Dorothea of ​​Montau

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The inclusion of St. Dorothea in Marienwerder

Dorothea von Montau (actually Dorothea Swartze ) (born February 6, 1347 in Groß Montau ; † June 25, 1394 in Marienwerder ) was a hermit and mystic . She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and is considered the patroness of the Teutonic Order and Prussia.

Live and act

Dorothea von Montau came from a wealthy farming family. When she was seven, she was scalded with boiling water in an accident and almost died. As a child, Dorothea began to impose mortifications and ascetic exercises . She kneeled in front of the cross ( Venien ) under the guidance of her mother and did not want to eat dairy foods during Lent , even though she was not yet obliged to fast according to her age. In addition, her biographer reports on self-scalding, extreme fasting, wounding of the feet, sleeping in the cold and other practices.

At the urging of her family, she married a gunsmith from Gdansk . The marriage had nine children, of which only one daughter (who later became a nun in Kulm ) survived. Shortly after the wedding, Dorothea von Montau had her first visions . In their accounts of these mystical experiences it says

"[...] body and soul flowed with great lust, and the soul flowed with great heated love and lust just like an ore that had melted and became one in spirit with our dear Lord."

After the death of her husband in 1389 or 1390 Dorothea moved to Marienwerder. There she met the dean of the cathedral and Teutonic order priest Johannes Marienwerder , her future confessor and biographer.

In 1391 she was threatened with being burned as a witch in Danzig because she was allegedly wrong in her belief. The visions reported in their confessional talks were held before her. Her confessor Johannes von Marienwerder was just able to prevent an impending burn.

Dorothea gave away her fortune and until the end of her life retired as a recluse in a cell that had been attached to the building complex of the Marienwerder cathedral .

Adoration

Pope Paul VI canonized Dorothea von Montau in 1976; the canonization process, which was exerted shortly after her death and supported by the Teutonic Order, had not continued since 1404 and was only resumed in 1955. Dorothea's life was described by Johannes Marienwerder and the book was printed in Marienburg by Jakob Karweyse in 1492 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Dorothea von Montau  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Dinzelbacher (1994), p. 349.
  2. ↑ "When the blessed Dorothea reached the age of 7, it happened through a failure that she was doused so much with boiling water that her mother, tormented so much with great pity, had to resuscitate her in a cradle." Dorothea v. M. (1863), p. 209; New High German transmission from Frenken (2002), p. 232.
  3. ^ According to Marienwerder in: Max Toeppen (Ed.): The life of St. Dorothea by Johannes Marienwerder. In: Scriptores rerum Prussicarum (The historical sources of Prussian prehistoric times). Volume 2. Hirzel, Leipzig 1863, p. 204.
  4. ↑ See Frenken (2002), p. 232.
  5. ↑ See Frenken (2002), p. 231 ff.
  6. ↑ Dorothea v. M. (1863), p. 238, New High German transmission from Frenken (2002), p. 20.
  7. ↑ Experience God's closeness directly: Mysticism in the Middle Ages and with Martin Luther , edited by Berndt Hamm, Volker Leppin and Heidrun Munzert, 2007, Tübingen, ISBN 978-3-16-149211-2 , p. 335.
  8. ↑ Peter Dinzelbacher: Christian Mysticism in the Occident. Your story from the beginning to the end of the Middle Ages. Schöning, Paderborn et al. 1994. p. 351.
personal data
SURNAME Dorothea of ​​Montau
BRIEF DESCRIPTION catholic saints
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1347
PLACE OF BIRTH Great Montau
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1394
Place of death Marienwerder