ANGELUS SILESIUS German religious poet, was born in 1624 at Breslau, and died there on July 9, 1677. His family name was JOHANN SCHEFFLER, but he is generally known by the pseudonym Angelus Silesius, under which he published his poems and which marks the country of his birth. Brought up a Lutheran, and at first physician to the duke of Wurttemberg-Oels, he joined in 1652 the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1661 took orders as a priest and became coadjutor to the prince bishop of Breslau. In 1657 Silesius published under the title Heilige Seelen lust, oder geistliche Hirtenlieder der in ihren Jesum verliebten Psyche a collection of 205 hymns, the best of which have been adopted in the German Protestant hymnal. His most important work is Geistreiche Sinn and Schlussreime (1657), afterwards called Cherubinischer Wandersmann (1674). This is a collection of "Reimspriiche" or rhymed distichs embodying a mystical pantheism drawn mainly from the writings of Jakob Bohme and his f ollowers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—A complete edition of Scheffler's works (SiimtBibliography.—A complete edition of Scheffler's works (Siimt- liche poetische Werke) was published by D. A. Rosenthal (Regens burg, 1862). Both the Cherubinischer Wandersmann and Heilige Seelenlust have been republished by G. Effinger (1895 and 19o1) , and a selection from the former work by 0. E. Hartleben (1896). For further notices of Silesius' life and work, see Hoffmann von Fallers leben in Weimarisches Jahrbuch I. (Hanover, 18S4) ; A. Kahlert, Angelus Silesius (1853) ; C. Seltmann, Angelus Silesius and seine Mystik (1896) , and a biog. by H. Mahn (Dresden, 1896).