German Capuchin theologian, preacher and ascetic writer
Martin of Cochem (born at
Cochem on the
Mosel, 13 December 1630 or 1634;[1] died in the convent at
Waghäusel, 10 September 1712) was a German
Capuchin theologian, preacher, and ascetic writer.
Life
He came from a Catholic family, and while still young entered the novitiate of the Capuchins. After his ordination to the priesthood, he was assigned to a professorship of theology.
In 1666, he was involved in the care of
plague victims, and began to compose short popular religious treatises. Martin then made a specialty of popular preaching and religious writing in the
Archdiocese of Trier and
Archdiocese of Ingelheim. He continued up to the time of his death, hearing confessions with the aid of an
ear-trumpet.
Works
The most voluminous is an ecclesiastical history in 2 vols, fol., composed for apologetic purposes and provoked by the attacks made upon the Catholic Church by Protestantism. However, the author brought it down only to the year 1100.
Father Martin's other works embrace a great variety of subjects: the life of Christ, legends of the saints, edifying narratives, the setting forth of certain points in Christian asceticism, forms of prayer, methods to be followed for the worthy reception of the sacraments, etc. The best known is "Die heilige Messe", on which, according to his own statement, he spent three years.
The works[2] published during Father Martin's lifetime are:
"Die Kirchenhistorie nach der Methode des Baronius und Raynaldus bis 1100" (Dillingen, 1693):
"Die christliche Lehre";
"Heilige Geschichten und Exempel";
"Wohlriechender Myrrhengarten" (Cologne, 1693);
"Büchlein über den Ablass" (Dillingen, 1693);
"Exorcismen und für Kranke" (Frankfort, 1695);
"Goldener Himmelsschlüssel" (Frankfort, 1695);
"Gebetbuch für Soldaten" (Augsburg, 1698);
"Anmuthungen während der heiligen Messe" (Augsburg, 1697);
"Das grössere Krancken=Buch, denen Gesunden so wohl als Krancken sehr nützlich und nothwenig." (Frankfurt am Main, 1701);
The Incredible Catholic Mass: An Explanation of the Mass / Published by TAN Books
This list does not include all the author's writings. In 1896 there appeared a small work never before published, "Das Gebet des Herzens", which at the end of its third year went into a seventh edition.
References
^Schulte, Johannes Chrysostomus. 1910. P. Martin von Cochem, 1634-1712: Sein Leben und seine Schriften. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herdersche Verlagshandlung, p. 8.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Causse, Henry Joseph (1908). "
Martin of Cochem". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
ILG, Geist des heiligen Franciscus Seraphicus (Augsburg, 1883);
Etudes franciscaines (Paris), III, 448;
Analecta Ord. Min. Cap., XXIII, 279;
SISTER MARIA BERNARDINE, Martin von Cochem, sein Leben, sein Wirken, seine Zeit (Mainz, 1886).