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He was trained as a physician, but his real passion was medieval mysticism. This would bring him into conflict, but it would also see him contribute to the spiritual lives of numerous believers.
Four-hundred years ago, in December 1624, Johann Scheffler was born in Breslau, Silesia (now known as Wrocław, Poland). The first of three children, he entered a Lutheran household of German and Polish background.
Scheffler would study medicine and philosophy at the University of Strasbourg (France), the University of Leiden (Netherlands), and the University of Padua (Italy).
While studying in the Netherlands, his interest in medieval mysticism began to flourish. At that time, in the mid-1640s, the Netherlands was a refuge of sorts for mystics and others whose viewpoints had led them into religiously controversial terrain.
In Scheffler's case, though, he was not so much inspired by contemporaries but rather by 14th-century German mystics as well as the Church Fathers.
After completing his university studies and obtaining a medical degree from the University of Padua, Scheffler became a court physician in his native Silesia to a Protestant duke.
It seemed that Scheffler had a promising career path in place, but his unconcealed passion for mysticism began to elicit the disapproval of those around him, not the least of which was his patient, the duke. He also fell out of favor with local Lutheran clergy, and some were even labeling him as a heretic.
From court to the Franciscans
In June 1652, Scheffler left (or was very possibly expelled from) his position as doctor in the ducal court. So he converted to Catholicism, adopted the name “Angelus Silesius,” and joined the Franciscan Order.
The year 1657 saw the publication of his imposingly titled Sapiential Rhyming Sentences and Epigrams Conducive to Divine Contemplation.
The second edition featured added material and appeared under the more palatable title of The Cherubinic Wanderer (or in its original German form: Der Cherubinische Wandersmann).
This work contained some 1,600 rhymed couplets of religious contemplation, and it garnered an impressively large readership. Even centuries later there were secular philosophers — such as Hegel and Schopenhauer — expressing admiration for the “depth of his spiritual insight.”
Unlike some mystics who were inclined to write long essays, Silesius tended to favor very brief forms of expression, often amounting to just a few lines of rhyme.
Aside from his mystical writings, Silesius became quite the controversialist. Increasingly ardent in his opposition to Protestantism, he unleashed 55 tracts directed against various Protestant denominations. This writing was regarded as provocative even by the acrimonious standards of that religiously turbulent period. He also sought to persuade Protestants in the Silesian region to return to the Catholic faith.
After being ordained a priest in 1661, Silesius relocated to the monastery of the Knights of the Cross in Breslau. There he would reside for the rest of his life. He died of consumption at age 52 on July 9, 1677.
His magnum hymnal opus, The Soul's Holy Desires, included more than 200 pieces. Many have received translation to English, and modern renditions of these hymns are available on YouTube.
A visit to hymnary.org shows that his hymns have had significant exposure with both Catholics and Protestants of many denominations. And perhaps the ultimate tribute to the appeal of his work was that even churches from the Lutheran faith he abandoned used his hymns to enhance their worship.
