Blessed Henry Suso
Also known as
- Amandus
- Heinrich Seuse
- Heinrich von Berg
- Henrik Seuse
- Henry Susone
- Servant of the Eternal Wisdom
Profile
Born to the German nobility. Joined the Dominicans at age 13. Known as a mystic. Served as prior at several houses. Theological student of Meister Eckhart in Cologne, Germany from 1322 to 1325. Taught in Constance, Switzerland. Spent years imprisoned in a dungeon due to slander and his association with Meister Eckhart, a controversial figure in his day. Great spiritual writer, using the pen name Amandus. Noted preacher in Switzerland and the area of the Upper Rhine. Spiritual advisor to Dominicans and the spiritual community called Gottesfreunde
Given to great austeries, Henry owned a half-length, tight-fitting, coarse undergarment equipped with 150 sharp brass nails, the points facing inward; he used it as his night shirt. After 16 years of this, an angel appeared to him on Pentecost Sunday and whispered that God wanted him to discontinue this practice; he threw his shirt into the Rhine.
Born
- 25 January 1366 at Ulm, Germany of natural cause
- 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI
God of wisdom, you called Blessed Henry to follow your Son and gave him the grace to mortify his body. May we follow the crucified Christ and so obtain his eternal consolation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. – General Calendar of the Order of Preachers
- Dominican with the Holy Name on his chest
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Henry Suso“. CatholicSaints.Info. 7 January 2023. Web. 12 May 2024. <>