Page 19 - FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE
P. 19
“Schools should not be slaughter houses of the mind. Teach pleasantly, quietly and thoroughly.
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This was a totally new idea in the 19 century.
Comenius suffered much but never gave up. He was 26 when war broke out which continued for
30 years. He was driven from his homeland, which was then called Bohemia.
Further sufferings: -
9. His house was burned down.
10. His young wife and two children died of plague.
11. For 7 years, he was a fugitive, hiding in caves and even hollow trees.
12. He never saw his homeland again but lived in Poland.
13. For many years, he was a refugee and always poor.
14. His second wife died, leaving him to look after 4 young children.
15. Finally, his treasured library was burned and all his manuscripts, results of decades of
work, were destroyed.
16. At 64, he was an old man with nothing.
At last, he was cared for in Amsterdam in Holland for the remainder of his life. Yet “This great
man never failed to serve the Lord and his fellowmen.”
He wrote many books, some of which he had to rewrite. A famous one is called ‘The Labyrinth
of the World’ and, like ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, it tells the story of a traveller finding Jesus Christ.
His famous book on Education was ‘Didactica Magna’, which was read by all Europe.
He cared only about the unity of the Church and wrote a book called ‘The Unity of the
Brethren’.
(Foundations for Life) 17
