Alexandrines from The Cherubinic Pilgrim

Description

This is a selection of Alexandrine couplets from Angelus Silesius' book The Cherubinic Pilgrim, which was first published in 1657. Silesius was a German Catholic priest and physician, known as a mystic and religious poet. He was born a Lutheran, converted to Catholicism, took holy orders under the Franciscans, was ordained a priest, and eventually retired to a Jesuit house. Remembered for his religious poetry, he had become interested in mysticism after reading the works of medieval mystics including Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, Heinrich Suso, Jan van Ruysbroeck, and, Jacob Boehme. The Cherubinic Pilgrim was a collection of 1,676 short verses that explored quietism, pantheism, as well as mysticism. This edition by Julia Bilger is an abridged selection.

Several poems written by Silesius have been used or adapted as hymns in both Catholic and Protestant services. Early on in Lutheran and Protestant hymn collections, they were attributed to 'anonymous', because of the reluctance to admit they were written by a Catholic.

This book has 50 pages in the PDF version. This translated selection by Julia Bilger was first published in 1944.

Production notes: This ebook of Alexandrines from The Cherubinic Pilgrim was published by Global Grey on the 13th January 2022. The artwork used for the cover is 'Vallombrosa Altarpiece' by Pietro Perugino.