Although the place of the notion of homeland in John Paul II’s teaching has been studied in numerous publications, most of them adopted a theological perspective. However, it seems worthy to refer it also to reflections of lay researchers. The present analysis concentrates on Pope’s homilies and speeches given during three pilgrimages to Poland between 1979 and 1987. Thirty texts in which the word homeland appears have been taken into account. It turns out that John Paul II often alluded to visions of homeland fixed in the Polish culture. However, he did not share with his contemporaries the image of homeland with ethnicity, history and tradition in its centre. Homeland, in his vision, should not separate inhabitants of a country, but rather unite them. It should not induce to contemplate national triumphs and failures, but incite to look towards the future.
Listening to sermons is getting more and more difficult for a contemporary man. This may be due to the growing discrepancy between language used and understood by listeners and the language of preachers. The language of sermons and homilies is the literary one in its normative-anddidactic form. The official teaching of the Church shows that a considerable importance is attributed to the verbal sphere of preaching. The language of preaching should be correct, esthetic and contemporary. Also, it should be adequate, which is congruent with the reality it describes. In the preaching of the Word of God the content is the most important. The form of the utterance should serve the content.
Autor tego artykułu zwraca uwagę na problemy dotyczące współczesnych kazań pojawiające się w związku z metodami stosowanymi przez pastorów w celu ich przygotowania, a także będące wynikiem współpracy pomiędzy domem pogrzebowym a pastorem. Niewłaściwe metody wpływają niekorzystnie na proces powstawania kazania pogrzebowego, natomiast współpraca domu pogrzebowego z pastorem może negatywnie wpłynąć na postrzeganie pastora i jego znaczenie dla żałobników. Autor spodziewa się, że studia interdyscyplinarne, a zwłaszcza wnioski płynące z badań psychologicznych nad żałobą mogą pomóc w procesie konstruowania takich kazań pogrzebowych, które w odpowiedni sposób odniosą się do sytuacji. Pastorzy winni brać pod uwagę wiedzę psychologiczną, lecz ich narzędzia powinny pochodzić z umiejętnego zastosowania teologii i wiary w Boga.
This article deals with the manuscript of a little known Baroque sermon called "Rurale Ivaniticum" from the Library of the Prague Crusaders. Its author is the forgotten Carmelite P. Ivanus a S. Ioanne Baptista. The main subject is the usefulness of the manuscript for the study of 18th century popular culture in Bohemia. The sermon by P. Ivanus a S. Ioanne Baptista was aimed almost exclusively at the lower class rural population. Hence the "Rurale ivaniticum" manuscript provides quite frequent examples of didactically intended folk sayings, as well as attacks on folk demonology and oneiromancy. It is from these parts of the manuscript that a merger of scholarly and folk culture clearly emerges.
W artykule została przedstawiona analiza struktury i semantyki nominacji określających Chrystusa, utrwalonych w postylli katolickiej Konstantego Szyrwida. Celem opracowania jest ukazanie sposobu ich tworzenia oraz funkcji, jaką pełnią w tekście utworu kaznodziejskiego. W niniejszym studium nazwa jest rozpatrywana jako wytwór indywidualny autora, a omówione tu badania sytuują się na pograniczu teologii i językoznawstwa. W opracowaniu wykorzystana została też metodologia onomastyki kulturowej. Z analizy strukturalnej nazw wynika, że w tekście występują nominacje jedno- i wieloskładnikowe oraz nazwy rozbudowane o deskrypcje predykatywne i tekstowe. Większość z nich ma proweniencję biblijną, ale zdarza się również parafrazowanie deskrypcji biblijnych, ich redukcja lub przekształcenie, a także tworzenie nowych nazw na podstawie tekstu postyllicznego. Analiza semantyczna nazw pozwala dotrzeć do treści kazań, stanowi odbicie zawartych w nich myśli i sposobów argumentacji oraz ujawnia postawę autora postylli. Z badania wynika, że za podstawowe źródło antroponimii biblijnej w języku polskim w XVI–XVII wieku należy uznać nie tylko Pismo Święte, ale też utwory parabiblijne.
EN
The article presents an analysis of the structure and semantics of the nominations referring to Christ recorded in the Catholic postil by Konstantinas Sirvydas (Konstanty Szyrwid). The study aims to show how they are created and what function they play in the text of the sermonic work. By examining the name as an individual product of the author, we position our research at the crossroads of theology and linguistics, and use the methodology of cultural onomastics. The structural analysis of the names shows that there are single and multi-component nominations in the text, as well as names extended with predicative and textual descriptions. Most of them are of biblical origin, but there is also paraphrasing present of biblical descriptions, their reduction or transformation, which results in the creation of new names based on postillic text. The semantic analysis of the names allows us to reach the content of the sermons, reflects on the thoughts and arguments they contain, and reveals the attitude of the author. The results of the study indicate that the basic source of biblical anthroponymy in the Polish language in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was not only the Holy Bible, but also parabiblical works.
The term didaktikos, first used by the ancient Greeks, referred to someone who was able to teach. However, not only in the sense of providing information and knowledge, but effectively conveying them so that they serve practical purposes. The aim of the contribution is to find out whether the gnomes of Gregory of Nazianzus formally meet the basic standards of didactic literature and thus to point out whether it is appropriate to use them as an inspirational source for writing sermons. By means of analytical and comparative method, we assess the presence of the basic features of homilies as well as whether they can be identified in the gnomes of Gregory of Nazianzus. The analysis confirms that homiletic texts are compatible with the gnomes by Gregory of Nazianzus and can be thus used as an inspirational source for writing sermons. Nazianzus’ gnomes – the subject of our research – are also interesting for the readers today and have a lot to offer. Even if it is unlikely that the poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus attracts broad readership, the sermon can be the tool that conveys the author’s moral legacy.
The subject of this paper is teaching about the Sacrament of Penance by priest Piotr Skarga and Konstanty Szyrwid, whereas its aim is to show similarities and differences in considerations of the two monks, as well as to determine what they resulted from. The research material comprises sermons titled “O Czwartym Sakramencie o Pokucie” (“About the Fourth Sacrament of Penance”) from the collection Kazania o siedmiu Sakramentach (Sermons about the Seven Sacraments) written by Piotr Skaga and “Punkta na Czwartą Niedzielę Adwentu” (“Points for the Fourth Sunday of the Advent”) from volume I of Punkty kazań (Points of the Sermons). The analysis of the material has shown that both preachers talk about the sacrament in the same way. It results from the fact that the main source of the Jesuits’ sermons were the Bible and patristic texts approved by the Council of Trent, which were to be interpreted according to the methods indicated by the Roman Catholic Church. It guaranteed unity of teaching, especially when all the doctrinal differences appeared along with varied, sometimes radically different, reading of the Holy Bible. Furthermore, Szyrwid must had known Skarga’s sermons, he might have been inspired by them. It is known they were to be read by the monks learning to deliver speeches. Insignificant differences, limited to the amount of presented contents, as proven by the above depiction, are the outcome of different goals set by the monks. Skarga’s output had a defined purpose – a polemic with persons of other faiths. The intention of Szyrwid, however, who had written his sermons in the time when disputes between Reformation and Counter-Reformation were fading away, was to enlighten the faithful. Hence, he did not have to explain the entire complicated and difficult content denied by persons of other faiths to the reader, and he could focus on teaching about this sacrament’s benefits and showing the followers how to prepare for penance. The second essential factor that affects the above mentioned differences is the structure of the sermons. Szyrwid, contrary to Skarga, did not write lengthily. His texts are in the form of points and summaries. They present theses, and next (using a quotation, paraphrase or allusion) they refer to the Holy Bible or to the papers written by the Fathers of the Church. Szyrwid’s comments are rather scarce, and often entirely absent.
Piotr Skarga is one of the most prominent Polish writers of the 16th century. Today he is mostly regarded as a polemicist, heavily engaged in political matters. However, during his lifetime, he was considered as a religious writer. Lives of the Saints held a significant importance among his work, as well as his sermons (especially appreciated by Catholics, since people of other faiths thought of Skarga as a sworn enemy). In these writings there are a lot of references to the angels (around 500 mentions), although it does not make him an angelologist. His remarks on the angels are in accordance with the Catholic doctrine and decrees of the Council of Trent. Skarga’s favorite motives were: hierarchical structure of existence (man should aim high, to the angels), angelic hierarchy (following Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite), the court of God (with a special role of the courtier angels), the angelic army (with God as its leader, interfering in history, also the history of Poland), singing of the angels (one of the most common themes, coming from the Biblical Apocrypha), the Guardian Angel (belonging to everyman, not only ardent Catholics) and the angelic cult (one of the determinant aspects of Christianity). Although Skarga was very vigilant not to write anything that would not be in accordance with the Catholic teachings, he was using religious motives to reflect upon the politics, for example he regarded divine monarchy as a model for earthly monarchy.
This contribution discusses the option of interpreting protestant services regarding its persuasive moment. Based on current theological and rhetorical findings, the concept of persuasion is presented. Furthermore, the transcripts from two services are analyzed more closely focusing on how persuasive argumentation is brought forward in them. The analysis of rhetorical and of linguistic and prosodic patterns such as topics, speech rate, pausing and stressing unveils the rich persuasive moment in the context in which it has seldom been seen before.
The article considers some aspects of the genesis of preaching as a special genre of oral creativity in the Christian tradition and its importance in the Protestant propaganda of the confessional period. According to the author, preaching was of paramount importance to Luther starting with the first steps of his revision of the Christian creed. The reformer used the sermon not only as an instruction in the faith, but also as a kind of translator of his educational program – because only through the training of the population could he, from his point of view, convey the faithful the “divine message” and the idea of salvation.
Bartholomew of Jaslo’s Recommendation of logic: Bartholomew of Jasło was a professor at the University of Prague and the University of Kraków, active about the turn of the 14th century. He was mostly interested in logic, methodology, and social changes, as equal access to education for everyone, no matter their status. His first, and only so far edited, work is the so-called First sermon of the restoration of University. Most of the so far discovered works by Bartholomew are sermons, mostly based on Seneca, Boethius, and others, authors not so popular in his day. The paper introduces to the edition of two redactions just such a sermon: his opening lecture to logic (recommendation of logic).
St. Augustine’s work De bono viduitatis written in 414 is not a treatise but a letter addressed to widow issued from a noble Roman family named Juliana. She with her daughter and mother-in-law attempts to live the consecrated way of life. Under the strong influence of the ascetism and moralism of Pelagius, she begs Augustine to acquire the essential instructions for their devotion. Augustine in his answer proposes the original teaching on the widowhood based on the Holy Scripture, especially on the letters of apostle Paul, and encourages the women in their consecration to observe the goods of the widowhood. Nevertheless, St. Augustine does not write this letter only to Juliana. He desires that this letter will be spread to the other widows as well. The aim of our paper is to analyse the Augustine’s letter to Juliana and focus our interest on the homiletical forms used by St. Augustine. Our argumentation is based on the analyse of this letter and on its comparison with Augustine’s style of preaching. Examining the rhetoric elements used and known by St. Augustine as they are summarized in the Book Four of his treatise On Christian Doctrine it enables us to present the style of Augustine – preacher and consequently to find some similarity and differences.
The article presents the principle o f analogy in contemporary Polish Catholic homilies addressed to children. Searching for an analogy between a liturgical text and human life is a very important element o f a homily as a variant o f a sermon, especially a homily to children, because the main aim of this type o f sermon is discovering what a sacred text (the Bibie) says to contemporary man. The article is based on over sixty homilies for childrenrecorded in Cracow Catholic churches in the years 1994-2005. For comparison a similai number o f homilies for adults were used. In the paper different morę or less conventional ways o f reference to human life are discussed. It appears that preachers very often use cognitive schemata, for example so called scripts and scenes, to facilitate understanding. At the level of language these schemata may be a basis of multiword expressions that have aconstant function in a given text type and that occur repeatedly in the same situations. These collocations may be characteristic o f a given functional style (register o f language) and o f a given speech genre and a sub-genre, in this case for a homily for children as a speech sub-genre. Searching for analogy seems to fulfill two main functions in homilies: explanation and tic, especiall) in respect to ethical problems, presented on the example of linguistic images o f good and bad deeds, images that are fixed in repeated collocations. It is appropriate to ask why ethical problems in homilies for children are discussed in a schematic and stereotypical way. It may result ffom the genre features of the homily, in which a sacred text is input, or may result ffom an over simplified image o f the child’s world, which preachers have. To explain this problem it would be useful to analyze the language of other types o f sermons and the language o f religious oducation. actualization (reference to the contemporary listener’s situation). Regarding explanation there is a great creativity in the authors o f sermons, whereas actualization is very schematic, especiall) in respect to ethical problems, presented on the example o f linguistic images o f good and bad deeds, images that are fixed in repeated collocations. It is appropriate to ask why ethical problems in homilies for children are discussed in a schematic and stereotypical way. It may result ffom the genre features of the homily, in which a sacred text is input, or may result ffom an over simplified image o f the child’s world, which preachers have. To explain this problem it would be useful to analyze the language of other types o f sermons and the language o f religious oducation.
Humor is a positive element of human life that should be consciously nurtured and developed. It can also be used in the preaching of the Word of God, as long as it meets the relevant criteria. These are: subordination to the theme of the homily or sermon, compliance with the correct interpretation of Scripture, freshness, relevance, respect showed to the audience, and limited use. Humor can be used in preaching in different ways: in the very address to the recipients or in the parenetic, hortatory, persuasive part of the homily or sermon. Thus we can preach with humor as long as doing so is suitable for the transmission of the word of God.
PL
Humor jest pozytywnym elementem ludzkiego życia, który warto pielęgnować i rozwijać. Jest dla niego miejsce także w przepowiadaniu słowa Bożego, o ile spełnia on odpowiednie kryteria. Są nimi: podporządkowanie tematowi homilii czy kazania, zgodność z właściwą interpretacją Pisma Świętego, świeżość, stosowność, uszanowanie audytorium i oszczędne stosowanie. Humor może być wykorzystany w przepowiadaniu na różne sposoby: już w samym zwrocie do adresatów czy w końcowej parenezie homilii bądź kazania. Można więc przepowiadać z humorem, o ile jest on odpowiedni do przekazu słowa Bożego.
Samuel Brzeżewski is a long-forgotten Polish Baroque preacher. He left behind three written sermons, of which two take on Marian themes. Among those is Zaciąg dworzan.w na kurię Najświętszej Kr.lowej nieba i ziemi […] – „The recruitment of courtiers to the curia of the Blessed Queen of heaven and earth at a sermon on the day of her birth” (transl.), written in 1644 and published in 1645. It came into existence on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Mother of God and has an interesting sermon-concept form. In spite of the fact that the author reached for the expression „queen”, from time immemorial applied with reference to Mary, he combined with it an interesting fictional plot by portraying the process of the recruiting of courtiers for the court of the queen (it is one of the few Old Polish texts referring to the manner of recruitment for the court of a monarch). Closer study of various desirable features of courtiers (beauty, education, bravery) leads Brzeżewski to arrive at the conclusion that the greatest opportunities for admission to the service of the Mother of God are gifted to „bandits” (i.e. hardened sinners rejected by all) and „agonizantes” (viz. the dying) – those to whom Mary shows her kindness and magnanimity.
This article looks at the issue of the posthumous presentation of Charles IV in two funeral sermons given on the occasion of the emperor’s funeral at the end of 1378 by the preacher Henry of Wildenstein (Henricus de Wildenstein, OFM). Using an analysis of topics within the funeral rhetoric, the article author endeavours to point out the religious, and in particular morally exhortative (encouraging) function of the sermons. This is an analytical-interpretative study of an exegetic source.
The article covers the antithesis of positive and negative knowledge and its projection on the field of language. By the example of the Sermon on the Mount, the thesis of non-discursive nature of word and its contrasting to speech is affirmed. In connection with the antithesis under consideration, such questions of phenomenology are addressed as embodiment of meaning in a word, essential irrelevance of existing institutions and instances of the language. Distinction is made between authentic appeal and institutional methods of identification presented in nominal discourse.
The paper is a continuation of a series of publications by the author on the poetics of A. Cantemir’s satires and is devoted to the interpretation of satires through the prism of speech modes – in particular, the mode of the sermon. The sermon is considered exclusively from an artistic point of view: as a speech of the consultative type (according to Aristotle), possessing a set of its own rhetorical techniques. A successive analysis of the functions of a «sermon» in five satires makes it possible to acknowledge the long–term benefits of the interpretation of satires from the perspectives of the sermon and confession modes, along with the possibility of studying the polyphonic tone of satires.
The beatification process of the Servant of God, Rev. Wawrzyniec Kuśniak, COr (1788 -1866) has become an opportunity to recall and investigate his preaching heritage in the form of 18 preserved sermons for various occasions. In this paper, the sermons were subjected to a homiletical analysis. Most of them were built according to the frame commonly used at that time, the so called proper sermon. Fr. Kuśniak eagerly seeks recourse to biblical and patristic evidence, showing extensive expertise in both the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers. The performed analysis demonstrates clearly that the author is aware of the significance and power of God’s words, and, contrary to many other preachers of his time, does not limit his role in the sermon only to providing illustrations or arguments. He is just as serious about the teaching of the Church. Rev. Kuśniak does not present faith as the sum of a range of dogmas and moral obligations, but tries to show in his sermons God’s economy, oriented towards the authentic transformation and salvation of an individual. The sermons contain many specific references to the lives of his listeners, which renders them practical. This dimension depicts Fr. Kuśniak as committed to his ministry. The message of his sermons seems to still be relevant today, whereas his preaching and pastoral attitude – a role model for the current preachers of God’s words. In the same vein, the preaching of Rev. Kuśniak gives a representative picture of Polish service of the Word in Greater Poland in the first half of the 19th century.
PL
Prowadzony obecnie proces beatyfikacyjny sługi Bożego ks. Wawrzyńca Kuśniaka COr (1788 -1866) stał się okazją do przypomnienia i zbadania jego spuścizny kaznodziejskiej w postaci osiemnastu zachowanych jego kazań na różne okazje. W niniejszym artykule zostały one poddane analizie homiletycznej. Większość z nich zbudowana jest według powszechnie stosowanego w tamtych czasach schematu tzw. kazania właściwego. Ksiądz Kuśniak chętnie posługuje się dowodem biblijnym i patrystycznym, wykazując się znakomitą znajomością zarówno Pisma Świętego, jak i pism Ojców Kościoła. Widać przy tym wyraźnie, że zdaje sobie sprawę z wagi i siły słowa Bożego, i w przeciwieństwie do wielu kaznodziejów jego epoki nie ogranicza jego roli w kazaniu tylko do ilustracji czy argumentu. Równie poważnie traktuje kościelne nauczanie. Nie przedstawia wiary jako sumy dogmatów i nakazów moralnych, lecz stara się ukazać ekonomię Bożą ukierunkowaną na autentyczną przemianę i zbawienie człowieka. Jego kazania zawierają wiele konkretnych odniesień do życia słuchaczy, co sprawia, że są one życiowe. Ten wymiar ukazuje go jako zaangażowanego duszpasterza. Przesłanie jego kazań wydaje się nadal aktualne, a jego postawa kaznodziejska i duszpasterska mogą stanowić wzór do naśladowania dla dzisiejszych głosicieli słowa Bożego. Przepowiadanie ks. Kuśniaka daje też pewien obraz polskiegokaznodziejstwa w Wielkopolsce w pierwszej połowie XIX wieku.
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