From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
June 18th - Elizabeth of Sch=C3=B6nau, Mystic
Born 1130; died June 18, 1164. Mysticism was a phenomenon that found
expression in the mid-11th century. It is an endeavor to reach a
knowledge of and union with God directly and "experimentally." The
mystic renounces his senses and the images they offer of God. This is
the "Negative road" that begins by recognizing the complete
"Otherness" of God. The pseudo- Dionysius wrote =E2=80=9COn the Divine Name= s=E2=80=9D,
which influenced this movement in the Middle Ages. It is characterized
by abnormal psychic states which culminate in ecstasy. Such states are sanctified when perfectly united with God and the whole personality is
fully free. As a rule, mystics exhibit extraordinary self-knowledge,
which leads to an ever more passionate love of God and His Son.
Mystical life in no way need conflict with a married, intellectual, or
active life, although many mystics, like Elizabeth were professed
religious.
Elizabeth of Sch=C3=B6nau entered the great Black Benedictine double
monastery at Sch=C3=B6nau (16 miles northeast of Bonn, Germany) at age 11
or 12. She was professed in 1147, and shortly thereafter, she began to experience clairvoyance. This was the origin of her experiences, but
she distinguishes them from her later ones.
In 1157, Elizabeth became abbess of Sch=C3=B6nau and a friend of Saint Hildegard. In a letter to Hildegard, Elizabeth describes how an angel
had told her to proclaim a series of judgements that would fall on the
world unless they did penance, and how, because she delayed obeying
him, he had beaten her so severely with a whip that she had been ill
for three days! At a later time, when some prophecies had failed in
their fulfillment, the angel informed her that penance had actually
averted the impending doom. She was assailed with terrible
temptations, but prayed against them.
She would often fall into ecstasies while saying the Divine Office or
at Mass on Sundays and on feast days. At the prompting of the abbey's
founder, Abbot Hildelin, she recorded some of her visions on wax
tablets, which were sent to her brother, canon Egbert, in Bonn. Later
he took the habit at Sch=C3=B6nau and succeeded Hildelin as abbot in the
same Benedictine monastery. He wrote her vita and three books of her
visions using the tablets she wrote, supplemented by her oral
explanations. The first book seems to be the simple language that
Elizabeth might have used herself, but the others are more sophisticated=E2=80=94probably written by Egbert. The last and most famous
book dealt with her vision of Saint Ursula. This was the result of
pressure placed on her brother by Bishop Gerlac of Deutz, who had
assisted in the translation of the supposed relics of Saint Ursula and
her 11,000 virgins after searching nine years for them. Under strong
pressure from her brother, Elizabeth evolved an elaboration of the
already fantastic story of Ursula. She even introduced into it a Pope
Cyriacus, who never existed.
Elizabeth "saw" the whole of Our Lord's life and that of various
saints, but had to describe it in terms of which she had "real"
knowledge. We need to discriminate between gift as given and the way
in which it is described by the recipient=E2=80=94some may be part of the imagination without basis in historical fact. For example, inculpably, Elizabeth contributed to the further elaboration of the mythical
legend of Saint Ursula. She knew when she had been in ecstasy, which
was different than being "near" ecstasy. She described her visions in
moral and allegorical rather than mystical terms. Like most medieval
mystics, she was practical, and believed in her smallness before God.
This is the "heart of the mystical life=E2=80=94the self, as such, is nothi= ng;
it needs to be wholly filled and activated by God" (Attwater,
Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Martindale, Walsh).
Saint Quote:
A truly obedient man does not discriminate between one thing and
another, or desire one employment more than another, since his only
aim is to execute faithfully whatever may be assigned to him.
--St. Bernard
Bible Quote:
What man of you that hath an hundred sheep: and if he shall lose one
of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after
that which was lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, lay
it upon his shoulders, rejoicing: (Luke 15:4-5) DRB
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Remember, O Beloved Jesus,
Who for the love of me didst agonize on the Cross,
and from that throne of truth didst announce the
completion of the work of our Redemption, through which,
from being the children of wrath and perdition,
we are become the children of God and the heirs of Heaven:
Have mercy on all the faithful in their agony,
and on me also when I shall be in that extremity,
and, through the merits of Thy Precious Blood,
detach us entirely from the world and from ourselves,
and at the moment of our agony give us grace
sincerely to offer Thee the sacrifice of our life
in expiation for our sins.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)