Quote of the day, 10 November: Hermann Cohen

My God, is it possible to have lived without thinking of Jesus, without loving Jesus, without living for Jesus and in Jesus?

Now that your grace has awakened me, now that my eyes have seen, my hands have touched, my ears have heard, my heart has loved—yes, I love Jesus Christ. I shall take care not to hide it. I am in honor bound to proclaim it before the world.

I love Jesus Christ—that’s the secret of my immense peace which has gone on increasing since the first moment I began to love. I love Jesus Christ—this is what I want to proclaim to the ends of the earth.

I wish that the walls of this temple would expand to include the millions who live on the earth, so that my voice could reach and penetrate the depths of their hearts, making them vibrate in unison with mine, all responding together in one great hymn of joy and triumph, echoing from earth to heaven, “we too love Jesus Christ.”

Servant of God Hermann Cohen

Father Augustine Mary of the Blessed Sacrament
Sermon Fragment on the Love of Jesus

The Owlcation website offers an interesting biographical sketch of the Servant of God, The Metamorphosis of Hermann Cohen, which is illustrated with photos.

Born in a Jewish family in Hamburg, it outlines Father Hermann’s journey from Hamburg to Paris as a student of Franz Liszt in order to become a successful, internationally-recognized concert pianist. Then, it continues to detail his conversion in May 1847 while substituting for a friend as music director for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  Two years later, he entered the Discalced Carmelite friars in Le Broussey, France, exercising a rich and fruitful ministry.

The Association of Hebrew Catholics has published another fine biographical article, Hermann Cohen, Carmelite (1821-1870), which was written by a fellow Jewish convert and Discalced Carmelite, Father Elias Friedman, OCD, whose research we have featured previously on our blog.

The website of the Discalced Carmelite Postulator General also has published a brief biographical sketch of Hermann Cohen in Italian.

And, on 19 January 2016, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard announced that the Archdiocese of Bordeaux would begin its formal investigation into the life of heroic virtues, that is, the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, and others specific to his life as a professed Discalced Carmelite. 

Tierney, T  2017,  A Life of Hermann Cohen: From Franz Liszt to John of the Cross,  Balboa Press,  Bloomington, IN