ZOBEL, JOHANN AMBROS. - Redemptorist, b. at Schattenwald (Tyrol) on 7 Dec. 1815, d. at Luxembourg on 6 Sept. 1893.

From 1843, the year of his priestly ordination, for exactly half a century he carried on preaching in Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, while at the same time exerting himself to spread the Congregation to which he belonged. Among other things, the foundation of the houses of Bochum and Luxembourg is owed to him.

A sacred orator of singular eloquence, he loved to address himself to the popular classes, especially through penitential missions and catechesis for adults, propagating devotion to the Holy Family of Nazareth. Indeed, his little volume of prayers and meditations (Die hl. Familie) went through about ten editions between 1853 and 1900 and is still widely circulated in the German-speaking countries. Other writings of his on piety are also in print, as well as several volumes of sermons (cf. A. de Meulemeester, Bibl. gén. des écrivains rédemptristes, II, Louvain 1935, pp. 479-80). A particularly glorious page in Z.'s life is that of his vehement defense of the rights of the Church against Bismarck's Kulturkampf, conducted with such apostolic zeal as to cost him expulsion from the German Reich.

Bibliography

BIBL.: P. Zender, P. J. A. Z.: ein Lebensbild, Luxembourg 1894.

Renzo U. Montini

@incollection{ec12_zobel_johann_ambros, author = {Montini, Renzo Uberto}, title = {Zobel, johann ambros}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1806}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/zobel-johann-ambros} }

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Zobel, Johann Ambros

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