Spiritual Alarm Clock

Catholischer Seelen Wecker, worinnen Morgen- Abends-mess Beicht und Com[m]union Gebetter wie auch kräftige Lytaneyen zum Trost und Heyl der Seelen begriffen seynd.
Illuminated manuscript on paper.
[Germany, ca. 1791]. (BRMS 117)

The title of this German prayer manuscript, intended for the Catholic laity, translates loosely as “the spiritual alarm clock.” In the exhibited opening, in which an image of the Christ Child slumbering with his Cross initiates the morning prayers, the poem beneath the image translates: “If you wish to sleep in peace with Jesus, then you must not go to bed a sinner.” Additional illuminations accompany prayers invoking the Trinity, the Virgin Mary, the Lamb of God, St. Mary Magdalen, the Holy Sacrament, the Holy Name of Jesus, King David, St. Joseph, and St. Anne, the mother of Mary. The date 1791 appears in gold on the binding.

Image of Christ Child slumbering with his Cross. The poem beneath the image translates: “If you wish to sleep in peace with Jesus, then you must not go to bed a sinner.”