Johannes with the Golden Mouth
Johannes with the Golden Mouth: A Legend
Johannes mit dem güldnen Mund: Eine Legende
Sophie Brentano-Mereau, publication date unknown, likely in Mereau’s lifetime (1770–1806)
This tale forms an exciting extension to my project, since
it has not been translated by me, but by two students of German at the University
of Reading, Jennifer Trinti and Laura Toninelli. I was approached by their tutor,
asking if I might feature their translation on my blog, which I was of course
very eager to do. This project has always at its heart been about widening the readership
of German women writers, and if I’ve inspired other students to help with this
effort that’s more than I could have hoped for. I should also add that the
reason I haven’t posted any of my other translations on this blog is because I’ve
decided to self-publish them in a small book, so want to save some content for
that—watch this space! I now hand over to Jennifer and Laura, enjoy!
This story tells the tale of a young man, destined to be a
holy man. By singing Masses as a priest, he would deliver a soul from its
torment. His divine gift of great knowledge is revealed through a golden ring
around his lips. As time passes, he is assailed by doubts about himself and
retreats to the forest to pray. His encounter with the emperor's daughter,
however, will have a great influence on the course of events.
We were intrigued by this story, which not only highlights
the importance of repentance and holy deeds, being the legend of a saint’s life,
but also mentions doubts about being suited to the role assigned, the following
abandonment of it and the vulnerability to sexual and murderous impulses. We
felt it was our duty to provide a translation so that even non-German speakers
could read the story so that it can receive the recognition it deserves. This
was in respect of the writer, who was engaged in the translation of other
writers’ works as well.
Sophie Brentano-Mereau, née Schubart, was born in Altenburg
in 1770. She married Friedrich Karl Mereau, a professor at the University of
Jena, and published most of her works under her married name of Mereau. She
took her second surname from her second husband Clemens Brentano, poet and
novelist. Her literary debut as a writer came with her criticism of Fichte's
ideas about women in the novel Das Blüthenalter der Empfindung (The Flowering
Age of Sentiment, 1794). She then wrote poems (Gedichte, 1800-02), a
major epistolary novel (Amanda und Eduard, 1803) and edited three literary
journals. Alongside her other works, she contributed to the literature of
German Romanticism with numerous translations. Her life was tragically affected
by the loss of her parents during her adolescence and later, by the deaths of
her first, third and fourth children as well as the miscarriage of her fifth.
She died in childbirth in 1806 in Heidelberg, while delivering her sixth child.
Johannes with the Golden Mouth: A Legend
Translated by Jennifer
Trinti and Laura Toninelli
Edited by Eve Mason
There once lived a pope in Rome, who went out riding one day
with a great retinue. The pope was in the habit of frequently riding away from
the others so that he could pray in solitude. And so he did now, leaving his
retinue and riding far into a high forest, where, as soon as he found himself
alone, he said his prayers with such deep devotion and loud voice that his
words echoed through the green halls of the high, quiet temple. Suddenly, a
loud sound of such pitiful pain reached him through that otherwise peaceful and
isolated place, that he could not resist a shudder and thought to himself:
“Woe, what a pitiful voice this is!” He wanted to ride on, but the wailing
became more and more fearful and he decided to see what it might be. He turned
to the place where the voice came from, hearing it draw closer and closer, and
finally very close to him, yet he could not perceive anything with his eyes. He
thought again: “How strange it seemed to me! How can it be that I only hear and
yet see nothing?” Then he raised his voice and said aloud: “I command you by
God that you tell me what you are!”
Then the voice piteously answered: “Woe is me! I am a poor
soul who has barely been without torment for the time it would take one eye to
blink, so infinitely great is my agony in purgatory!”
So, the pope said: “I am profoundly sorry about that. Yet,
since God has put so much power into my hands to absolve all kinds of guilt,
would it not be possible for me to somehow release you from your torment?”
The voice replied: “This night something was revealed to me,
which is the only thing to give me some hope. In Rome there lives a pious man,
who has a good wife. She is pregnant with a child, who will become a holy man.
He will be called Johannes and will become a priest. And when the priest has said
his sixteenth Mass, I, poor soul, shall be delivered from my torment.”
Then the voice told the name of the man and the street where
he lived. The pope departed and still heard its piercing, fearful lamentation
far, far away, as before.
The pope returned to his retinue, but no one was allowed to
ask him where he had been for so long. He rode back to Rome, quite sad and
thoughtful, and immediately sent for the married couple described by the poor
soul. When they both arrived, he received them amicably and said: “I know that
you will have a child, and now I beg you both to let me know as soon as the
child is born. I will baptise him and take care of the child. In the future I
will always act as a father to him.”
The good couple were very pleased, and both thanked him from
the bottom of their hearts. Then he gave them his blessing and gave them leave
to go.
As soon as the child was born, they reported it to the pope,
who was very happy about it, because he often looked back on the agony of that
poor soul and wished its salvation with all his heart. The child was named
Johannes and the pope took him to court with his nurse. There, he took great
care of him, because he enjoyed observing him grow up.
When he was seven years old, he was allowed to go to school,
but the boy was slower in understanding than all his classmates, and often had
to endure much mockery and scorn because of this. This hurt him terribly; he
went to church every day, where he knelt down before the painting of the Virgin
Mary and, crying hot tears, earnestly begged her for help.
One day he was praying like this in front of the painting.
He wrung his small hands, wept bitter tears and implored the Holy Virgin with
the deepest devotion and the most moving words not to deny him her help, and to
have mercy on him, so that he would learn better in the future and would no
longer have to endure the reprimands of his teachers and the contempt of his
classmates. Then Mary's fair lips moved, and a heavenly sweet voice spoke to
him: “Come up to me and kiss me on the mouth and new life will come into you.
The ray of all knowledge will dawn in your soul and you will be more learned
than anyone on Earth.”
The boy was very frightened when he heard these words, a
shudder went through him and he dared not do what she commanded him. But the
Mother of God told him kindly once again: “Come to me with confidence, I will
give you my guidance!”
As he was still hesitating, he saw himself surrounded by a
heavenly clarity; a sweetly scented cloud descended on him and lifted him up
with gentle, joyful force into the arms of the painting. He was then able to
touch the holy mouth of the divine Virgin with his pure, childlike lips and
suck all heavenly knowledge out of it. From that moment on, he was blessed with
the gift of being able to speak of God and all things with more insight than
any of the teachers.
When the boy went back to school wanting to learn, he could
do more than all the others put together. The classmates began to laugh and
said: “How is it possible that you are suddenly so learned and now able to do
more than all of us, when the harshest punishments have never been able to
teach you anything before?”
However, when they looked at him, they were astonished to
see a fine, golden ring around his mouth, which shone as sweetly as a sparkling
star of true, profound brightness. They asked him how it had come to pass, and
he told them what had happened to him. Since nobody could understand his great
knowledge, from then on, they all began to learn from him. They started to call
him Johannes with the golden mouth, because he spoke golden words with golden
lips. He wore this ring as long as he lived, as well as the name.
The pope loved Johannes so very much, that when a benefice
became vacant, he was pleased to give it to him. Johannes became quite rich and
wealthy, but his life was alwaysvery simple, holy and virtuous. When he was
sixteen years old, the pope consecrated him as a priest, since he still remembered
the poor soul and eagerly wished for its salvation. Thus, as soon as Johannes
was consecrated as a priest, he had to prepare immediately to say his first
Mass, in accordance with the will of the pope.
Johannes celebrated the Mass with great devotion, but as he
sang, serious, sad thoughts came to his mind, which soon pervaded his whole
soul. “How dare I”, he thought to himself, “do such a high, holy work and allow
myself to be called God's Priest, when I am still so young and have done
nothing yet to prove my love for God and make myself more worthy of his
service. I should always repent of this! And I am well aware that earthly goods
are harmful to the soul, which is why I want to be poor and forsake everything
to devote myself completely to God. Yes, this very day I want to leave this
place and go to the forest, somewhere quiet and isolated, and stay there as
long as I live.”
These were Johannes’ thoughts while celebrating the Mass; he
always wished: ah! if only the Mass were already over! and time seemed
infinitely long to him. When the Mass ended, the pope and all the others
joyfully went to the table. They heartily welcomed the young priest, and
everyone ate plenty of all that they could possibly wish for. However, Johannes
never ceased thinking about his resolution, and his pious desire to leave
everything for love grew with every moment. As soon as the meal was over, he
quietly stole away from them, put on bad clothes which made him wholly
unrecognisable, and headed deep into the forest. The pope and the others soon
noticed his absence and were terribly sad to have lost him. They sought him
everywhere but could not understand where he might have gone.
The young man made his way far into the forest cutting his
own pathways through the undergrowth; he had been walking for several days
without food or rest. Then he asked God to take care of him, and soon after
heard a small spring rushing under a large, hollow stone. Johannes thought:
here shall be your home! The tall trees bent their branches over him, the brook
was flowing cheerfully and the birds showed their amusement through the
flapping of their wings and the sound of their throats. He built a little monastic-like
cell, covered it with grass and bark, kept it safe from the animals and looked
around for herbs and roots, from which he eked out a miserable living, until he
gradually learnt what kinds of roots and herbs were good and edible. Yet he
often looked up to God and served Him day and night with all sorts of religious
practices. Nor did he regret his decision at all, and he happily rejoiced in
having forsaken all he had to carry it out; indeed, he believed he had won
everything and lost nothing.
“Do I not see every night,” he said, “the great blue arc of
Heaven above me, studded with golden stars, which act as countless eyes to
witness my devotion? All creatures serve me as a bright mirror in which to see
the radiant image of the most beautiful and highest being! This small, leaping
brook, which so nimbly forges ahead to lose itself in the bosom of the vast
sea, tells me with its lovely voice: ‘Notice how you must hasten to sink into
the lap of love, into the inexhaustible sea of goodness’. And the merry forest
birds, do they not teach me how to praise my Creator from dawn to dusk?
At this time when the young man was living in the forest,
there was a very pious emperor who had a wonderful castle, in which his wife
and his court servants lived. This castle was not far from the forest where
Johannes lived, and one summer’s day the emperor's daughter went into the
verdant grounds with several beautiful maidens to enjoy the fresh flowers and
lovely green trees and to amuse themselves playing innocent games.
Unexpectedly, a storm arose with such violence that the maidens began to be
filled with dread. The impetuous whirlwind grabbed the emperor's daughter and
carried her away, in view of all her friends, so high up in the air that they
had no idea where she had gone. The maidens were so dismayed that they did not
know what to say to the emperor. As they returned to the castle, they told the
tragic and extraordinary story, causing great sorrow to the emperor, his wife
and the whole court.
The heavy gale took the young lady far away in its jocular
cloak, until it finally lowered its wings and gently put her down by the hollow
stone where St. Johannes' cell was, so that no harm would be done to her. The
beautiful young lady stood there alone, wearing a crown and a magnificent robe,
wondering where to go. She wrung her delicate hands and tears fell from her
bright eyes into the clear water, which stopped its merry song and slowed its
rippling, while the curious forest birds flew, astonished, to look upon the
marvellous scene. Then the young lady noticed Johannes' cell, looked inside and
saw the young man lying on the ground and praying, as he often did. She was
very delighted and cried out in a loud voice: “Dear sir! I beg you to let me
into your cell for God's sake!”
Johannes was very frightened; the voice seemed to him as
sweet as the voice of the Holy Virgin. He got up, looked around, but his heart
was pounding so fast he could not talk or move any further. The maiden called
again and tenderly implored him to let her in, but he stayed silent. Then she
spoke again: “I see that you are a pious, holy man, and therefore you should
have compassion for me, for if I lose my life in this wasteland and am preyed
upon by the wild beasts, it would be your fault and you would one day have to
give account for my life and suffer punishment for it.”
So, Johannes reached the door, opened it and saw the
beautiful maiden with great astonishment. He asked who she was and how she had
come here, and she answered him nothing but: “It's God's will, I can tell you
nothing more!”
Johannes thought: “If she loses her life here, I will be
guilty of it and have to account for it to God”. So he let her into the cell,
where it was already starting to dawn. Johannes drew a line with his staff
through the cell and said to the young lady: “If you are in this part, I want
to be in the other; do not come to me beyond this circle and pray with
diligence.”
The young lady answered: “I will do so gladly”, and lay down
on the bed; but she hardly slept as her delicate limbs were not used to such a
hard bed. When the dawn brightened the dark cell, she thought worriedly: “What
will I eat today? The kind man that hosts me has nothing to give me and I will
be overcome with grief here and increase his own poverty.” Then, the young man
got up from his bed, knelt down and prayed with great devotion; his face was so
fresh, cheerful and reviving, like the rays of the early sun. The young lady
felt strengthened, stopped worrying and took good courage; she got up too and
learned his religious customs.
He asked her if she wanted to go out to eat something
together. She was glad to do so and went with him through the high, quiet
forest. He taught her to recognise the good herbs and roots, which they ate
just to satisfy their hunger. They shared much hardship together, but they
loved each other like angels and lived together in great innocence and peace.
Their days went by with prayers and devout, humble practices.
The eternal enemy of men envied their felicity and therefore
hated them both. He gave them evil advice and kindled a consuming desire in
their hearts. Johannes crossed over the sacred circle that he himself had drawn
and went to the young lady. He tenderly embraced her, strengthening her love
for him, and managed to make her fall into great sin by his will. But they both
immediately felt a profound regret and could not console themselves for having
offended God. Johannes felt a burning despair in his heart. He thought: “All
the good things that I have done through God are meaningless, all of them!” In
that moment, he heard the anxious laments of the young lady, which tore his
heart to pieces.
Nevertheless, his love always drew him back to the young
lady and for several days he desperately struggled to stop himself. Then he
thought: “If this maiden were to stay with me for longer, I would commit yet
more sins with her”, and so he told her to follow him. The young lady did so.
He took her silently into the heart of the forest, where she had never been.
There was a large boulder standing all alone and it was as if all the other
creatures shied away and tried to flee from it. No grass would stretch its
green nets over it, no spring would shoot its silver arrow down to it, no
tree’s branches would waft cool air towards it, no bird would sing its lively
songs to it.
Johannes led the young lady up onto the high and lonely
boulder; he looked at her gravely with terror in his eyes and pushed her down
into the depths. Then he went back to his cell but he felt even less holy than
before. “Woe is me,” he exclaimed, “I murdered a beautiful and innocent woman!
She would have never thought about sin, if I had not led her to it and now I
have taken her life as well. Alas! God will take vengeance on me forever for my
unfaithfulness and wicked deed!” He then abandoned himself to despair; he left
his beloved forest and thought that he would never serve God again as he was
not worthy and all was lost.
Yet after a while, a weak hope stirred once more in his
heart and he thought: “I will confess.” He went to the pope in Rome, who was
his godfather, and confessed his sins to him with great sincerity and
repentance.
The pope did not recognise him as, ever since he had kissed
the heavenly young lady, the glowing ring which had shone on his mouth before
the kiss had gone out and become unnoticeable. He addressed him angrily and
said: “Get out of my sight, you behaved maliciously to that woman and yet it
was all your fault!” This saddened Johannes greatly, yet he thought: “I do not
want to give up on God” and went back to his cell in the forest. He seriously
pondered over how to impose on himself a heavy penitence. He thought to
himself: “No matter how great my guilt is, God's mercy is greater than
anything.” He decided to walk on his hands and feet, like an animal, until he
had attained God's mercy, and asked God to mercifully accept his repentance and
to give him a sign of his grace, when his guilt was atoned.
From then on, Johannes crawled like an animal of the forest;
he walked without standing up for some years. He crawled to look for his food
and, when he wanted to rest, he crawled to his cell. His clothes fell away from
him and his body became so disfigured and terrible to look at that no one could
have identified him as a human being. Fifteen years went by since he had been
in the forest, and meanwhile the empress, whose daughter was taken away by the
wind, was blessed with another child. When the child was to be baptised, the emperor
sent for the pope and many bishops. The pope, the bishops and a large entourage
went to the baptism and the pope took the child into his arms. Yet, the child
said: “I do not want to be baptised by you.”
The pope replied: “Make thy will known unto me, whether I
should baptise you” and the child repeated again: “I do not want to be baptised
by you!” Then, the pope was very frightened and said: “Now everyone hear, this
child has expressed its will itself, what does this strange creature mean?”
Then, he asked the child a third time and the child said: “I want to be
baptised by St. Johannes, the holy man, and God will soon release him from his
torment.”
The pope gave the child back to the nurse, went to the
empress and asked who Johannes was, who was meant to baptise the child. Yet
nobody knew anything about him.
Afterwards, the emperor ordered the hunter to ride to the
forest to catch a deer for his court and for the baptism celebration. The
hunter had ridden over a mile when he heard dogs barking. When he rode to them,
he saw an animal with a hideous form and which he did not recognise. At first,
he backed away and thought: “I would rather ride back empty-handed than face
this monster, which could easily tear me apart.” However, when he thought about
his master's anger if he were to return empty-handed, he entrusted himself to
God's protection and attacked the animal. Yet the animal laid still in front of
him; he threw his coat over it and tied its feet together. He was glad that the
animal was so tame and tied it behind him on his horse before returning to his
master in the castle.
When the hunter arrived at the castle, many people wanted to
see the fantastic, hideous animal which he had brought with him, but he hid it
from the eyes of those curious people. Then, the nurse came as well with the
little child and said: “Show me the animal.” Many knights and women were there
too, who wanted to see it. It was driven out of the corner and the newly born
child said: “Johannes, my dear sir, I should be baptised by you.”
Johannes replied: “If it is God's will and if your words are
true, say it again!”
The child said for the second time: “My dear sir, what are
you hesitating for? I want to be baptised by you”.
Then a heavenly fountain of hope burst forth within Johannes'
sad mind and he asked God with fervent devotion to tell him through the child's
mouth whether he had atoned for his sins.
The child said: “Johannes, you should be happy because God
forgave your sins, so stand up and baptise me in the name of God!”
Johannes straightened up from the earth; instantly, all of
the terrible aspects of his form fell from him, like an outdated dress, and he
stood there with pure and fresh beauty, like a celestial youth. The golden ring
on his mouth started shining anew like a faint star. Clothes were brought to
him; the pope and the lords all welcomed him, and he baptised the child with
great joy and devotion.
Afterwards, the pope asked him to sit down with him and
Johannes told him: “Dear Father, do you not know me anymore?” The pope replied:
“No”, thus Johannes said: “I am Johannes, whom you once baptised and let go to school.
You gave me many benefices and even ordained me as a priest. Yet, when I sang
my first Mass, it struck my heart and I thought that it was not fair for me to
act like God with my childish hands. So I sneaked away in secret and went to
the forest, where I suffered much adversity.”
He told him everything that had happened to him, how it had
been with the young lady and everything that had previously confessed to him.
The emperor heard his speech and his heart became heavy as
he thought: “Should that lady perhaps have been my unfortunate daughter?” and
said: “If only there were someone who could take me to the boulder where the
woman lost her life so that we could find her remains and bury them!”
Johannes replied: “If the hunter could take me back to the
place where he found me, I could show him the stone.”
The hunter promised to do so and rode with Johannes to the
spot in the forest; then Johannes took him to the boulder where they both saw a
beautiful woman, lively and in good health, sitting before their eyes. Johannes
was amazed and asked her: “Who are you sitting all alone on this boulder?”
She asked him if he did not recognise her and he answered: “No.”
She then said: “I am the woman who once came to your cell and you pushed off
this stone.”
Johannes asked her: “Who helped you to survive?”
She replied: “God's goodness presided over me such that no
harm could befall me!” The woman was beautiful, even more so than she had been
before, even her dress was preserved intact; yet she was pale and white like
someone who no longer belongs to the Earth.
He was astonished; he told her to go with him and took her
to her father and mother. They knew her well; they wept with joy, embraced her
and thanked God that they had found their dear daughter again. Then, the
emperor asked how she had survived, and she replied: “There is nothing God
cannot do. Neither wind, rain, snow, heat nor frost can harm me. The natural
elements have made peace with me. I feel neither thirst nor hunger anymore; I
will tell you nothing more!”
As long as she lived, she never again wore the colour of
life, nor did anyone see her eating earthly food anymore. She did not cry or
laugh anymore, but always prayed.
The pope rode home again and said to Johannes: “Dear godson!
I want to give the news to your parents that I have found you and that you are
well and in good health.” He then sent his servant with the news to them, which
they were greatly pleased by. They set out to meet him and embraced him with
great joy.
Afterwards, the pope asked him how many Masses he had held.
When he heard that it was only one, he complained loudly and shouted: “Oh, woe!
Poor soul that had to suffer such great pain and for so long!” Johannes asked
him what he meant by that speech. The pope told him how wretchedly he had once
heard a soul crying in the forest and how it said to him that Johannes would
relieve it from its pain as soon as he had sung his sixteenth Mass. The pope
explained this was why he had ordained him so early for priesthood, so that the
poor soul, whose great cry of pain he could never forget, would soon be helped.
Johannes said: “Father! I shall gladly do what you want me
to.”
Thereupon, he held Masses every day and prayed earnestly for
the poor soul and when the sixteenth Mass was over, the soul was released from
all of its torment. Then, the pope made him a bishop and sent him to his
diocese. Yet he was very humble and served God with great zeal. The ring on his
mouth shone again with great clarity and he preached such sweet words that once
again everyone called him Johannes with the golden mouth.
Shortly after that, he was expelled from his diocese and
went to a wild and remote area. There, he wrote many sacred words about God and
His word. When he ran out of ink, he wrote with his mouth; whatever he said
came out in golden letters. That is why he was called Johannes with the golden
mouth; finally, he died in a state of blessedness, and was venerated as a
saint.
Original Source Text: Von Hammerstein, K., & Brentano-Mereau, S. (1997), 'Johannes mit dem güldnen Mund' in Ein
Glück, das kleine Wirklichkeit umspannt: Gedichte und Erzählungen (Deutsche Taschenbuch, 1997)
There once lived a pope in Rome, who went out riding one day
with a great retinue. The pope was in the habit of frequently riding away from
the others so that he could pray in solitude. And so he did now, leaving his
retinue and riding far into a high forest, where, as soon as he found himself
alone, he said his prayers with such deep devotion and loud voice that his
words echoed through the green halls of the high, quiet temple. Suddenly, a
loud sound of such pitiful pain reached him through that otherwise peaceful and
isolated place, that he could not resist a shudder and thought to himself:
“Woe, what a pitiful voice this is!” He wanted to ride on, but the wailing
became more and more fearful and he decided to see what it might be. He turned
to the place where the voice came from, hearing it draw closer and closer, and
finally very close to him, yet he could not perceive anything with his eyes. He
thought again: “How strange it seemed to me! How can it be that I only hear and
yet see nothing?” Then he raised his voice and said aloud: “I command you by
God that you tell me what you are!”
Then the voice piteously answered: “Woe is me! I am a poor
soul who has barely been without torment for the time it would take one eye to
blink, so infinitely great is my agony in purgatory!”
When the pious pope heard this, he shed many tears out of
pity and asked the soul if he could help it. The voice, however, replied: “No!”
So, the pope said: “I am profoundly sorry about that. Yet,
since God has put so much power into my hands to absolve all kinds of guilt,
would it not be possible for me to somehow release you from your torment?”
The voice replied: “This night something was revealed to me,
which is the only thing to give me some hope. In Rome there lives a pious man,
who has a good wife. She is pregnant with a child, who will become a holy man.
He will be called Johannes and will become a priest. And when the priest has said
his sixteenth Mass, I, poor soul, shall be delivered from my torment.”
Then the voice told the name of the man and the street where
he lived. The pope departed and still heard its piercing, fearful lamentation
far, far away, as before.
The pope returned to his retinue, but no one was allowed to
ask him where he had been for so long. He rode back to Rome, quite sad and
thoughtful, and immediately sent for the married couple described by the poor
soul. When they both arrived, he received them amicably and said: “I know that
you will have a child, and now I beg you both to let me know as soon as the
child is born. I will baptise him and take care of the child. In the future I
will always act as a father to him.”
The good couple were very pleased, and both thanked him from
the bottom of their hearts. Then he gave them his blessing and gave them leave
to go.
As soon as the child was born, they reported it to the pope,
who was very happy about it, because he often looked back on the agony of that
poor soul and wished its salvation with all his heart. The child was named
Johannes and the pope took him to court with his nurse. There, he took great
care of him, because he enjoyed observing him grow up.
When he was seven years old, he was allowed to go to school,
but the boy was slower in understanding than all his classmates, and often had
to endure much mockery and scorn because of this. This hurt him terribly; he
went to church every day, where he knelt down before the painting of the Virgin
Mary and, crying hot tears, earnestly begged her for help.
One day he was praying like this in front of the painting.
He wrung his small hands, wept bitter tears and implored the Holy Virgin with
the deepest devotion and the most moving words not to deny him her help, and to
have mercy on him, so that he would learn better in the future and would no
longer have to endure the reprimands of his teachers and the contempt of his
classmates. Then Mary's fair lips moved, and a heavenly sweet voice spoke to
him: “Come up to me and kiss me on the mouth and new life will come into you.
The ray of all knowledge will dawn in your soul and you will be more learned
than anyone on Earth.”
The boy was very frightened when he heard these words, a
shudder went through him and he dared not do what she commanded him. But the
Mother of God told him kindly once again: “Come to me with confidence, I will
give you my guidance!”
As he was still hesitating, he saw himself surrounded by a
heavenly clarity; a sweetly scented cloud descended on him and lifted him up
with gentle, joyful force into the arms of the painting. He was then able to
touch the holy mouth of the divine Virgin with his pure, childlike lips and
suck all heavenly knowledge out of it. From that moment on, he was blessed with
the gift of being able to speak of God and all things with more insight than
any of the teachers.
When the boy went back to school wanting to learn, he could
do more than all the others put together. The classmates began to laugh and
said: “How is it possible that you are suddenly so learned and now able to do
more than all of us, when the harshest punishments have never been able to
teach you anything before?”
However, when they looked at him, they were astonished to
see a fine, golden ring around his mouth, which shone as sweetly as a sparkling
star of true, profound brightness. They asked him how it had come to pass, and
he told them what had happened to him. Since nobody could understand his great
knowledge, from then on, they all began to learn from him. They started to call
him Johannes with the golden mouth, because he spoke golden words with golden
lips. He wore this ring as long as he lived, as well as the name.
The pope loved Johannes so very much, that when a benefice
became vacant, he was pleased to give it to him. Johannes became quite rich and
wealthy, but his life was alwaysvery simple, holy and virtuous. When he was
sixteen years old, the pope consecrated him as a priest, since he still remembered
the poor soul and eagerly wished for its salvation. Thus, as soon as Johannes
was consecrated as a priest, he had to prepare immediately to say his first
Mass, in accordance with the will of the pope.
Johannes celebrated the Mass with great devotion, but as he
sang, serious, sad thoughts came to his mind, which soon pervaded his whole
soul. “How dare I”, he thought to himself, “do such a high, holy work and allow
myself to be called God's Priest, when I am still so young and have done
nothing yet to prove my love for God and make myself more worthy of his
service. I should always repent of this! And I am well aware that earthly goods
are harmful to the soul, which is why I want to be poor and forsake everything
to devote myself completely to God. Yes, this very day I want to leave this
place and go to the forest, somewhere quiet and isolated, and stay there as
long as I live.”
These were Johannes’ thoughts while celebrating the Mass; he
always wished: ah! if only the Mass were already over! and time seemed
infinitely long to him. When the Mass ended, the pope and all the others
joyfully went to the table. They heartily welcomed the young priest, and
everyone ate plenty of all that they could possibly wish for. However, Johannes
never ceased thinking about his resolution, and his pious desire to leave
everything for love grew with every moment. As soon as the meal was over, he
quietly stole away from them, put on bad clothes which made him wholly
unrecognisable, and headed deep into the forest. The pope and the others soon
noticed his absence and were terribly sad to have lost him. They sought him
everywhere but could not understand where he might have gone.
The young man made his way far into the forest cutting his
own pathways through the undergrowth; he had been walking for several days
without food or rest. Then he asked God to take care of him, and soon after
heard a small spring rushing under a large, hollow stone. Johannes thought:
here shall be your home! The tall trees bent their branches over him, the brook
was flowing cheerfully and the birds showed their amusement through the
flapping of their wings and the sound of their throats. He built a little monastic-like
cell, covered it with grass and bark, kept it safe from the animals and looked
around for herbs and roots, from which he eked out a miserable living, until he
gradually learnt what kinds of roots and herbs were good and edible. Yet he
often looked up to God and served Him day and night with all sorts of religious
practices. Nor did he regret his decision at all, and he happily rejoiced in
having forsaken all he had to carry it out; indeed, he believed he had won
everything and lost nothing.
“Do I not see every night,” he said, “the great blue arc of
Heaven above me, studded with golden stars, which act as countless eyes to
witness my devotion? All creatures serve me as a bright mirror in which to see
the radiant image of the most beautiful and highest being! This small, leaping
brook, which so nimbly forges ahead to lose itself in the bosom of the vast
sea, tells me with its lovely voice: ‘Notice how you must hasten to sink into
the lap of love, into the inexhaustible sea of goodness’. And the merry forest
birds, do they not teach me how to praise my Creator from dawn to dusk?
At this time when the young man was living in the forest,
there was a very pious emperor who had a wonderful castle, in which his wife
and his court servants lived. This castle was not far from the forest where
Johannes lived, and one summer’s day the emperor's daughter went into the
verdant grounds with several beautiful maidens to enjoy the fresh flowers and
lovely green trees and to amuse themselves playing innocent games.
Unexpectedly, a storm arose with such violence that the maidens began to be
filled with dread. The impetuous whirlwind grabbed the emperor's daughter and
carried her away, in view of all her friends, so high up in the air that they
had no idea where she had gone. The maidens were so dismayed that they did not
know what to say to the emperor. As they returned to the castle, they told the
tragic and extraordinary story, causing great sorrow to the emperor, his wife
and the whole court.
The heavy gale took the young lady far away in its jocular
cloak, until it finally lowered its wings and gently put her down by the hollow
stone where St. Johannes' cell was, so that no harm would be done to her. The
beautiful young lady stood there alone, wearing a crown and a magnificent robe,
wondering where to go. She wrung her delicate hands and tears fell from her
bright eyes into the clear water, which stopped its merry song and slowed its
rippling, while the curious forest birds flew, astonished, to look upon the
marvellous scene. Then the young lady noticed Johannes' cell, looked inside and
saw the young man lying on the ground and praying, as he often did. She was
very delighted and cried out in a loud voice: “Dear sir! I beg you to let me
into your cell for God's sake!”
Johannes was very frightened; the voice seemed to him as
sweet as the voice of the Holy Virgin. He got up, looked around, but his heart
was pounding so fast he could not talk or move any further. The maiden called
again and tenderly implored him to let her in, but he stayed silent. Then she
spoke again: “I see that you are a pious, holy man, and therefore you should
have compassion for me, for if I lose my life in this wasteland and am preyed
upon by the wild beasts, it would be your fault and you would one day have to
give account for my life and suffer punishment for it.”
So, Johannes reached the door, opened it and saw the
beautiful maiden with great astonishment. He asked who she was and how she had
come here, and she answered him nothing but: “It's God's will, I can tell you
nothing more!”
Johannes thought: “If she loses her life here, I will be
guilty of it and have to account for it to God”. So he let her into the cell,
where it was already starting to dawn. Johannes drew a line with his staff
through the cell and said to the young lady: “If you are in this part, I want
to be in the other; do not come to me beyond this circle and pray with
diligence.”
The young lady answered: “I will do so gladly”, and lay down
on the bed; but she hardly slept as her delicate limbs were not used to such a
hard bed. When the dawn brightened the dark cell, she thought worriedly: “What
will I eat today? The kind man that hosts me has nothing to give me and I will
be overcome with grief here and increase his own poverty.” Then, the young man
got up from his bed, knelt down and prayed with great devotion; his face was so
fresh, cheerful and reviving, like the rays of the early sun. The young lady
felt strengthened, stopped worrying and took good courage; she got up too and
learned his religious customs.
He asked her if she wanted to go out to eat something
together. She was glad to do so and went with him through the high, quiet
forest. He taught her to recognise the good herbs and roots, which they ate
just to satisfy their hunger. They shared much hardship together, but they
loved each other like angels and lived together in great innocence and peace.
Their days went by with prayers and devout, humble practices.
The eternal enemy of men envied their felicity and therefore
hated them both. He gave them evil advice and kindled a consuming desire in
their hearts. Johannes crossed over the sacred circle that he himself had drawn
and went to the young lady. He tenderly embraced her, strengthening her love
for him, and managed to make her fall into great sin by his will. But they both
immediately felt a profound regret and could not console themselves for having
offended God. Johannes felt a burning despair in his heart. He thought: “All
the good things that I have done through God are meaningless, all of them!” In
that moment, he heard the anxious laments of the young lady, which tore his
heart to pieces.
Nevertheless, his love always drew him back to the young
lady and for several days he desperately struggled to stop himself. Then he
thought: “If this maiden were to stay with me for longer, I would commit yet
more sins with her”, and so he told her to follow him. The young lady did so.
He took her silently into the heart of the forest, where she had never been.
There was a large boulder standing all alone and it was as if all the other
creatures shied away and tried to flee from it. No grass would stretch its
green nets over it, no spring would shoot its silver arrow down to it, no
tree’s branches would waft cool air towards it, no bird would sing its lively
songs to it.
Johannes led the young lady up onto the high and lonely
boulder; he looked at her gravely with terror in his eyes and pushed her down
into the depths. Then he went back to his cell but he felt even less holy than
before. “Woe is me,” he exclaimed, “I murdered a beautiful and innocent woman!
She would have never thought about sin, if I had not led her to it and now I
have taken her life as well. Alas! God will take vengeance on me forever for my
unfaithfulness and wicked deed!” He then abandoned himself to despair; he left
his beloved forest and thought that he would never serve God again as he was
not worthy and all was lost.
Yet after a while, a weak hope stirred once more in his
heart and he thought: “I will confess.” He went to the pope in Rome, who was
his godfather, and confessed his sins to him with great sincerity and
repentance.
The pope did not recognise him as, ever since he had kissed
the heavenly young lady, the glowing ring which had shone on his mouth before
the kiss had gone out and become unnoticeable. He addressed him angrily and
said: “Get out of my sight, you behaved maliciously to that woman and yet it
was all your fault!” This saddened Johannes greatly, yet he thought: “I do not
want to give up on God” and went back to his cell in the forest. He seriously
pondered over how to impose on himself a heavy penitence. He thought to
himself: “No matter how great my guilt is, God's mercy is greater than
anything.” He decided to walk on his hands and feet, like an animal, until he
had attained God's mercy, and asked God to mercifully accept his repentance and
to give him a sign of his grace, when his guilt was atoned.
From then on, Johannes crawled like an animal of the forest;
he walked without standing up for some years. He crawled to look for his food
and, when he wanted to rest, he crawled to his cell. His clothes fell away from
him and his body became so disfigured and terrible to look at that no one could
have identified him as a human being. Fifteen years went by since he had been
in the forest, and meanwhile the empress, whose daughter was taken away by the
wind, was blessed with another child. When the child was to be baptised, the emperor
sent for the pope and many bishops. The pope, the bishops and a large entourage
went to the baptism and the pope took the child into his arms. Yet, the child
said: “I do not want to be baptised by you.”
The pope replied: “Make thy will known unto me, whether I
should baptise you” and the child repeated again: “I do not want to be baptised
by you!” Then, the pope was very frightened and said: “Now everyone hear, this
child has expressed its will itself, what does this strange creature mean?”
Then, he asked the child a third time and the child said: “I want to be
baptised by St. Johannes, the holy man, and God will soon release him from his
torment.”
The pope gave the child back to the nurse, went to the
empress and asked who Johannes was, who was meant to baptise the child. Yet
nobody knew anything about him.
Afterwards, the emperor ordered the hunter to ride to the
forest to catch a deer for his court and for the baptism celebration. The
hunter had ridden over a mile when he heard dogs barking. When he rode to them,
he saw an animal with a hideous form and which he did not recognise. At first,
he backed away and thought: “I would rather ride back empty-handed than face
this monster, which could easily tear me apart.” However, when he thought about
his master's anger if he were to return empty-handed, he entrusted himself to
God's protection and attacked the animal. Yet the animal laid still in front of
him; he threw his coat over it and tied its feet together. He was glad that the
animal was so tame and tied it behind him on his horse before returning to his
master in the castle.
When the hunter arrived at the castle, many people wanted to
see the fantastic, hideous animal which he had brought with him, but he hid it
from the eyes of those curious people. Then, the nurse came as well with the
little child and said: “Show me the animal.” Many knights and women were there
too, who wanted to see it. It was driven out of the corner and the newly born
child said: “Johannes, my dear sir, I should be baptised by you.”
Johannes replied: “If it is God's will and if your words are
true, say it again!”
The child said for the second time: “My dear sir, what are
you hesitating for? I want to be baptised by you”.
Then a heavenly fountain of hope burst forth within Johannes'
sad mind and he asked God with fervent devotion to tell him through the child's
mouth whether he had atoned for his sins.
The child said: “Johannes, you should be happy because God
forgave your sins, so stand up and baptise me in the name of God!”
Johannes straightened up from the earth; instantly, all of
the terrible aspects of his form fell from him, like an outdated dress, and he
stood there with pure and fresh beauty, like a celestial youth. The golden ring
on his mouth started shining anew like a faint star. Clothes were brought to
him; the pope and the lords all welcomed him, and he baptised the child with
great joy and devotion.
Afterwards, the pope asked him to sit down with him and
Johannes told him: “Dear Father, do you not know me anymore?” The pope replied:
“No”, thus Johannes said: “I am Johannes, whom you once baptised and let go to school.
You gave me many benefices and even ordained me as a priest. Yet, when I sang
my first Mass, it struck my heart and I thought that it was not fair for me to
act like God with my childish hands. So I sneaked away in secret and went to
the forest, where I suffered much adversity.”
He told him everything that had happened to him, how it had
been with the young lady and everything that had previously confessed to him.
The emperor heard his speech and his heart became heavy as
he thought: “Should that lady perhaps have been my unfortunate daughter?” and
said: “If only there were someone who could take me to the boulder where the
woman lost her life so that we could find her remains and bury them!”
Johannes replied: “If the hunter could take me back to the
place where he found me, I could show him the stone.”
The hunter promised to do so and rode with Johannes to the
spot in the forest; then Johannes took him to the boulder where they both saw a
beautiful woman, lively and in good health, sitting before their eyes. Johannes
was amazed and asked her: “Who are you sitting all alone on this boulder?”
She asked him if he did not recognise her and he answered: “No.”
She then said: “I am the woman who once came to your cell and you pushed off
this stone.”
Johannes asked her: “Who helped you to survive?”
She replied: “God's goodness presided over me such that no
harm could befall me!” The woman was beautiful, even more so than she had been
before, even her dress was preserved intact; yet she was pale and white like
someone who no longer belongs to the Earth.
He was astonished; he told her to go with him and took her
to her father and mother. They knew her well; they wept with joy, embraced her
and thanked God that they had found their dear daughter again. Then, the
emperor asked how she had survived, and she replied: “There is nothing God
cannot do. Neither wind, rain, snow, heat nor frost can harm me. The natural
elements have made peace with me. I feel neither thirst nor hunger anymore; I
will tell you nothing more!”
As long as she lived, she never again wore the colour of
life, nor did anyone see her eating earthly food anymore. She did not cry or
laugh anymore, but always prayed.
The pope rode home again and said to Johannes: “Dear godson!
I want to give the news to your parents that I have found you and that you are
well and in good health.” He then sent his servant with the news to them, which
they were greatly pleased by. They set out to meet him and embraced him with
great joy.
Afterwards, the pope asked him how many Masses he had held.
When he heard that it was only one, he complained loudly and shouted: “Oh, woe!
Poor soul that had to suffer such great pain and for so long!” Johannes asked
him what he meant by that speech. The pope told him how wretchedly he had once
heard a soul crying in the forest and how it said to him that Johannes would
relieve it from its pain as soon as he had sung his sixteenth Mass. The pope
explained this was why he had ordained him so early for priesthood, so that the
poor soul, whose great cry of pain he could never forget, would soon be helped.
Johannes said: “Father! I shall gladly do what you want me
to.”
Thereupon, he held Masses every day and prayed earnestly for
the poor soul and when the sixteenth Mass was over, the soul was released from
all of its torment. Then, the pope made him a bishop and sent him to his
diocese. Yet he was very humble and served God with great zeal. The ring on his
mouth shone again with great clarity and he preached such sweet words that once
again everyone called him Johannes with the golden mouth.
Shortly after that, he was expelled from his diocese and
went to a wild and remote area. There, he wrote many sacred words about God and
His word. When he ran out of ink, he wrote with his mouth; whatever he said
came out in golden letters. That is why he was called Johannes with the golden
mouth; finally, he died in a state of blessedness, and was venerated as a
saint.
Original Source Text: Von Hammerstein, K., & Brentano-Mereau, S. (1997), 'Johannes mit dem güldnen Mund' in Ein
Glück, das kleine Wirklichkeit umspannt: Gedichte und Erzählungen (Deutsche Taschenbuch, 1997)
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