Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/167

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AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN
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AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN


geon of the century. Upon Rauscher's suggestion the number of professors in the department of dogmatic theology of the University of Vienna was increased, in order to ensure a more extended course in this branch. The new men called were, Father Philip Guidi, O.P., and Father Clemens Schrader, S.J., both from Rome. The lectures were obligatory on divinity students in any year of the four years' course, and were intended also for priests desirous of instruction. The successful developments of art during this period is shown in the church of Altlerchenfeld in Vienna, which was consecrated in 1861. This fine structure was built from the designs of the architecht John George Müller, and was decorated with a series of mural paintings by Joseph Führich, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. These paintings combine art and true dogma most admirably, and Führich is in them a veritable teacher of the Faith. He was born at Krazau in Bohemia, studied art first at the academy in Prague, afterwards for two years at Rome, and coming to Vienna passed forty-two studious and fruitful years there (d. 1876). Among the large number of his religious paintings the most famous are: The Pater-noster; the Way of the Cross, in the church of St. John on the Prater, Vienna, copies of which can be found in all parts of the world; the Way to Bethlehem; illustrations of the Psalter and the Imitation of Christ; the Prodigal Son; the Book of Ruth. The manner in which Führich developed his scheme of thought in the series of pictures in the Altlerchenfeld church is extremely impressive. Pictures in churches, according to his view, were not merely decorative; through the senses they must unfold to the spirit that inner life of faith which finds its full development in the church. In the vestibule of the church, six pictures portray the work of creation, and a seventh sets forth the rest of the Creator on the Sabbbath. The paintings in the two side aisles represent the Church of the Old Testament, which kept alive the longing for salvation and proclaimed its coming. The paintings of the middle aisle portray the fulfillment of the promise by scenes from the life of Christ. Between the historical pictures are placed at intervals the figure of the Saviour with appropriate historical emblems, such as Christ as a gardener, with a hoe on the shoulder. This is followed by a picture of the owner of the vineyard commanding the gardener to cut down the unfruitful tree. Then Christ as shepherd, followed by an allegorical picture of the transferring of the office of shepherd to Peter; Christ the wayfarer, followed by a representation of the man who fell among thieves; Christ the sower, followed by the approaching harvester with his sickle. These paintings, with those representing the Sermon on the Mount, decorate the church as far as the pulpit. The high altar is adorned with a picture of the Most Holy Trinity. The conception running through the whole series of paintings, from those in the vestibule to that of the high altar, is that the paradise lost by the first human beings is offered to us again by the second Adam in the new heaven.

At this moment of renewed energy in the church, Austria possessed bishops who would have excited the envy of little Cappadocia at the time of the three great Cappadocians. Among these Austrian bishops were: Cardinal Schwarzenberg (d. 1885) and Cardinal Rauscher (d. 1875; life by Wolfsgruber); Francis Joseph Rudigier, Bishop of Linz (d. 1879; life by Meindl); Vincenz Gasser, Prince-Bishop of Brixen (d. 1879; life by Zobl); Joseph Fessler, Bishop of St. Pölten (d. 1872; life by Erdinger); John B. Zwerger, Prince-Bishop of Seckau (d. 1893; life by Oer). The description of this period would not be complete without mention of the foremost German preacher and most fruitful German theologian of the nineteenth century, John Emanuel Veith, and of the philosopher and priest, Anton Günther. Veith was born at Kuttenplan, in Bohemia, and was of Jewish parentage. When he was nine years old his spiritual struggle began. In his twenty-first year, led by Father Hofbauer, he found peace in the Church. He faithfully kept the vow he had made: "I will devote my entire life to the only thing that is eternal, and therefore, the only thing that is important." Veith became a priest, preached for fourteen years in the Cathedral of St. Stephen at Vienna and died in 1876. At the time of his last illness he was preparing a translation, with commentary, of the Canticle of Canticles. On the day of his death he wrote down the words of Sulamit:

Neu auch wollen wir dort oben

Lieb und Treue ihm geloben.

-"Afresh, will we there above vow to him our faith and love." Then, putting the pen aside, he said, "It is finished", and breathed his last. (Life by Löwe.) Richness of thought and a classic elegance of speech characterized Veith's sermons. Among those published are: "Die Leidenswerkunge Christi"; "Denkbüchlein von der göttlicken Liebe"; "Das Friedensopfer"; "Lebensbilder aus der Passionsgeschichte"; "Die heiligen Berge" (2 vols.); "Homilienkranz" (5 vols.); "Der verlorne Sohn"; "Die Samaritin"; "Die Erweckung des Lazarus"; "Mater Dolorosa"; "Festpredigten" (2 vols.); "Homiletische Vortrage" (7 vols.); "Der Blindgeborne"; "Politische Passionspredigten"; "Eucharistie"; "Weltleben und Christentum"; "Charitas"; "Worte der Feinde Christi"; "Misericordia" (Psalm Miserere); "Das Vaterunser"; "Weg, Wahrheit, und Leben"; "Dodekatheon" (2 vols.); "Die Mächte des Unheils"; "Die Anfänge der Menschenwelt"; "Die Stufenpsalmen"; "Prophetie und Glaube"; "Homiletische Aehrenlese" (2 vols.); "Meditationen über den 118. Psalm"; "Hundert Psalmen"; "Der Leidenweg des Herrn"; "Stechpalmen"; "Dikaiosyne, Die Epistelreihe des Kirchenjahres". Karl Werner, the son of a teacher, was born at Hafnerbach in Lower Austria and died in 1888. He was first professor of moral theology at St. Pölten, then professor of higher exegesis at the University of Vienna. In Vienna he was appointed member of the advisory council of the minister of instruction, and was elected member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Among the many works of learned research Werner published are: "System der Ethik" (2 vols.); "Grundlinien der Philosophie"; "Der hl. Thomas von Aquino" (3 vols.); "Franz Suarez und die Scholastik der letzten Jahrhunderte" (2 vols.); "Geschichte der apologetischen und polemischen Literature der chirstlichen Theologie"; "Geschichte der katholischen Theologie seit dem Trienter Konzil bis zur Gegenwartf"; "Spekulative Anthropologie vom christlich-philosophischen Standpunkt"; "Beda der Ehrwürdige und seine Zeit"; "Alkuin und sein Jahrhundert"; "Gerbert von Aurillac, die Kirche und Wissenschaft seiner Zeit"; "Giambattista Vico als Philosoph und gelehrter Forscher"; "Johannes Duns Scotus"; "Geschichte der Scholastik des späteren Mittelalters" (5 vols.); "Geschichte der italienischen Philosophie des 19. Jahrh." Many of Werner's treatises are to be found in the reports of the sessions of the philosophico-historical section of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Anton Günther, founder of the Guntherian school of philosophy, was born at Lindenau, near Leitmeritz, in Bohemia. He studied jurisprudence and philosophy at Prague, and came under the influence of the philosophical ideas of Kant, Fichte, and Jacobi. Blessed Clement Hofbauer led him back to the truth. Günther was consecrated priest, and became teacher of philosophy in noble families, especially in that to which Schwarzenberg, afterwards Cardinal, belonged. For many years he