A MITTENWALDI OLTÁRKÉPTŐL A MÁTÉ-PASSIÓIG TEOLÓGIAI IMPLIKÁCIÓK PAUL GERHARDT Ó, KRISZTUSFŐ, TE ZÚZOTT ÉNEKÉBEN

Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) Lutheran pastor, theologian and hymnwriter is, without doubt, one of our most popular and well-known hymnwriters of all time, whose works remained an important part of the Protestant hymns. Gerhardt’s lyrics are not only valuable for the Protestant church music and singing, because he was an excellent poet of his time, but also because every song of his has a mark of the theologian-pastor’s theological confidence. Life, death, the contemplation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ, the theme of the confession of divine providence – the spiritual depth is present in every topic, along with the deliberate and conscious theological conception. Furthermore, he paired them with his personal experiences, sufferings, and his persistent belief in spite of all these. His Passion hymn starting with the „O, Sacred Head, Now Wounded” – „O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” line certainly occupies an exceptional place, being one of the most frequently used good Friday’s hymns of ours. It has a baroque poet’s emotionality in it that gains from the orthodox Lu-theran liturgy and his personal experiences.