Kšaft umírající matky, Jednoty bratrské

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Title page of the Berlin edition of 1757

Kšaft umírající matky, Jednoty bratrské (German: Legacy of the dying mother, the brother unity ) is after Labyrint světa a ráj srdce the best known and most frequently published work (33 editions after 1848) that Johann Amos Comenius wrote in the Czech language .

The full title reads: "Legacy of the dying mother, the unity of brothers, through which she (in her people and her peculiarity approaching her end) distributes the treasures once entrusted to her by the Lord God among her sons and daughters and heirs."

Origin and publications

Comenius, the last bishop of the Bohemian Brethren , published this manifesto in early 1650 in exile in Leszno, Poland . He wrote it out of resignation and deep disappointment about the Peace of Westphalia . The peace treaties did not bring religious freedom to the countries of the Bohemian Crown ; they were granted to the Catholic Habsburgs and exposed to the Counter-Reformation . For the members of the Brothers' Union living in exile, the last hope of a return home disappeared. They also had to fear for their future abroad. In this depressing situation, Comenius saw no possibility for the brotherhood to continue. The manifesto should be a spiritual message and a moral legacy of the declining Brethren Union, addressed not only to its members, but to the whole Bohemian and Moravian people. Only after the publication of Kšaft did the Synod of Brothers in the spring of 1650 decide to keep the Brethren unity.

The second edition of Kšaft was printed by exiled Czechs in Berlin in 1757 (together with his consolation writings Labyrint světa a ráj srdce and Truchlivý ). The books were secretly distributed among the evangelicals who lived in secret in Bohemia and Moravia, because Comenius' writings were forbidden as heretical in his homeland during the Counter-Reformation . They could only be printed after the tolerance patent of 1781. Kšaft was first published in Bohemia in Prague in 1848 . The first edition from 1650 was considered lost for a long time, only a few copies were known and the second edition from 1757. It was not until 1967 that the Czech historian and theologian Miloslav Kaňák discovered the first print in a collection of writings from the 17th century. Today it is kept in the National Library in Prague . Kšaft was published in German in Leipzig in 1866, in Dutch in Nijkerk in 1928 and in English in Chicago in 1940 .

content

Kšaft has the form of a fictional allegorical testament. The Brotherhood , personified as a dying mother, passes on her legacy to her sons (members of the Brotherhood), to her sisters (Lutheran and Reformed Churches) and to the Bohemian and Moravian people. The writing is based on the example of the blessings of the dying patriarch Jacob ( Genesis chapter 49) and the servant Moses ( Deuteronomy chapter 33), but also based on the apocryphal testaments of the twelve patriarchs, which were very popular at the time . In the decline of the brotherhood, Comenius sees a punishment for lack of faithfulness and lack of zeal for the cause of God. God takes his work out of their hands and passes it on to others.

“ Some kingdoms and the peoples in them, languages, rights, religions are passing away and changing: no doubt because a new generation is beginning. Unities of the church also perish: apparently because God wants to renew the shape of his earth. Among these metamorphoses I also see my metamorphosis and my perishing that because of my sins I was taken into the discipline of God and driven out of my people and my tongue among foreigners […]. "

- from Kšaft umírající matky, Jednoty bratrské, chap. 1 and 2

The legacy of the Brothers' Union is its “spiritual riches” - the Word of God , ecclesiastical order and forgiveness. She admonishes her own sons to repentance, unity, and a godly life. She thanks the Polish university, her “dear daughter”, for accepting the brothers who were persecuted in Bohemia: “You have acted well, in that you took them into your lap and looked after them, those who were expelled from their homeland” (Chapter 12) . Her “dear sisters”, the German Lutheran Church and the Helvetic Church , urge them to keep order, to unity and to overcome dogmatic disputes. She also addresses the Roman Catholic Church : she was once the mother of all Christians and has now become a stepmother. But she wishes all Christians an ecumenical reconciliation in faith, love and truth. She recommends to the preachers of the Brothers' Union: "Serve Christ wherever you can, in whatever Evangelical Church that would require your service." (Chapter 13)

In particular, she addresses her Bohemian and Moravian people, to whom she leaves a sixfold legacy: the love of God's truth, the Kralitz Bible , the ecclesiastical order, zeal for the unity of the church, cultivation of the mother tongue and, finally, a good and thorough education of the Youth. This section also contains the most famous words of Kšaft , they are probably the most famous words of Comenius. They are an impressive declaration of love for his people and the expression of a prophetic belief in their future:

“ For I too believe God that after the storms of anger (brought upon our heads by our sins) have passed, the rule of your affairs will return to you, O Bohemian people! "

- from Kšaft umírající matky, Jednoty bratrské, chap. 19th

This sentence became a commitment of the anti-Habsburg national-Czech movement, which was linked to the Hussite tradition. It was with these words that the first President of Czechoslovakia , TG Masaryk , began his first speech to the National Assembly at Prague Castle on December 22, 1918. And with an allusion to the same words, Václav Havel , the first president of Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism, concluded his first New Year's address on January 1, 1990.

reception

The song Modlitba pro Martu (German: Prayer for Martha ) by the Czech singer Marta Kubišová also paraphrases this commitment by Comenius. The song became a symbol of national resistance after the Soviet troops invaded the ČSSR on August 21, 1968. During the so-called normalization , the song was banned. Marta Kubišová then sang it again during the demonstrations against the communist regime in November 1989.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Masaryk began his “Message to the National Assembly” on December 22nd, 1918 in Prague Castle with the following words:
    “ Věřím i já Bohu, že po přejití vichřic hněvu, hříchy našimi na hlavy naše uvedeného, ​​vláda věcí Tvých navrě zítase , ó lide český. […] Proroctví-modlitba Komenského vyplnila se doslova; náš národ per svobodný a nezávislý a vstupuje vazen a podepřen všeobecnou sympathií do společnosti EVROPSKÝCH narodu ".
    German:" For I believe God, for the passing of, brought accommodated by our sins upon our heads Zornesstürme, the rule of your affairs that back to you come back, O Bohemian people! [….] This prophetic prayer by Comenius has literally been fulfilled: our people are free and independent and enter the community of European peoples, respected and supported by general sympathy. ”
    TG Masaryk: Cesta Demokratie, Soubor projevů za republiky (= way of Democracy, collection of speeches on the republic). Vol. 1 (1918-1920) . Čin, Praha 1932, p. 10 (Czech, Národní knihovna ČR [accessed February 8, 2017]).
  2. ↑ Václav Havel concluded his New Year's
    address on January 1, 1990 at Prague Castle with the following words: “Můj nejvýznačnější předchůdce zahájil svůj první projev citátem z Komenského. Dovolte mi, abych já svůj první projev ukončil vlastní parafrází téhož výroku: Tvá vláda, lide, se k tobě navrátila! “German:“ My most important predecessor began his first address with a quote from Comenius. Allow me to end my first address with a paraphrase of the same saying: Your rule, people, has returned to you! “ Knihovna Václava Havla, Praha . (Czech) Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ The song by Marta Kubišová contains the words: "Teď, když tvá ztracená vláda věcí tvých zpět se k tobě navrátí, lide navrátí." German: "Well, when the lost dominion of your affairs returns to you, my people, return" .

literature

  • Johann Amos Comenius: Legacy of the dying mother, the brother union . Bookstore of the educational association, series: witnesses and testimonials, Neukirchen 1958 (112 pages). Translation by Miloš Bič.
  • Johann Amos Comenius: The labyrinth of the world and other masterpieces . Ed .: Klaus Schaller. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-421-05256-5 (461 pages). Kšaft on pages 341–367 in the translation by Dora Peřina (1907).
  • Jan Kumpera: Jan Amos Komenský, Poutník na rozhraní věků (= Johann Amos Comenius, wanderer in the upheaval of times) . Amosium Servis, Ostrava 1992, ISBN 80-85498-03-0 , p. 253-254 (Czech, 372 pp.).
  • Johann Amos Comenius: Kšaft umírající matky, Jednoty bratrské . Karel Kryl, Kroměříž 1946 (Czech, 48 pages).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jan Kumpera: Jan Amos Komenský, Poutník na rozhraní věků . Amosium Servis, Ostrava 1992, ISBN 80-85498-03-0 , p. 253-254 (Czech, 372 pp.).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Translation by Miloš Bič in: Johann Amos Comenius: Legacy of the dying mother, the brother union . Bookstore of the educational association, series: witnesses and testimonials, Neukirchen 1958 (112 pages).
  3. ↑ January Kumpera: Jan Amos Comenius, Poutník na rozhraní věků . Amosium Servis, Ostrava 1992, ISBN 80-85498-03-0 , p. 158, 161 (Czech, 372 pp.).
  4. ↑ focus-online.de: People: Singer and fighter Marta Kubisova turns 70. November 1, 2012.
    Accessed on February 8, 2017.     Modlitba per Martu 1968 and on Wenceslas Square in Prague 1989 .

See also

Web links