Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Home at Plett Foundation

Francois de Knuyt, de Ries also articulates a
special state of mind for prayer songs, which
also applies to the other categories of hymns.
Therefore each spiritual song in this volume
opens with the imperative motto: “Singhet met
aendacht” (sing it with sincerity).
Prayer in spiritual emblem hooks
The second illustration of a more literary
and artistic context for prayer deals with edifying
emblem books. Mennonites developed a
rich tradition of devotional literature that began
with the martyr books in the late 1550’s. Another
favorite form of devotional literature was
the spiritual dialogues of which Jan Philipsz
Schabaelje’s Lusthof des Gemoets (Pleasure
Garden of the Mind), published in 1635, is a
fine example, judging from its almost unprecedented
success. 31 In the opening section of the
book Schabaelje instructs the reader to gain
the right attitude for meditation and contemplation.
Of primary concern is the stilheyt der
gemoeds (solitude of the mind or soul).This
is mystically visualized as sucking the breasts
of the Divine Being which opens the soul to
communicate through the Holy Spirit as the
true medium for direct inner communication
with, and enlightenment by, God. Schabaelje,
a Waterlander Mennonite, held mystical and
spiritualistic views, denying in fact all outer
rituals including audible prayer. Nevertheless,
his book served many generations as a vehicle
for meditation and prayer. It is used to this day
by Amish and Old Order Mennonites.
Another genre, though not typically Mennonite,
that accommodated similar goals was
the spiritual emblemata. They were neatly
printed and illustrated emblem books that
became fashionable among Dutch Mennonites
in the second half of the seventeenth century.
Jan Philipsz Schabaelje was one of its main
initiators with a huge folio volume entitled
Emblemata Sacra, published in 1653-54. 32
Other Mennonite authors of this genre were
Claas Bruin, Frans van Hoogstraten, Govert
Klinkhamer, Jan Claesz Schaep, Adriaan Spinniker
and Jan Luyken, the famous engraver of
the Martyrs’ Mirror, whose immensely popular
spiritual emblem books, like Jezus en de Ziel
(Jesus and the Soul), published in 1678, and
Voncken der Liefde Jesu (Sparks of the Love of
Jesus), published in 1687, were drenched with
the German mysticism of Jacob Boehme.
Pieter Huigen was an almost forgotten
representative of this genre. His Beginselen
van Gods Koninkrijk in den Mensch uitgedrukt
in Zinnebeelden (The Essentials and
Beginnings of God’s Kingdom embodied
in mankind by means of emblems) was first
printed in Amsterdam in 1689, and at least
nine reprints followed until the middle of the
eighteenth century. 33 From the third edition
of 1700 onwards Pieter Huigen’s Beginselen
were published together with the Stichtelyke
Rymen (Edifying Poetry) of his elder brother
Jan Huigen. We know very little of Pieter
Huigen, except that he sympathized with the
Collegiant movement in Amsterdam, a mainly
Mennonite and Remonstrant dominated group
of intellectuals that organized free-speech
meetings, discussing all kinds of theological
and religious issues. 34 He was a friend
of Jan Luyken, who designed and engraved
the title print and twenty-five emblems of his
Beginselen. 35
Important for the topic under discussion
here is the fact that Huigen’s main intention
was to provide the simple reader with
adequate lessons and meditations for gaining
access to God’s wisdom. Following the
traditional scheme of the emblematic genre,
the first page of each section has a rhymed
motto placed above the Luyken picture and a
Bible quotation at the foot of the page. Next,
all three elements are combined into an explanatory
poem, which in Huigen’s case has
the form of a hymn, each with its proper tune.
So far this scheme meets the standards of the
genre, and there is no doubt that Jan Luyken
served as his prime example. However, unlike
Luyken but not unprecedented, Huigen added
a third section of prose, a couple of pages in
length, enabling him to be more explicit and
to elaborate on each subject. These texts may
be considered as mere meditations, dealing
with inner spiritual concerns. They are well
structured throughout the book. In two times
twelve steps there is an accumulation in growth
of religious wisdom, that runs from ignorance
of the newly reborn Christian to the unification
of the soul with God. A majority of the
meditations turn, though hardly noticeable,
into prayer. Exclamations at the beginning
of the final paragraphs “Oh Lord, Oh eternal
Lord, Oh great Redeemer, etc.”, the subsequent
address “You”, “Oh Lord”, etc., and the conclusive
“Amen” make us aware of the formal
aspects of a prayer monologue.
Conclusion
Prayer as a structural part of private devotion
among Mennonites remains for the greater
part in the realm of invisible, oral traditions.
Mennonite prayer was a matter of individual
concern and implied a highly qualified mental
and devotional attitude. This was considered
far more important than its formal and verbal
requirements. Only the shift from silent to
audible prayer in worship service offered an
opportunity to get a keyhole view of this element
of devotional intimacy. The few prayer
books that have survived are by no means part
of a distinct Mennonite literary genre. On the
contrary, they should be considered as a means
of propaganda as well as a codification of an
accepted type of audible prayers, rather then a
literary expression of, and an instruction tool
for private devotion. In the latter sense, the
impressive hymn tradition of the Mennonites
constituted a more suitable platform for “formalized”
prayers.
Another observation can be made with
regard to the adaptation of prayers in an emblematic
setting. May this development be considered
a more modern literary expression of
what was still a rather hidden need? Its development
since the last quarter of the seventeenth
century coincides with the Mennonites’ social
emancipation and self-awareness. Whether
this new form of devotional art matched a
changing spiritual demand, or should primarily
be considered a new expression of social
and cultural awareness, remains unanswered.
However, it should be noted that at about the
same time, in 1685, van Braght’s Marytrs’ Mirror
was reprinted once more, on large paper
and for the first time illuminated with 110 fine
etchings by Jan Luyken. From then on this
monument of Mennonite devotional literature
would become an object of luxury rather than
a book of historical reflection and a source of
inspiration and meditation.
Finally there is one last point to make. In
many of the cases discussed, a dominance of
mystical and spiritualistic input is apparent.
People like de Ries, Schabaelje and Huigen
are quite outspoken and enthusiastic representatives
of a multi-colored Mennonite faith in
this respect. Remarkably enough, a substantial
part of this heritage, except for the emblematic
works, which might be indicative of my earlier
observation, has survived to this very day in
the conservative setting of the American Old
Order Mennonites and Amish.
Endnotes
1
Carel van Mander, De Gulden Harpe (Alkmaar: J. de
Meester [pr.] / Haarlem, P. van Wesbusch [publ.], 1605),
371. See for Van Mander as a poet: R. Jacobsen, Carel van
Mander (1548-1606). Dichter en Prozaschijver (Utrecht:
Hes Publishers, 1972). For van Mander’s relevance as a
Mennonite author see: M. Spies, “Mennonites and literature
in the seventeenth century”, P. Visser el al.. From Martyr to
Muppy. A Historical Introduction to Cultural Assimilation
Processes of a Religious Minority in the Netherlands: the
Mennonites (Amsterdam: Amsterdam UP, 1994), 83-87. For
van Mander as a painter see: H. Miedema, ed., Karel van
Manner. The Lives of the Illustrious Netherlandish and German
Painters. Preceded by The Lineage, Circumstances and
Place of Birth, Life and Works of Karel van Mander, Painter
and Poet and likewise his Death and Burial. (Doornspijk:
Davaco, 1995), 11-168.
2
In Dutch historiography the concepts of Anabaptism
and its polemic derivative wederdopers (German Wiedertäufer)
are generally applied to the radical phase of its
history, including the Münster episode and its aftermath.
After that Mennonitism is commonly applied to label
the adherents to the movement’s further developments,
whereas doopsgezinden (lit. “baptism minded”, referring to
adult baptism: German Taufgesinnten) has survived as the
generally accepted name for the Dutch Mennonites since
the late 16 th century. Doopsgezinden was preferred because
this group did not want to found their faith upon men, but
upon the Word of God.
3
How lamentable such developments may have been at
that time, those quarrelsome moments are blessings for the
historian as will also be the case for this subject.
4
For Dutch Anabaptists and Mennonites see: C. Krahn
et al., eds., The Mennonite Encyclopedia, (Scottdale, Pa. /
Waterloo, Ont.: Mennonite Publishing House / Herald Press,
1955-1990), 5 vols. Ill, 824-831 (here after: ME); A. Hamilton,
“The development of Dutch Anabaptism in the light of
the European Magisterial and Radical Reformation”, and S.
Voolstra, “The colony of heaven: The Anabaptist aspiration
to be a church without spot or wrinkle in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries”, From Martyr to Muppy, ed. Visser
et al., 3-14, resp. 15-29. See for Joost van den Vondel in a
Mennonite setting: M. Spies, “Mennonites and literature”,
From Martyr to Muppy, ed. Visser et al., 87-91 and 98.
5
Mennonites in Balk, in the province of Friesland,
maintained silent prayer until 1853, in Giethoorn (Overijssel)
until 1865, and in Aalsmeer (Noord-Holland) until
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