Rudolph Graser

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Rudolph Graser , baptized Johann Nepomuk Graser (* July 4, 1728 in Linz , † January 20, 1787 in Ried im Innkreis ) was an Austrian theologian and homilet belonging to the Benedictine order .

Life

Rudolph Graser received humanistic instruction in the monasteries Garsten and Kremsmünster . In 1744 he entered the Benedictine order in Kremsmünster and made his profession there on November 13, 1745 . He then studied philosophy and theology in Kremsmünster and at the University of Salzburg . He was ordained a priest on October 1, 1752.

Due to his in-depth study of the German language , Graser entered into an exchange of letters with Johann Christoph Gottsched and his wife, which was maintained for a year . The Austrian Benedictine Placidus Amon arranged for Graser to contact Gottsched in 1752. Four letters from Graser to Gottsched and two to his wife have survived from this correspondence, but the correspondence may have been more extensive. As a result, Graser worked for a language reform in the field of spiritual eloquence. From 1757 to 1760 he worked as a professor of poetics in his monastery and then went on a study trip to Paris in August 1760 in order to study foreign languages ​​for a year. In the French capital, he also attended lectures by famous pulpit speakers. After his return he became a cooperator in Viechtwang in 1762 , then in Buchkirchen , in 1767 pastor in Eberstalzell , in 1768 in Fischlham and in 1775 in Ried.

In his time Graser was valued as a preacher and homiletic theorist. The presentation in his sermons is simple and without verbosity, but haunting, the style is more didactic than oratory and the content is limited to the important and serious spiritual topics. In addition to homiletic writings and collections of sermons, he also wrote the occasional poem Poetic Petition to Her Majesty the Empress Queen (Augsburg 1769). In 1779 the electoral Bavarian society for the care of spiritual eloquence in Munich appointed him a member. He died on January 20, 1787 at the age of 58 in Ried.

Fonts (selection)

  • Complete teaching of preaching, or true eloquence of the Christian pulpit according to the instructions of the famous speakers of France and Germany, written in thorough rules , Salzburg 1766; 2nd edition Augsburg 1768
  • Practical eloquence of the Christian pulpit, in rules, examples and complete patterns , Augsburg 1769; 2nd edition with a preface by Graser's friar Maurus Lindemayr, Augsburg 1774
  • Sermons on all Sundays and feast days of the year , 2 volumes, Augsburg 1772 and 1775; 2nd edition 1774 and 1776; Vol. 1, 3rd edition 1776
  • Various sermons on Sundays and feast days together with a proposal to facilitate the preaching office and a draft of a complete Christian doctrine for the rural people , Augsburg 1776; 2nd edition 1777
  • Father Zacharias Laselve all sermons on all Sundays and feast days, as well as for Advent and fasting. Translated from Latin, modified and arranged according to today's taste , 2 volumes, Augsburg 1778; 2nd edition 2 volumes, Augsburg 1783

literature

personal data
SURNAME Graser, Rudolph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graser, Johann Nepomuk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Benedictine and homilet
DATE OF BIRTH July 4, 1728
PLACE OF BIRTH Linz
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1787
Place of death Ried im Innkreis