It does not belong to classical rhetoric, but only emerged in late antiquity and is often Christian in color.

In the official, formulaic official or chancellery language , devotional formulas often appear in connection with titles, by God's grace with secular rulers and Servus servorum Dei ("servant of the servants of God") as the Pope's self-designation . Also in the conventional society language these formulas served as your (ergebenster, gehorsamster) servants for expressions of a - here corporative -Social intentioned - identity. Whether this self-image is real or just faked depends on the individual case. Humility formulas are still used today, e.g. B. Yours truly , but sound ancient and sometimes rather humorous.

Closely related to the formula of devotion is the term captatio benevolentiae , which usually in the prologue or epilogue of a literary work serves the poet to affirm his unworthiness to listeners or readers and thus to gain the favor of the audience.

Well-known devotional formulas are the Conditio Jacobaea , deo volente , Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt and In shā'a llāh .

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