Introduction

John Tauler was born in the city of Strassburg about the year 1290. His family was in easy circumstances, his father, as it is surmised, having been a member of the city council. At eighteen years of age, or even earlier, John entered the Dominican novitiate in his native city, a young man full of religious fervor, and endowed with high intellectual gifts. His order gave him the best possible education, sending him to their greater house of studies at Cologne, and perhaps to their famous school at the University of Paris. Besides profiting by the usual scholastic training in the spirit and letter of St. Thomas Aquinas, Tauler, it is noted, became well versed in the Fathers of the Church, especially St. Augustine. He merited and obtained his order's highest diploma, that of Master of Sacred Theology. He soon manifested a taste for the mystics, studying St. Dionysius, St. Bernard, and Hugo and Richard of St. Victor with characteristic ardor.

This mystical tendency was strengthened by personal association with men of like tastes, some of them of the highest degree of spirituality, mostly members of his own order. On his return to Strassburg at the end of his studies, Tauler entered into familiar friendship with Master Eckhart, a leading spirit of that day, and also with Blessed Henry Suso, one of the most beautiful religious characters of the era. Both were distinguished Dominicans. Their influence on their young friend and brother was powerful and permanent.

Tauler's lot was cast in troubled times, the epoch of the papal residence at Avignon, to be followed not long after his death by the Great Western Schism. Churchmen, monarchs and statesmen, of every degree of sincerity or of treachery, kept the whole Christian world in a state of conflict the most tremendous, perhaps, the Church ever experienced. Their good deeds and their misdeeds monopolize nearly every page of the history of the times. But the activity of the humble saints, missionaries and mystics of this era, including such various types as Tauler, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Vincent Ferrer, accounts for the final settlement of the Church's difficulties more adequately than all the expedients of statecraft. In the supreme work of preaching Jesus crucified, and of enforcing the maxims of the Goepel, Tauler's place was very important He was one of many greal preachers in the Rhine country, members of the religious orders and of the secular clergy, who labored incessantly to divert men's gaie from the perplexed external condition of religious affairs, to the :„• glories of the interior life of God in their own soul. Though preaching in Latin to an occasional audience of the educated, Tauler usually preached in the rough German dialect of his day to all classes of Hie people, and with a power seldom equaled.

His field of activity was all lower Germany, especially along the Rhine between Basel and Cologne; and his opportunity was given him by his greal and learned order, which was everywhere venerated, and which had houses and churches in most of the larger towns.

The least acquaintance with Tauler's sermons show^s him to have the ideal preacher. With soundness of Catholic faith and its simplest spirit he combined real learning, gentleness of heart, and dignity as well as fearlessness of address. It is true that his denunciation of the vices prevalent at the time verged on the extravagant ami excited hostile criticism. On one occasion some of his violent sermons caused his Dominican brethren of the convent in which he was stationed — no cowards themselves, we may be sure — to forbid him their pulpit. But the people, including many whom Tauler had scourged for their vices, petitioned the friars to remove the prohibition. They did so, gladly enough, we venture to say. But this incident is fine testimony to our mystic's mingled kindliness and boldness. In fact, he or any other preacher could do little good in those desperate days, without giving offense to the timid and time-serving. Such is the fate of all who assail popular errors and vices.

Rut these sermons on popular themes, wdth some exceptions of doubtful authenticity, have not come down to us. What wre have are Tauler's ascefical and mystical discourses, a priceless treasure for souls who are seeking by the more interior methods to make themselves wholly responsive to the divine guidance.

These are the only ones that critics generally will allow to be his. They treat of the life of the counsels of perfection, the virtues to be practiced if one would become entirely pleasing to God, the spirit of holy living as well as the various methods to be adopted. They were addressed to religious communities, mostly in convents of Dominican nuns. Rut it is plain that they were not strictly private conferences, but rather sermons delivered in the public oratories of these communities, in the main room of which were assembled congregations of the people, including both clergy and laity, the sisters meanwhile being inside their cloister whose grating formed one side of the sanctuary. To the zeal of these nuns principally, if not wholly, we are indebted for what is known as Tauler's sermons, meaning his spiritual doctrine. They made notes of his preaching and afterwards compared and arranged them. This was done with much intelligence as to ordinary ascetical and mystical matters, though with some defects as to theological terms and passages of Scripture.

As to Tauler's life, the reader is referred to the brief History which precedes his Sermons in this book. Therein is given an account of the most important event in his spiritual career. Perhaps he himself would call it his second conversion to a life of perfection. There also will be found a touching account of his death.

Tauler has been accused of being a forerunner of Martin Luther; of having openly disobeyed the Pope and defied his authority; and of having joined an heretical association called the Friends of God. But he is held guiltless of all these accusations by the best critics, especially by the more recent historical students, including both Catholics and non-Catholics.

Tauler's activity in later life centered at the Dominican house at Cologne, in which city he preached incessantly for many years, the ''eight years" mentioned in the History, referring only to the last eight years of his life. He was also confessor and spiritual director of a convent of Dominican nuns in Cologne. But at the end he returned to Strassburg. He died there June 16, 1361, and was buried in the Dominican convent.

Tauler's fame rests solely upon the solid and magnificent foundation of the sermons here given for the first time in English.* The little

• Twenty-five of them were translated into English by Miss Maria Winkworth, a Protestant lady, and published in England in 1857. These are less than one fourth of all the sermons, and the translator expressly excluded the more distinctively Catholic ones. As to the spirit and tone of that translation, it is enough for Catholics to know that Charles Kingsley was chosen to write the preface to the book.

A translation of thirty-five of the sermons has lately been procured and published by an Anglican clergyman, Mr. Arthur Wallaston Hutton. It is conceived and executed in a true spirit of fairness. The little book is useful, and the editor and translator are worthy of thanks and praise.

For a very able vindication of Tauler against the claims of Protestants and the suspicions of certain Catholics, our readers are referred to a masterly and learned article by the English Oratorian, Father J. B. Dalgairns, Dublin Review March, 1858.

hook known ai Tauter^ Imitation of Christ, is undoubtedly spurious. A few brief spiritual letters to nuns and some little ascetical instructions, together with some short devout poetical pieces, may rightly iscribed to him. The Divinae Enstitntiones so often quoted as his, are but a collection of maxims drawn from Ruysbroek and other mystics no less than from Tauler's Sermons. A book of Meditations on our Saviour's Passion, attributed to him, has recently been given an English dress under the learned and sympathetic editorship of the late Father Bertrand Wilberforce, O. P. The book is worthy of our great author and has some of the characteristics of his powerful style. Hut its authenticity lacks extrinsic evidence.

In tin- spring <»f L904 we engaged a friend to make an English version of these Sermons; but when that failed to give satisfaction we ventured upon the task ourselves, constantly being drawn nearer to Tauler by the attraction of his wisdom and force. And now with God's favor we offer the result of many delightful hours of labor to the devout Catholic public. We have used Dr. Julius Bamberger's modernized German edition (Frankfurt am Main, 1864), adhering as closely as possible to his rendering. Sainte-Foi's fine French translation i Haiis, 1855) has also been consulted, together with a very early edition of Surius's Latin version (1553).

It must be understood that a translator of these Sermons is sometimes compelled to interpret them. Not any part of them was published by Tan lei- himself, for, as we have seen, they are an assortment of notes taken down by some of his auditors, persons zealous and intelligent, indeed, but plainly lacking in theological training. This lias left us with occasional awkward statements of doctrine to deal with and misplaced quotations of Scripture. Besides this general difficulty, Tauler occasionally is made to use terms open to misunderstanding on various other grounds, especially in view of the errors of quietism condemned by the Holy See in the seventeenth centurv.*

•The reader would do well to begin this book with the sermon for the first Bunday of Lent, for in that, especially the second half of it, will be found Tauler's Blngularly explicit adherence to the approved doctrines on the subject Of contemplative prayer. With that sermon in his mind one may go from beginning to end of our volume with a perfect safeguard against misunderstandings on tiie score of quietism

All of which necessitates interpretation. This has always been done by his translators and editors, and in different ways; sometimes by foot notes, again by sentences of their own placed in the text in brackets, and at other times by incorporating Tauler's own words used elsewhere but in the same connexion — his exact words or their equivalent. Some passages of the original German are so obscure, even meaningless, that they are usually entirely omitted in the translations. Now and then Taulers' extravagance in assailing evil doers does not suffer literal translation into English, however much one may admire his sincerity and his splendid vehemence.

No effort has been spared to make this English version as perfect a reflex of the German original as our literary deficiencies allow. It may be added that in Dr. Hamburger's edition there are a few sermons which he agrees are not Tauler's; we have not translated these.

A reader not familiar with the mystics may object that Tauler constantly repeats himself — if not verbally, at least substantially — in these discourses. So he does. But so does the medical professor repeat his instructions as he walks the hospital wards with his class. Over and over again does he explain the same disease, symptom for symptom — but yet rarely suggesting identically the same treatment and remedies. For though the malady is the same the patients greatly differ one from another, and each requires some change of treatment, each case affords something new to be learned about the common disease. It is so with Tauler in teaching us the cure of spiritual ailments, and the building up of the newly recovered soul into perfect holiness. No doubt there is frequent repetition of the chief means of perfection, but with an infinite variety of personal application and of illustration, enlisting the renewed and unfailing interest of the student of the soul's welfare.

We heartily recommend these sermons to all who aspire to wholehearted service of God, whether they are led into mystical states of prayer or not. They will find Tauler a master of the entire course between repentance from grievious sin and ecstatic union with God. He is as serviceable a guide in the ordinary degrees of the asceticai life as in those of high contemplation, ever coupling the two states together into an integral Christian career.

si. Paul of the doss was certainly a competent judge of the worth of all kinds of spiritual writings; for besides being (as every saint must be) a contemplative, he was also a most practical leader in the devoul ways common to all fervent souls. And in advising one of his Passionista about bearing the stress of care and disappointment incident to the office of rector, St. Paul says of our author: "My dear Father rector, now is the time to dwell in the depth of Tauler. I in. .in in interior solitude, and to take the repose of love in sinu Dei. There you will learn to perform well the duties of your office of rector, and to become a saint." And much more praise of Tauler is added bj the saint. (Oratorian Life of St. Paul of the Cross, Vol. II. Ch. X 1 1. The same testimony is borne by many other devout writers — that Tauler is a most enlightened and trustworthy guide to Christian perfection in all its grades; and that he is especially helpful in showing the simplest and shortest way, namely steadfast self-abnegation, joined to restful acquiescence in God's outward good pleasure, as well as ready responsiveness to the inward touches of divine grace.

The Translator.

The Apostolic Mission House, Washington, D. G.

THE HISTORY OF THE REVEREND MASTER JOHN TAULER.