Jean-Joseph Surin

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Jean-Joseph Surin SJ (born February 9, 1600 in Bordeaux , † April 22, 1665 in Bordeaux) was a French Jesuit and is considered an important mystic and spiritual writer.

At the age of eight he made a vow of chastity and at the age of ten he was trained in meditation techniques by a Carmelite woman. As a twelve-year-old he had a vision of the essence of God in the church of the Carmelite monastery and then entered the Jesuit college. In 1626 he was ordained a priest. 1629/30 he studied in the third year of his studies with Louis Lallemant in Rouen . From 1634 to 1637 he was appointed exorcist of Loudun sent to Ursuline to exorcise that were considered possessed and was so shocked by a scheduled host desecration was that he offered his own Spirit to take that of the Prioress Jeanne des Anges owned. He is convinced that his prayer has been answered. From 1635 to 1651 he showed signs of schizophrenia and was himself exorcised. He was paralyzed at times and perceived his obsessions alienated and therefore enjoyed them. But he never stopped praying. Upon entering the pulpit and signing the cross , all of this miraculously vanished, similar to writing down or dictating what had appeared to his doctor to be miraculous. In any case, Surin began to dictate again in 1654, wrote his main work, the Catéchisme spirituel , in this way and began preaching again in 1656. Eight years before his death he was healed. He then devoted himself entirely to the spiritual life.

In the history of Christian mysticism, Surin is typical of a modern emphasis on the subjective, psychological dimension of experience. Through complete renunciation and “general surrender”, he sees becoming one with divine grace realizable. Surin's spiritual catechism was temporarily censored by the Catholic authorities. In the 20th century u. a. the mystic researcher Michel de Certeau interested in Surin. Pope Francis remarked about himself in 2013 that he “was close to the mystical currents of Louis Lallement and Jean-Joseph Surin”.

Works

  • Catéchisme spirituel , Paris 1659, published by the Prince of Conti
  • Michel de Certeau (ed.): Guide spirituel , Paris 1963.
  • Les fondements de la vie spirituelle, tirés du livre de l'imitation de Jésus Christ , anonymous, Paris 1667
  • Cantiques spirituels de l'amour divin, pour l'instruction et consolation des âmes dévotes , Bourdeaux / Paris 1660.
    • * Étienne Catta: Poésies spirituelles sur les divers estats de l'amour divin (with the Contrats spirituels , 1655), Paris 1957.
  • Dialogues spirituels , Paris 1704
  • Lettres spirituelles , Nantes / Paris 1695; Reprinted Paris 1966
    • Louis Michel, Ferdinand Cavallera (ed.): Lettres spirituelles. Edition critique . Vol. 1: 1630–1639 , Toulouse 1926, Vol. 2 .: 1640–1659 , Toulouse 1928 (= Bibliothèque de la Revue d'ascétique et de mystique, Vol. 1 and 2; selected edition, 233 letters).
    • Michel de Certeau (ed.): Jean-Joseph Surin, Correspondances . Paris 1966 (594 letters).
    • Lettres inédites , Lyon 1845.
  • La gloire de saint Joseph en l'expulsion des démons du corps de la mère prieure des ursulines de Loudun , Saumur 1636
  • L'histoire de la délivrance de la mère des Anges (as Triomphe de l'amour sur les puissances de l'enfer en la personne d'une fille possédée ed., Avignon 1828–1829)
  • La science expérimentale des choses de l'autre vie, acquise en la possession des ursulines de Loudun , Avignon 1828–1829.

literature

(chronologically)

  • Henri-Marie Boudon: L'Homme de Dieu en la personne du Père Jean-Joseph Seürin , Chartres 1683, reprint Paris 1689.
  • Michel de Certeau SJ: L'Illettré éclairé dans l'histoire de la lettre de Surin . In: Revue d'ascétique et de mystique (RAM), Vol. 44 (1968), pp. 369-411.
  • Michel de Certeau SJ: Les Œuvres de J.-J. Surin. History of the text . In: Revue d'ascétique et de mystique (RAM), Vol. 40 (1964), pp. 443-476 and Vol. 41 (1965), pp. 55-78.
  • Michel de Certeau SJ: La possession de Loudun . Gallimard / Julliard, Paris 2005. ISBN 2-07-031913-X .
  • Leszek Kolakowski : Chrétiens sans Église. La conscience religieuse et le lien confessionnel au XVIIe siècle . Paris 1969, pp. 436-491.
  • John Saward: Perfect fools. Folly for Christ's Sake in Catholic and Orthodox Spirituality . Oxford 1980, pp. 118-146.
  • Nicolas Aubin: History of the Devils of Loudun or the Obsession of the Ursulines and of the Condemnation and Punishment of Urbain Grandier, pastor of the same city . Zerling, Berlin 2nd edition 1981. ISBN 3-88468-002-1 .
  • Stanislas Breton CP: La "voie excessive" de J.-J. Surin . In: Recherches de Science Religieus (RSR), Vol. 70 (1982), pp. 213-228.
  • Stanislas Breton CP: Deux mystiques de l'excès: J.-J. Surin and Maître Eckhart . Éditions du Cerf, Paris 1985. ISBN 2-204-02407-4 .
  • Michel Dupuy: Surin . In: Dictionnaire de spiritualité , Vol. 14, Paris 1990, Col. 1311-1325.
  • Sigrid Irimia-Tuchtenhagen:  Surin, Jean-Joseph. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 18, Bautz, Herzberg 2001, ISBN 3-88309-086-7 , Sp. 1357-1360.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Henri Laux SJ: Michel de Certeau, lecteur de Surin . In: Revue de théologie et de philosophie (RThPh), Vol. 136 (2004), pp. 319-332.
  • Patrick Goujon: Le mystique s'écrit dans la Bible. Thunder voix à l'écriture. L'exemple de J.-J. Surin (1600-1665) . In: Regards croisés sur la Bible. Etudes on the point of vue. Actes du Ille colloque international du Réseau de recherche en narrativité biblique, Paris, 8–10 June 2006 . Paris 2007, pp. 257-265.
  • Francesco Asti: J.-J. Surin e la scienza sperimentale. Una proposta di mistica ignaziana . In: Ignaziana, Vol. 7 (2009), pp. 3-19.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biography after Irimia-Tuchtenhagen (BBKL) and A. Poulain: Art. Jean-Joseph Surin , in: The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company 1912.
  2. ^ Antonio Spadaro SJ. The interview with Pope Francis. Voices of the Time magazine , September 19, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Surin, Jean-Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Jesuit and mystic
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1600
PLACE OF BIRTH Bordeaux
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 1665
Place of death Bordeaux