- Feb 5, 2002
- 185,511
- 68,147
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Some chilling warnings to the faithful from Caesarius of Heisterbach's hagiographical compendium, including a whispering ghost girl, hellbound jousters, and other tormented souls
Caesarius of Heisterbach (d. 1240) was one of the most popular hagiographers of the Middle Ages. The prior of the Cistercian Heisterbach Abbey, he’s most famous for his Dialogue on Miracles, which was rivaled only by the Golden Legend in popularity. Over the course of a dozen thematic books, Caesarius tells hundreds of miracle stories categorized by themes like Contrition, Confession, Demons, and so on, but the final chapter is what concerns us today: “Of the Punishment and the Glory of the Dead.”
Some glory. Mostly punishment.
These stories are shaped as exemplum: short anecdotes with a pithy moral to them. The telling varies, with most offering simple pious lessons. For instance:
Useful information! As a Deacon I’ll keep in mind to be prepared should I drop dead after proclaiming the word.After a deacon had read the gospel for confessors, that is, “Watch, for ye know not at what hour your Lord will come,” in Aulne, a house of our Order, as he finished those words, a monk in the choir fell down and expired. And all were afraid considering the effect of the Lord’s words. There-fore, brothers, because we know not at what hour our Lord will come, let us watch faithfully, let us watch while working that when he comes and shall afflict us with death, we may at once open to Him. May our Lord Jesus Christ deign to grant us that, who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. Amen.
Some, however, are remarkably vivid. To wit:
Continued below.
A Meal of Toads and Other Gruesome Punishments
Some chilling warnings to the faithful from Caesarius of Heisterbach's hagiographical compendium, including a whispering ghost girl, hellbound jousters, and other tormented souls