Sadness is a common human mood. Extended sadness without any apparent cause is what our forebears called “melancholy.” Robert Burton (1577-1645) devoted the better part of his life to his one and only book, The Anatomy of Melancholy. He compulsively revised and edited his sprawling 900-page tome five times. Some have described it as the first psychiatric textbook on depression. Robert wrote to assuage his own melancholy as well as to assist others similarly afflicted. “Who is free of melancholy? He asked. His writing engaged in ready wit and humor, as evidenced in a playful pseudonym he adopted for himself, Democritus Junior, a pointed reference to the classical writer known as “the happy philosopher.” Robert offered his readers practical suggestions on how to lull oneself to sleep (pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly), advice about diet (avoid heavy foods), and exercise (he proposed fishing, birding, and hiking). He also cautioned against excessive amounts of alone time, “Be not solitary, be not idle.” Prayer plays a critical role in coping with melancholy. He described prayer “as a means of direct assistance and comfort during times of mental distress.”
I searched in vain for a prayer attributed to Robert. Yet in my quest, I came upon a remarkable prayer written by his contemporary, Sigismund Scherertz (1584-1630). Sigismund was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during the Thirty Years War, and his writings were intended to encourage believers during times of crisis and uncertainty. He was also no stranger to sadness. He was orphaned at seven, and during the pandemic that accompanied the war, seven of his children died. His prayer models how to bring our sadness to God: