Otto of Passau: Difference between revisions

{{Orphanno footnotes|date=FebruaryApril 20092014}}

All that is known of him is in the preface of his work, in which he calls himself a member of the [[Franciscan]] Order, at one time [[lector]] of theology at [[BasleBasel]], and says that he finished his writing on 2 (1) February 1386, dedicating it to all the "friends of God", both clerical and lay, male and female, and begs for their prayers.

His book bears the [[German language|German]] title (not [[Dutch language|Dutch]], as one might expect from a Fleming) [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rosenwald.0076.1 ''Die vierundzwanzig alten oder der guldin Tron der minnenden seelen''; ''The 24 elders or the golden throne of loving souls.''] He introduces the twenty-four ancients ofreferred to in [[Book of Revelation|ApocalypseRevelation]], iv.4:4, and makes them utter sentences of wisdom by which men can obtain the golden throne in eternal life.

The sentences are taken from the [[Holy Scripture]], the [[Fathers of the Church]], [[Scholastics]] and from heathennon-[[Christian]] authors "whom the [[Catholic Church|Church]] does not condemn". He thus enumerates 104 "masters", among whom are also some of the [[mysticism|mystic]]s, as [[Hugo of St. Victor|Hugo]] and [[Richard of St. Victor]]. He generally gives accurate quotation of his sources though he also draws from some not specified, e.g., St. [[Elizabeth of Schönau]]. He tries to remain on strictly [[Catholic]] ground, but sometimes loses himself in dogmatical intricacies and quibbles. To be plain and intelligible he frequently uses trivial expressions.

He writes on the nature of God and of man, on their mutual relation, on the requisites for perfection: [[contrition]], [[Confession (religion)|confession]] and [[penance]]; on internal and external life, purity of motives, shunning [[idleness]], love of God and of the neighbour, the necessity of faith and the [[Grace (Christianity)|grace of God]]. He speaks of the ScripturesBible as the storehouse of Divinedivine wisdom and urges the faithful to read them. In speaking of contemplative life he insists that none can reach it without spending time in the active service of God and man. The term "friends of God" he explains according to [[Gospel of John|John]] xv.15:15, and speaks of prayer, humility, obedience, spiritual life, virtues and vices, and shows Christ as the model of all virtues. The longest chapters, eleven and twelve, he devotes to the [[Holy Eucharist]] and to the [[Blessed Virgin]]. The last chapters treat of death and the future life.

TheAbout number offorty manuscript copies of the book (about forty) bears evidence of the estimation in which it was heldsurvive. It found its way to all "friends ofwas God"popular in the south of Germany, along the [[Lower Rhine]] and in the [[Netherlands]]. It first appeared in print in 1470, probably by [[Albrecht Pfister]] in [[Bamberg]]. A modernized edition, ''{{lang|la|Die Krone der Aeltesten,''}} was made in 1835 at Landshut as a tenth volume of ''{{lang|la|Leitstern auf der Bahn des Heils.''}}

[[Category:German Franciscans]]