Polyphonic weather miracles. Penitential theological border crossings in the ›Dialogus Miraculorum‹ of Caesarius von Heisterbach

Abstract

Even the biblical weather miracles are characterized by the intertwining of weather change and the crossing of boundaries. During the weather change, not only does the weather change, but the sinful human being who has crossed a moral boundary is also urged to repent by God as the master of the weather. How the rhetorical recourse to weather can be expressed in the context of monastic instruction is shown using the weather miracle exempla in the ›Dialogus Miraculorum‹, with a particular focus on exemplum III, 21: The inner conversion that God calls for in the weather change is a central component of repentance. Repentance begins with the recognition of sin. The sin concealed in the exemplum encourages the recipient to reflect comprehensively on sin, which in turn represents the beginning of the practical exercise of repentance in the act of reading. Caesarius’ ›narrative theology‹ proves to oscillate between concealing and unconcealing sin(s) from a moral didactic and penitential theological perspective.