Pieśni nabożne o piekle... i Wieczność straszliwa [...] na uchronę potępienia (1692) – uwagi o nieznanym polskim druku Stefana Wielowieyskiego

Abstract

This article contains observations on the content of a hitherto unexplored Old Polish work of the late 17th century on religious and eschatological themes. Although its author, a Jesuit Stefan Wielowieyski, refers to 17th-century conventions of writing about hell and the final destiny of the human soul, he modifies these conventions considerably. The article demonstrates that the modification of writing about hell and the afterlife was influenced both by the teachings of eminent theologians (the Fathers of the Church, St Augustine and especially St Bernard of Clairvaux) and by new trends in Christian spirituality. Indeed, Polish mysticism was developing exuberantly in the Polish Nobles’ Republic at the end of the 17th century, and the new generation of the Counter-Reformation promoted ‘spiritual exercises’ in the monasteries.