Angelus Silesius, Angelus Silesius poetry, Christian, Christian poetry, Catholic poetry,  poetry,  poetry Angelus Silesius
Poland/Germany (1624 - 1677) Timeline
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Poems by Angelus Silesius
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Angelus Silesius is the monastic name of Johannes Scheffler. Johannes Scheffler was born into a noble Polish Lutheran family. He received a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Padua and became a physician.

As a young man he was drawn to the writings of the German mystic Jacob Boehme. Scheffler's growing mysticism didn't sit well with the dogmatic forms of German Lutheranism of the time and, in 1653, he converted to Catholicism. He took the name Angelus, adding the surname Silesius, meaning "from Silesia."

During this time, Selisius was briefly named physician to Emperor Ferdinand III, but he soon renounced his profession and, in 1661, he was ordained a priest and retired to monastic life in Breslau. He gave his family fortune away to charities.

He published two books of poetry: The Soul's Spiritual Delight and The Cherubinic Pilgrim. Several of his poems are today used as religious hymns in both Catholic and Protestant churches.

Angelus Silesius was often engaged in public controversy with both the Lutheran Church he had left and also with his adopted Catholic faith. His poetry hinted at a quietest mysticism which asserts that the soul, when it attains deep quiet, can experience God directly -- a notion neither institution has been too fond of.

Poems by Angelus Silesius


Recommended Books: Angelus Silesius

The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology) Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry Haiku Enlightenment: New Expanded Edition German Mystical Writings: Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Jacob Boehme, and others
Angelus Silesius: The Cherubinic Wanderer (Classics of Western Spirituality) The Book of Angelus Silesius: With Observations by the Ancient Zen Masters The Angelic Verses: From the Book of Angelus Silesius The Book of Angelus Silesius Angelus Silesius' Cherubinischer Wandersmann: A Modern Reading With Selected Translations (Renaissance and Baroque Studies and Texts)
Angelus Silesius



Related Links

Catholic Encyclopedia: Silesius Angelus
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01488a.htm

Brief biography.

Sacred Texts: Angelus Silesius
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/sil/index.htm

Extended selections from The Cherubinic Wanderer, and a couple of brief articles on the mysticism of Angelus Silesius.

Johann Scheffler (Angelus Silesius)
http://www.ccel.org/w/winkworth/singers/htm/angelus.htm

Brief biography of Angelus Silesius, including some notes on the controversies he was involved in.

Cumulative Indexes to the Hymn Translations of Catherine Winkworth (Silesius)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/winkworth/hyndwink.schefflr.html

Several of Silesius' poems translated into hymns in the 1800's.
Angelus Silesius