‘A preacher is like a baker’—Nicholas of Cusa’s Allegory of Making Bread: Nicholas of Cusa, Sermo XLI (1444)

Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464, further referred to as “Cusanus”) conceptualizes ‘reception’ (e.g. of a sermon) as a digestive process which has skillfully to be prepared, then executed and performed. In sermon XLI, his own occupation as preacher who delivers a sermon to the parishioners is demonstrated in an allusive manner by giving the example of a baker who provides bread to customers. The parallels made by Cusanus between the working process of the ecclesiastic and of the craftsman offer insight for the believers to understand that religious service shares similarity with the generally known everyday work.