Abraham a Sancta Clara
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n divine, was born at Kreenheinstetten
Kreenheinstetten
Kreenheinstetten is a village located in the district of Sigmaringen in Germany.- Historical monument :...
, near Messkirch. His lay name was Johann Ulrich Megerle (Not to be confused with his uncle Abraham Megerle, composer (1607–1680)).
He has been described as "a very eccentric but popular Augustinian monk".
In 1662 he joined the Catholic order of Discalced Augustinians
Discalced Augustinians
The reform movement of Roman Catholic religious orders, which occurred as part of the Counterreformation developing in Catholic Europe, also found sympathy among the friars of the Augustinian Order...
, and assumed the religious name by which he is known. In this order he rose step by step until he became prior provincialis and definitor
Definitor
A definitor is, in Latin, he who defines. In the Catholic Church, however, this is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight over a part of a diocese...
of his province.
Having early gained a great reputation for pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
eloquence, he was appointed imperial court preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1669.
The people flocked to hear him, attracted by the force and homeliness of his language, the grotesqueness of his humour, and the impartial severity with which he lashed the follies of all classes of society and of the court in particular. In general he spoke as a man of the people, the predominating quality of his style being an overflowing and often coarse wit. There are, however, many passages in his sermons in which he rises to loftier thought and uses more dignified language. He died at Vienna on the 1st of December 1709.
In his published writings he displayed many of the same qualities as in the pulpit. Perhaps the most favorable specimen of his style is his didactic novel entitled Judas der Erzschelm (4 vols., Salzburg, 1686–1695).
His works have been several times reproduced in whole or in part, though with many spurious interpolations. The best edition is that published in 21 vols. at Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
and Lindau
Lindau
Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
(1835–1854). See Th. G von Karajan, Abraham a Sancta Clara (Vienna, 1867); Blanckenburg, Studien über die Sprache Abrahams a S. C. (Halle, 1897); Sexto, Abraham a S. C. (Sigmaringen, 1896); Schnell, Pater A. a S. C. (Munich, 1895); H Mareta, Über Judas d. Erzschelm (Vienna, 1875).
Works
- Der alte Hafen scheppert - 1672 - eLibrary Projekt ( - eLib - etxt in German)
- Österreichisches Deo Gratias - 1688 - eLibrary Projekt ( - eLib - etxt in German)
- Wunderlicher Traum von einem großen Narren-Nest - 1703 - eLibrary Projekt ( - eLib - etxt in German)
External links
Attribution