Truchlivý I

Truchlivý, to jest Smutné a tesklivé člověka křesťanského nad žalostnými vlasti a církve bídami naříkání: v kterémž se jemu nejprve Rozum, potom Víra ozývají, potěšovati ho, ale nadarmo, usilujíce; za tim tedy Kristus vystoupě, zůřivě jej z netrpělivosti obviňuje, místné strašlivých svých ran příčiny ukazuje, bolesti jemu ulehčuje, časné i věčné vysvobození zaslibuje, i jak by se k obojímu hotoviti měl, poučuje

Sorrowing, that is, the Sad and wistful lamentation of a Christian person over the anguished straits of their homeland and church; in which first Reason and later Faith make themselves heard, attempting to cheer him, but to no avail; Christ then appears, angrily accusing them of impatience, showing the causes of the terrible wounds, relieving the pain, promising an early and eternal liberation, and teaching how to be prepared for both.

Origin of the work:
  perhaps in 1623

Editions:
  perhaps 1624, Prague

1910 Brno, Veškeré spisy J. A. Komenského, vol. XV.

1916 Táboř

1978 Prague, J. A. Comenii Opera omnia, vol. 3.

Contents:

This tract is the first of a total of four “conversations with a grieving spirit”, in which Comenius/the Sorrowing attempts to make sense of the suffering of individuals and the nation, and to find hope and direction in a world disrupted by war. The conversational format makes it possible to ask the most burning questions, and express the most painful doubts, that tormented the majority of Czech evangelicals, and to search for answers. The first two parts of the Sorrowing were widely distributed as copies and secret printings, which shows that Comenius really did manage to raise common questions, and to find soothing answers for them. The third part of the Sorrowing was a reaction to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, and the last to the tragic end of the colony of Czech exiles at Leszno in 1656.

For further study, see also:

Veškeré spisy J. A. Komenského, vol. XV. Brno 1910, pp95-97

J. A. Comenii Opera omnia, vol. 3. Prague 1978, pp131-136

Jan Kumpera, Jan Amos Komenský, poutník na rozhraní věků. Prague & Ostrava 1992, pp304-306