Truchlivý

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Mourning over mourning and consolation over consolation, title page of the German edition of 1629.

Truchlivý (German: The mourning or the sad ) is one of the so-called consolation writings by Johann Amos Comenius . The book is addressed to the members of the Bohemian Brethren Union , of which Comenius was Bishop , who were persecuted for their faith and who were largely in exile .

It consists of four parts, the titles are translated:

I. “ The mourner is a Christian's complaint about the misery and misery in his home country and in the church: for this purpose, understanding and faith first come forward and try in vain to console him; thereupon Christ appears, admonishes him not to be impatient, shows him the causes of the terrible blows of fate, alleviates his need and grief, promises him temporary and eternal redemption and teaches him how to prepare for both. "

II. "The second part of the mourner, these are the wounds that have been reopened in people because of the long-lasting hardship and the never-ending punishments of God."

III. "The third part of the mourners, containing the cry of the turtledove (Řvaní hrdličky) , which lingers too long in the rocky gorges and steep caves."

IV. "The fourth and last part of the mourning man , that is the voice of grief (Smutný hlas) of a shepherd who has been scared away by God's wrath to the herd that has been driven apart."

Truchlivý, part I and part II

Comenius wrote the first two parts in 1623 and 1624 at his refuge in Brandeis an der Adler . In it he expresses his pain and despair over the loss of religious and political freedom in his homeland after the catastrophic defeat of the Bohemian Protestant estates in the Battle of White Mountain (1620). For the members of his Bohemian Brethren as well as for all Bohemian Protestants it meant persecution and expulsion from their homeland. Comenius also had to flee from his previous place of residence, Fulnek . His wife and two sons fell victim to the plague there in 1622 after the city was sacked and sacked by the imperial mercenaries.

Looking back on this desperate situation, Comenius later writes: As the darkness of the catastrophe grew (in the year 1623) ... I was tossed back and forth by indescribable afflictions and temptations, and in the middle of the night (which I spent like some previous ones) became sleepless Grabbed by an unusual fever, I cried out to God, jumped out of bed, grabbed the Bible and prayed ... And I picked up my pen and began recording my previous afflictions (for myself, if the horrors should return, or for other believers) ...

The first two parts are written in a dialogue form, which Comenius himself calls the dialogue of the soul . In this dialogue the tension between the two souls becomes clear in one's own breast: between despair and the attempt to find comfort and strength. The desperate mourner (Comenius himself) complains about his need, he feels abandoned by God and doubts God's justice.

The work begins with a lament that is reminiscent of Job's laments: Alas, what should one do in this miserable and troubled world? Where should one turn? What should you take for yourself? Oh, where is help? Where is advice? Oh, would it be possible that one could fly behind the sea, or hide in a grave! Oh, if only death came and put an end to this misery, misery and misery one day!

The mourner describes the misery of the Thirty Years' War : malice on all sides, the cruel bloody sword devours my beloved homeland, castles, fortresses and fortified cities are conquered; Towns and villages plundered and pillaged; robbed the goods; the cattle exterminated; the poor people are plagued, tormented, murdered and taken prisoner ... but this is the most painful thing to suppress God's truth; forbids true worship; drives out the preachers or throws them in prison.

The complaints of the mourner are followed by responses of reason and faith . But it does not help the mourner, he does not get any answers to his agonizing questions. Then Christ enters into the dialogue of the soul. It declares that suffering is a purification and a judgment from God on the sins of his people. In the words of Christ, the mourner finally finds the peace he longs for and entrusts himself to the omnipotence of God.

Comenius explains it later as follows: At first the contrite soul spoke with its own intellect, which tried to enliven it with various consolations ... Then faith came to the rescue, added healing envelopes from the Bible, but that too had little effect. At last Christ came ... and finally gave the soul back full rest, comfort and joy.

Parts I and II were printed in Prague in 1624 . Both parts were soon translated into German under the title: Mourning over mourning and consolation over consolation ( Bratislava 1626 and 1629, Frankfurt 1628 and 1629) and in Danish ( Copenhagen 1628 and 1629). It is the first book by Comenius to be translated into a foreign language. The upcoming translations make it clear that other evangelicals in Europe have felt their situation in a similarly desperate manner. Parts I and II were reissued in 1893 by Josef Šmaha in Prague.

Smutný hlas, title page of the first edition, Amsterdam 1660.

Truchlivý, part III and part IV

In 1650, Comenius took up the subject again and wrote Part III: The cry of the turtle dove (Řvaní hrdličky) in his exile in Leszno . The occasion for him was the next catastrophe that hit the expelled members of the Bohemian Brethren. The Peace of Westphalia ended the cruel war, but did not bring the Bohemian Protestants the religious freedom they longed for. The Bohemian lands were assigned to the Catholic Habsburgs and exposed to the Counter Reformation . This also shattered the exiles' last hopes of returning home.

In Part III, the mourner turns to God in a lamenting monologue, reproaching him for not having heard the prayers of his believers and for having given them up to the enemy. The title refers to ( Hohelied 2,14  LUT ): My dove in the rock crevices, in the hiding place of the rock wall, show me your shape, let me hear your voice ... In the Song of Songs it is the lover who calls his beloved (dove). In the shouting of the turtle dove , it is the dove (symbol for man, for the soul) who had to stay in hiding too long, feels abandoned and draws the attention of the lover (symbol for God) to himself with her shouts.

Oh, Lord, we no longer know where we should turn to miserable remains and where we should stay before the storm of your anger, since your anger pursues us everywhere. ( Jeremiah 23.19 to 20  LUT ) We see it, oh, we see it already that we can flee differently before God nowhere except to God, before the angry God to the God of grace. You alone, you alone can ... but always show those you want to save a chamber in which they can hide, as you said. ( Isaiah 26.20  LUT )

For the shot, however, Comenius reconciles himself with God's will and seeks protection from the enemy storms. The text is full of biblical quotations, many of which are taken from the Psalms of Lament. The scriptures conclude a prayer: We command our spirit into your hands, you have redeemed us, you mighty and faithful God ... our hope is only you ...

The last part IV: Voice of Sorrow (Smutný hlas) was written by Comenius in 1660 in Amsterdam . It is a pastoral letter to the congregation entrusted to him, similar to his earlier book Legacy of the Dying Mother, the Brothers' Union . Comenius no longer hopes that the fate of the unity will turn, but believes chiliastically in God's final victory. He exhorts the remaining and scattered members of his community to hold fast to the faith until the end : Fight to the end! You ran, so finish the run! Keep the faith so that you may receive the crown of righteousness ... ( 2 Timothy 4: 7–8  NIV )

A German translation of Part III was published in 1915, and of Part IV in 1908.

literature

  • Johann Amos Comenius: Selected Works Vol. II, 1 . Ed .: Dmitrij Tschižewskij and Klaus Schaller . Georg Olms, Hildesheim New York 1976. Contains mourning over mourning, consolation over consolation , the Bratislava 1629 edition , on pages 143 - 208.
  • Jan Kumpera: Jan Amos Komenský, Poutník na rozhraní věků (= Johann Amos Comenius [Ed.]: Wanderer in the upheaval of times ). Amosium Servis, Ostrava 1992, ISBN 80-85498-03-0 , p. 304-306 (Czech, 372 pp.).
  • 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). Contains part IV: The voice of mourning on pages 369 - 409. Revised by Klaus Schaller based on the translation by Franz Slaměník in: Monatshefte der Comenius-Gesellschaft XVII (1908), pp. 97–124.
  • ČSAV (ed.): Dílo Jana Amose Komenského - Johannis Amos Comenii opera omnia . tape 3 . Academia, Praha 1978, p. 19–159 (Czech, online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ČSAV (ed.): Dílo Jana Amose Komenského - Johannis Amos Comenii opera omnia . tape 3 . Academia, Praha 1978, p. 19 (Czech).
  2. ↑ ČSAV (ed.): Dílo Jana Amose Komenského - Johannis Amos Comenii opera omnia . tape 3 . Academia, Praha 1978, p. 67 (Czech).
  3. ↑ ČSAV (ed.): Dílo Jana Amose Komenského - Johannis Amos Comenii opera omnia . tape 3 . Academia, Praha 1978, p. 103 (Czech).
  4. ↑ ČSAV (ed.): Dílo Jana Amose Komenského - Johannis Amos Comenii opera omnia . tape 3 . Academia, Praha 1978, p. 113 (Czech).
  5. ↑ a b In the letter to the Amsterdam publisher (1661): Letter to Peter van den Berge (Petrus Montanus) . Quoted from: Jan Amos Komenský: The labyrinth of the world and other writings. Edited and translated from Czech and Latin by Ilse Seehase . Philipp Reclam, Leipzig 1984, p. 215 .
  6. ^ A b Johann Amos Comenius: Selected Works Vol. II, 1 . Ed .: Dmitrij Tschižewskij and Klaus Schaller. Georg Olms, Hildesheim New York 1976, p. 143-144 .
  7. ^ Johann Amos Comenius: Selected Works, Vol. II, 1 . Ed .: Dmitrij Tschižewskij and Klaus Schaller. Georg Olms, Hildesheim New York 1976. Contains mourning over mourning, consolation over consolation , the Bratislava 1629 edition on pages 143 - 208.
  8. ↑ Iva Šilarová: Komenského pozdní útěšné spisy a jejich biblické zakotvení. Bakalářská diplomová práce (Des Comenius' late consolation writings and their biblical anchoring. Bachelor thesis) . Masarykova univerzita , Filozofická fakulta, Ústav české literatury a knihovnictví, 2013, p. 26, 27 (Czech, online [PDF]).
  9. ↑ The third part of the mourners. By JA Comenius. German by Franz Slaměník. In: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte IX, Herrnhut 1915, p. 122. Reprinted in: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte Volume III , Georg Olm Verlag, Hildesheim New York 1973.
  10. ↑ The third part of the mourners. By JA Comenius. German by Franz Slaměník. In: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte IX, Herrnhut 1915, p. 124. Reprinted in: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte Volume III , Georg Olm Verlag, Hildesheim New York 1973.
  11. ↑ Voice of Sorrow by JA Comenius. Translated from the Bohemian by Franz Slaměník. In: Monthly Issues of the Comenius Society XVII, Jena 1908, p. 124.
  12. ↑ The third part of the mourners. By JA Comenius. German by Franz Slaměník. In: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte IX, Herrnhut 1915, pp. 110 - 124. Reprinted in: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte Volume III , Georg Olm Verlag, Hildesheim New York 1973.
  13. ↑ Voice of Sorrow by JA Comenius. Translated from the Bohemian by Franz Slaměník. In: Monthly Issues of the Comenius Society XVII, Jena 1908, pp. 97–124.

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