Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/47

 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 35 Synod of Basle, held in 1503, decrees that ' every Sunday those having the care of souls shall explain the Scriptures to the parish children in their native tongue. At the beginning of Lent they shall instruct those under their charge how to approach the sacrament of Penance, and exhort them to attend sermons and other doctrinal instructions on Sundays and holy days. Everyone should be present in the church, and listen attentively to the Word of God. All those who oppose this shall be reported to the bishop or his vicar.' ' All preachers of the Word of God should plead often and earnestly for the good bringing-up of children, and should ever be mindful of the claims of the poor, the lepers, the widows and the orphans, and all persons in any trouble or distress.' The Bamberg Synod of 1491 commands all preachers to explain the Holy Scriptures clearly and intelligibly, particularly the New Testa- ment, and to give instruction on the Ten Command- ments at least once a year. Wherever there was a mixture of Slavs in the population, they, too, were to be taken into consideration. Thus at the Diocesan Synod of Meissen in 1404 the decree was issued that every priest who has Slavs dwelling in his parish must have an assistant who speaks the Wendish tongue, in order that no member of the flock may be deprived of the privilege of hearing the Word. The ascetic books also of the time insist everywhere on the duty of all who have the care of souls to preach the Gospel regularly on Sundays and saints' days. As the sermons standpoint on this subject are M. Kerker, in Der Tubingen tJieologischen Quartelschrift (1861 and 1862), also L. Dacheur, in theEevue Catlwlique de V Alsace (1862). For answer to Kaweraus' attacks on the preaching of the Middle Ages, see Answer to My Critics, pp. 193-204. d 2