ĐURO RAPIĆ AS AN 18TH CENTURY PREACHER

Đuro Rapić, Franciscan cultural worker of the 18th century, is the author of two books of sermons (“Svakomu po malo”, 1762, “Od svakoga po malo”, 1764) and a catechism (“Satir iliti divji čovik” (1766). Unlike the last Rapić’s published works, his sermons attracted little scientific research interest, and compared to the sermons of other authors they were hardly studied at all. Therefore, the author of this paper performs a comparative analysis of Rapić’s sermons. Namely, in order to see if Rapić was a typical representative of his time as a preacher, two of his sermons (for St. Catherine of Alexandria and All Saints) are comparatively analyzed in relation to sermons of Emerik Pavić and Bernardin Leaković, his fellow Franciscans of the 18th century. Furthermore, the author extends the scope of analysis beyond Croatia, given the European, German segment of rhetorical prose because Rapić, inter alia, spoke and used German language well.