DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9841#0256
xxxvii.] a disinterested saint and prophet. 237
during the year 1811. His dress consisted of a single
coarse garment, under which he wore an iron chain
hung about his neck. He preached repentance and
newness of life4, exposing to the wild mountaineers, by
whom he was surrounded, the wickedness of their ways,
dwelling chiefly on the daily acts of violence, robbery
and murder, which they were committing, and declaring
to them, that the anger of Heaven was awakened, and
would soon shew itself in earthquakes, pestilence and
war, to the desolation of the whole land, unless they
repented and changed their course of life. Every one
went to hear him : his addresses were always vehement,
and lasted several hours: he was regarded as a man
sent by God, (he professed a divine mission,) and the
impression he produced was very great. His fare was
most simple, and abstemious almost to starvation: he
ate no meat, eggs, fish, cheese or milk: a few herbs,
simply boiled, and a crust of black barley-bread, formed
his single daily repast5. He professed not to receive
any money from his hearers: nevertheless, at the end
of his discourse, he used to tell the people, that although
his reward was not of this world, still he had left a poor
monastery on the Holy Mountain, where six hundred
1 The object of Venturius of Bergamo, in his preaching throughout Lom-
bartly and Tuscany in 1334, was " to bring sinners to repentance ; and so
great was the success, and so visible were the fruits of his eloquence, that
more than 10,0(10 Lombards, of whom many were of the higher ranks, set
out to pass the season of Lent at Rome." Waddingtos, History of the
Church, Vol. hi. p. 112. Note at the end of Ch. xxm. Nearer home we
had, about a hundred and sixty years ago, one John Exham, an early religious
associate of William Penn, who was distinguished by the name of the Quaker-
Prophet. " His enthusiasm was so great that he walked through the streets,
his head covered with sackcloth and ashes, preaching repentance and amend-
ment of life,_for which he suffered a long and severe imprisonment."
Crokek, Researches in the South of Ireland, Ch. x. p. 198.
5 It is said of one Athanasius, a contemporary of Nicephorus Phocas, who
used to wear an iron collar round his neck, to which a wooden cross weighing
six or eight pounds was fastened, that "he seldom ate above three or four
times a week, and once lived seven days without meat or drink; and once
nine days, excepting only that he ate and drank the Holy Sacrament twice in
that time." Ricaut, Greek Church, p. 234.
vol. ii. a
during the year 1811. His dress consisted of a single
coarse garment, under which he wore an iron chain
hung about his neck. He preached repentance and
newness of life4, exposing to the wild mountaineers, by
whom he was surrounded, the wickedness of their ways,
dwelling chiefly on the daily acts of violence, robbery
and murder, which they were committing, and declaring
to them, that the anger of Heaven was awakened, and
would soon shew itself in earthquakes, pestilence and
war, to the desolation of the whole land, unless they
repented and changed their course of life. Every one
went to hear him : his addresses were always vehement,
and lasted several hours: he was regarded as a man
sent by God, (he professed a divine mission,) and the
impression he produced was very great. His fare was
most simple, and abstemious almost to starvation: he
ate no meat, eggs, fish, cheese or milk: a few herbs,
simply boiled, and a crust of black barley-bread, formed
his single daily repast5. He professed not to receive
any money from his hearers: nevertheless, at the end
of his discourse, he used to tell the people, that although
his reward was not of this world, still he had left a poor
monastery on the Holy Mountain, where six hundred
1 The object of Venturius of Bergamo, in his preaching throughout Lom-
bartly and Tuscany in 1334, was " to bring sinners to repentance ; and so
great was the success, and so visible were the fruits of his eloquence, that
more than 10,0(10 Lombards, of whom many were of the higher ranks, set
out to pass the season of Lent at Rome." Waddingtos, History of the
Church, Vol. hi. p. 112. Note at the end of Ch. xxm. Nearer home we
had, about a hundred and sixty years ago, one John Exham, an early religious
associate of William Penn, who was distinguished by the name of the Quaker-
Prophet. " His enthusiasm was so great that he walked through the streets,
his head covered with sackcloth and ashes, preaching repentance and amend-
ment of life,_for which he suffered a long and severe imprisonment."
Crokek, Researches in the South of Ireland, Ch. x. p. 198.
5 It is said of one Athanasius, a contemporary of Nicephorus Phocas, who
used to wear an iron collar round his neck, to which a wooden cross weighing
six or eight pounds was fastened, that "he seldom ate above three or four
times a week, and once lived seven days without meat or drink; and once
nine days, excepting only that he ate and drank the Holy Sacrament twice in
that time." Ricaut, Greek Church, p. 234.
vol. ii. a