OTTONE di PASSAVIA (PASSAU). - Franciscan, moralist writer. Very little certain information is available about his life. He was lector at the convent of Basilea. On 2 February 1386 he completed the only work of his known to us: Die 24 Alten oder der goldene Thron der minnenden Seele.
It was composed with the aim of providing his penitents and all souls that love God with pious exhortations and teachings for their religious life. These are placed in the mouths of the 24 “Elders” of the Apocalypse (4:4, 10; 5:5 ff., etc.), who at that time also enjoyed a cult. The subject of the work comprises 24 sermons, each of which treats a particular theme; for example, contrition, Confession, Penance, external and internal discipline, love of God and neighbour, Holy Communion, etc. The sayings are taken from 104 named authors and are linked together by brief texts. The work marks the transition from speculative-mystical writings to the moral book of edification, with firm principles of Christian life, in a period of religious revolution. Its value and importance consist in this. Many manuscripts of it exist; it appeared in print in 1480, and its editions were subsequently multiplied.