Page - 73 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02

72 | Benedikt Bauer www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 67–79 steps exemplary passages from the Kleines Brüdergesangbuch, focusing on (1) the characterization of Jesus Christ, (2) anthropological statements, and (3) the connection between the conceptual pair bride/bridegroom, the semantics around the worship of the stigmata, and the recurring use of the term “dress”. JESUS CHRIST THE BRIDEGROOM Following the inherent logic of Christocentrism, a manifold articulation of the name of Jesus Christ is to be expected. The hymnbook Kleines Brüdergesangbuch is no exception: epithets with the name Jesus Christ enjoy such great popularity that we can only note a brief sample here. The naming of Jesus Christ as “bride- groom” is of particular importance for bridal mysticism. Although the specific term “bridegroom” is not so common, comparison of passages from the hymn- book makes evident that the status of Jesus as bridegroom is omnipresent as a subtext. We see in the following two passages, for example, that the term “man” – in German the term for man, “Mann”, is often a synonym for the term for husband, “(Ehe)Mann” – runs in parallel with the term “bridegroom”: Have You already loved me, as I was highly grieved? Didn’t You send your courting, bridegroom! to me?20 Which one amongst all … that long for their beloved, which one equals my man? … Which one will immolate his life willingly for the life of his bride? Where will such a couple be married?21 The German word for husband, Ehemann, which is semantically equivalent to “bridegroom”, is used only once in the first part of the Kleines Brüdergesangbuch but is directly connected to the term “savior” (Heiland), with the implication that the primary function of Jesus Christ in his status as bridegroom is redemptive: My Savior! If I a poor child that winds itself around your feet and can’t do even an hour without You, You soul husband [Seelen=Bräutigam], and that loves you above all and more than itself were more experienced in that language.22 20 All quotations from the Kleines Brüdergesangbuch are translated from the German version of the text in Beyreuther 1978 by me and are quoted according to the names of the hymnbook’s syllabus. Due to the fact that a continuous pagination is missing in the edition I will use the page numbers of each chapter of the hymnbook’s syllabus in addition to the regular citation. Because of the loss of literary quality in the translation, the original version of the lyrics is provided in the footnotes. “Hast Du mich doch schon geliebt, da ich Doch gleich hoch betrübt? hast Du deine werbung nicht, Bräutigam! auf mich gericht?” Beyreuther 1978, Hirten-Lieder, 84. 21 “Welcher unter allen denen … die sich nach geliebten sehnen, welcher gleichet meinem Mann? … Welcher wird sein eigen leben für das leben seiner braut williglich zum opfer geben? wo wird solch ein paar getraut?”, Beyreuther 1978, Hirten-Lieder, 108. 22 “Mein Heiland! wär ich armes kind, das sich um deine füsse windt, und Dich, du Seelen=Ehemann, nicht eine stunde missen kan, und das Dich über sich und alles liebt, in dieser sprache etwas mehr ge-übt”, Beyreuther 1978, 41.