AUTHOR'S PREFACE.* THEODORE FLIEDNER, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY, BY THE GRACE OF GOD RESTORER OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE OF DEACONESS. Born at Eppstein, January 21, 1800. By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.-I Cor. xv. IO. THIS YEAR the Kaiserswerth Almanack celebrates its twenty-fifth year; but the author of the almanack, our dear Father Fliedner, celebrates a far happier jubilee; for on October 4, 1864, he entered that land where the redeemed rejoice and triumph for ever. There he sees at last clearly all the blessing brought by these almanacks (of which a million and a quarter have been * It must be remembered that this sketch first appeared in the Kaiserswerth Almanack for 1866, a circumstance which has necessitated a few slight alterations in the English version to adapt it to the general public. circulated) to Christendom at large, and thus to his dearly loved child in particular, the Deaconess House' at Kaiserswerth. First, let us give thanks to the Lord for such grace, and then, a hearty God reward thee!' to every faithful helper of the cause, and above all, to those clergymen and schoolmasters who, year by year, indefatigably distribute the Almanack, and look on all its defects with kind indulgence. Our gift, in return, is the life history of the author of the Almanack. Receive it and his likeness with kindness; as for us, our heart is yet heavy when we speak of him, but you may rejoice in the great work which God has accomplished through his means. And if you ask me, dear readers, wherein his peculiar significance and rare eminence in the kingdom of God consisted, I reply in one word: Fliedner was the father of the deaconesses. In God's good counsel, he was permitted to revive in the reformed and evangelical Church the apostolic office of deaconess. Mark, I say to revive, for it had already existed in the primitive ages. In the apostolic epistles, deaconesses as well as deacons are mentioned with praise, especially Phoebe, who is called a servant of the church at Cenchrea, i.e. a deaconess. So in later times, we find that deaconesses were employed in many ways in the care of the poor and the sick, of children and prisoners; so for instance, in the year A. D. 106, under the Emperor Trajan, two deaconesses in Bithynia were thrown into prison for their faith by their heathen rulers; and in the one congregation of Bishop Chrysostom in Constantinople, forty deaconesses were appointed. The office of deaconess, which the reigning Romish Church suffered to fall into desuetude during the middle ages, has always existed in essence among the Waldenses and Bohemian Brethren, and after the Reformation, its re-introduction was aimed at, and in many instances effected, in the churches of Germany, England, and Holland. Thus in the ordinances of the Lutheran Church of the city of Minden, in 1530, it is said: Also certain of the women who are strong, and provided with charitable gifts of bread or money, shall serve those who are in need.' In the famous first general synod of the Reformed Church of the Lower Rhine, which met at Wesel in 1568, it is declared to be desirable, That, in the larger towns, women also be appointed to the office of nursing the sick;' and in the synod of 1580, also at Wesel, it is said: 'With regard to the introduction of deaconesses, the brethren have declared that, whenever that office, which has died out in the kingdom of God, shall again be revived. . . . widows and no married women shall be chosen for it.' In the convent of Walsdorf, in Nassau, which was remodelled according to the Augsburg Confession, from 1608 onwards, the title of deaconess was given b to the woman who undertook the oversight of the sick poor of the congregation, and she was set apart for her work by the superintendent, with prayer and the imposition of hands. Through the unfavourableness of the times, and the unbelief of many Christians, this office unhappily fell into oblivion; until the Lord opened the way for its revival in the Protestant Church, just twenty-nine years ago, by his servant Fliedner, since when it has spread into every Protestant country of Europe, into America, Asia, and Africa. How this has come to pass, and how the Lord formed Fliedner to be His instrument for the work, and has most richly blessed his labours, shall be told here, simply and soberly; for such was Fliedner himself. Much of it has been written down by his own hand, in a manuscript book, on which he has inscribed: Short outline of my life until the completion of my fortieth year; written on the last day of this year (January 20, 1840), in thankful remembrance of all the love and goodness of our faithful God. To Him be glory, and praise, and honour, for ever and ever. Amen.' |