Untitled - Centrostudirpinia.it

CHILD S CAUL. GUAEDIAN ANGEL. 875
Atlii, Saem. 253 b . According to Hire (de Superst. p. 24-5), the
Swed. namn denotes a genius that follows each man.
What is essential to the notion of a guardian-angel is his being
native to us : this distinguishes him from the home-sprite (genius
familiaris), who devotes himself to an individual man, but not
from birth. Eegula Benedicti cap. 7 : ab angelis nobis deputatis
cotidie die noctuque Domino Factori nostro opera nostra nun-
tiantur. Berthold preaches (p. 209) :
f als daz kint lebende
wirt an siner muoter libe, so giuzet im der engel die sele in, der
almehtige Got giuzet dem kinde die sele mit dem engel in ; and
St. Bernard (sermo 12 in ps. Qui habitat) :
quoties gravissima
cernitur urgere tentatio et tribulatio vehemens imminere, invoca
custodem tuum, doctorem tuum, adjutorem tuum. in opportuni-
tatibus, in tribulatione, in quovis diversorio, in quovis angulo,
angelo tuo reverentiam habe. tu ne audeas illo praesente, quod
vidente me non auderes. One more passage I will transcribe,
from Notker s Capella 137 : alien menniskon wirdet sunderig
unde gemeine huotdre gesezzet. ten heizent si ouh flihtare
(pflichter, care-taker), wanda er alles werches fliget. ten gerneinen
betont (adore) tie liute sament, unde ane daz iogelih ten sinen
(beside that, each his own), fone diu heizet er genius, wanda er
genitis sar gegeben wirt ze flihte. tiser huotare unde diser getriwo
bruoder behuotet iro sela unde iro sinna allero. wanda er ouch
tougene gedancha Gote chundet, pediu mag er ioh angelus
heizen. 1 This doctrine, partially retained as we see by the
church, seems to have got mixed up with that grosser native
superstition of guardian and attendant spirits. Caesar heisterb.
8, 44 supposes every man to have a good and a lad angel, who
seeks to bring him weal or woe. The valkyrs too were to a
certain extent guardian- spirits of the heroes (pp. 400. 419), and
remained bound to them for a time. It is said of slain heroes
(Lament 922) : ir engel vil wol wisten, war ir sele solten komen/
full well their angels wist whither their souls should go. Other
i The Lat. text runs: et generalis omnium praesul, et specialis singulis
mortalibus genius admovetur, quern etiam praestitem, quod praesit gerundis
omnibus, vocaverunt. nam et populi genio, quum generalis poscitur, supplicant, et
unusquisque gubernatori proprio dependit obsequium. ideoque genius dicitur,
quoniam quum quis hominum genitus fuerit, mox eidem copulatur. hie tutelator
ridissimusque germanus animos omnium mentesque custodit. et quoniam cogi
tationum arcana Superae annuntiat Potestati, etiam angelus poterit nuncupari.
Conf. Porphyry s Vita Plotini p. 14. Plutarch s Vita Antonini p. 430.
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