The Life of the Servant
Published on 29. May 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
150 pages
978-0-7188-9343-9 (ISBN)
Description
'If this is not heaven, I do not know what heaven is, for all the suffering that can ever be put into words, could not enable anyone to earn such a reward and for ever possess it.'
A central figure in Christian mystical literature, the Dominican Prior Henry Suso was the author of the seminal work The Life of the Servant. Transcribed by an enlightened amanuensis without his explicit consent, Suso began burning the manuscript until a heavenly missive from God decreed that the text should be spared further desecration. The remaining fragments of that conflagration are vividly resurrected in this volume, elegantly translated by James M. Clark.
Suso's subjective account of the spiritual and invisible world, told in prose of unsurpassed poetic beauty, is reflective of the ardent spirituality of his devotion. Informed by severe
mortifications, visions, ecstasies and revelations, this canonical text endures as a sublime cultural artefact.
Resonating profoundly with contemporary concerns about austerity and materialism, this classic text of mysticism is once again accessible to a new generation of readers and to those existing admirers seeking to re-evaluate its many virtues.
A central figure in Christian mystical literature, the Dominican Prior Henry Suso was the author of the seminal work The Life of the Servant. Transcribed by an enlightened amanuensis without his explicit consent, Suso began burning the manuscript until a heavenly missive from God decreed that the text should be spared further desecration. The remaining fragments of that conflagration are vividly resurrected in this volume, elegantly translated by James M. Clark.
Suso's subjective account of the spiritual and invisible world, told in prose of unsurpassed poetic beauty, is reflective of the ardent spirituality of his devotion. Informed by severe
mortifications, visions, ecstasies and revelations, this canonical text endures as a sublime cultural artefact.
Resonating profoundly with contemporary concerns about austerity and materialism, this classic text of mysticism is once again accessible to a new generation of readers and to those existing admirers seeking to re-evaluate its many virtues.
Reviews / Votes
"The Life of the Servant presents characteristics usually associated to religious literature, like The Confessions of St. Augustine and The Imitation of Christ. It collects several personal experiences, told shortly but brightly. They are characterized from the typical literary expressiveness that introduces the medieval amorous poetry into a religious and sacred field. "Dialogo Filosofico vol III, issue 14, September/December
"The Life of the Servant is perhaps the most literary, and accesible, of all spiritual biographies, but although Suso wrote the bulk of the text - some of it is drawn from his disciple, the nun Elsbeth Stagel - it is written in the third person (always 'the Servant') and should not be treated as a simple autobiography. ... We can read it with both profit and pleasure."
-The Christian Parapsychologist, New Series Vol. 1 No. 14, March 2016
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Publishing group
James Clarke & Co Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Weight
202 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7188-9343-9 (9780718893439)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Previous edition
Henry Suso
The Life of the Servant
Book
07/1982
James Clarke & Co Ltd
€30.83
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Henry Suso (1300-66) was a German Dominican friar and a noted spiritual writer and mystic. His other spiritual writings include the Horologium Sapientiae (The Clock of Wisdom) and Exemplar Seuses (The Exemplar).
James M. Clark, late Professor of German at Glasgow University, is the author of The Great German Mystics: Eckhart, Tauler and Suso.
James M. Clark, late Professor of German at Glasgow University, is the author of The Great German Mystics: Eckhart, Tauler and Suso.
Content
Translator's Preface Prologue Part One Of the Divine Impression I. Of the First Trials of a Beginner II. Of the Supernatural Ecstasy which befell Him III. How He married Eternal Wisdom in a Spiritual Manner IV. How He wrote the Beloved Name of Jesus on His Heart V. Of the Prelude of Divine Consolation by which God encourages many Beginners VI. Of Various Visions VII. The Rules He observed at Table VIII. How He celebrated New Year IX. Of the Words 'Lift up Your Hearts' X. How He celebrated Candlemas XI. How He observed Lent XII. How He celebrated May Day XIII. Of the Sorrowful Way of the Cross, which He walked with Christ when He was led to His Death XIV. Of the Useful Virtue that is known as Silence XV. Of the Mortification of the Flesh XVI. Of the Sharp Cross that He carried on His Back XVII. Of His Bed XVIII. How He broke off the Habit of Drinking XIX. How He was led to the Spiritual School and instructed in the Knowledge of the true Self-Surrender XX. Of the Painful Descent XXI. Of Inner Sufferings XXII. How He set out to bring Wholesome Help to His Neighbours XXIII. Of Manifold Sufferings XXIV. Of the Great Sorrow that came to Him through His Own Sister XXV. Of the Deep Sorrow that once came upon Him through One of His Companions XXVI. Of the Murderer XXVII. In Perils of Waters XXVIII. Of a Short Respite that God once vouchsafed to Him XXIX. Of a Loving Account that He once Settled with God XXX. How He once came Near to Death in His Sufferings XXXI. How a Man should offer up His Sufferings in a Praiseworthy Manner to God XXXII. How God in This World compensates a Suffering Man for His Suffering Part Two XXXIII. Of the Servant's Spiritual Daughter XXXIV. Of the First Steps of a Beginner XXXV. Of the First Examples and Teachings for a Beginner, and the Need for Moderation in Austerities XXXVI. Of the Childlike Devotion of a Beginner in Religion XXXVII. How He drew Dissolute Persons to God, and comforted the Suffering XXXVIII. Of a Sore Affliction that befell Him about this Time XXXIX. Of Inner Suffering XL. What Sufferings are the Most Useful to Man and the Most Praiseworthy to God XLI. How He drew some Loving Hearts from Earthly Love to Divine Love XLII. Of Certain Suffering Persons who were attached to the Servant with Particular Affection XLIII. How Christ appeared to Him in the Shape of a Seraph, and taught Him how to Suffer XLIV. How Firmly he must contend Who would win the Spiritual Prize XLV. Of the Beloved Name of Jesus Epilogue