LANDSPERGER, Johann.

The first Italian edition of this popular work on the heavenly visions and revelations granted to St Mechthild von Hackeborn (1240/1-98). Johann Landsperger (1489-1539) was a Carthusian monk at Cologne and Jülich, and the author of other works on ascetic theology, such as the visions of St Gertrude, also printed by the Gioliti in Italian. First printed in Latin in 1558, ‘Libro’ recounted the visions of St Mechthild, a German Benedictine nun at Helfta, known for her fervour and piety, and the sister of Gertrude, abbess of Helfta. For several years she had revelations in which she interacted with God, the angels, the Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Christ. The current book was written, history has it, at Christ’s behest, after the saint had a spiritual crisis. It begins with a short biography of the saint, and proceeds to describe in detail all that she saw and heard: e.g., the four kinds of voice God has; why God’s face resembles the sun; how to greet the Virgin Mary; how God appeared to her in the shape of a child; and how a rose was blossoming from God’s heart. It also addresses theological issues in simple terms – inspired by the works of St Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux and Richard of St Victor – such as Christ’s epiphany, how Christ tempers God’s wrath, the Annunciation, the workings of the Holy Spirit, the suffering of Christ and his wounds, how to eschew sin, and how to offer up one’s suffering and tribulations to God. The last few sections are devoted to the composition and purpose of the work. Appended is a short account, from the year 1156, of the visions of St Elisabeth von Schönau, a C13 German Benedictine nun. It is divided into sermons which summarise her ascetic debates with angels on ways to live a pious life, and are addressed to priests, hermits, widowers, children and young people. These visionary accounts were clearly very popular before the age of print, but became even more widespread reading during the C16, especially in their vernacular editions. St Matilde’s work in particular inspired specific prayers and ways of private devotion.