Undusted Texts

  Pascal's Anguish Maurice Barrès Buy the Kindle Edition Here    Newly-released is a set of two essays by Maurice Barrès (1862-1923).  Barrès was a novelist, traveloguist, and politician; I previously translated a volume of his writings on Joan of Arc . The present eBook consists of the essay "Pascal's Anguish," along with the shorter complement "The Enfances Pascal ," about Pascal's childhood.  The main essay discusses Pascal's spiritual anguish, which was resolved by a revelation, the experience of which was enshrined in Pascal's Memorial .  The essay includes a line-by-line commentary on the Memorial .  The second essay delves into Pascal's intellectual and spiritual development during his childhood.  As with my other translations, I have added many footnotes explaining Barrès' references. Being short, this new translation is available in eBook format only; as with my other eBooks, it can be read for free by subscribers to Kindle

Claudius of Turin (d. 827) was an iconoclastic bishop during the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious.  Besides a Chronicle of world history, all of Claudius' works were biblical commentaries, his most important being a long Commentary on Genesis and his two Commentaries on 1 and 2 Corinthians, in which he most thoroughly expressed his iconoclastic views, as well as his views denigrating papal supremacy.   The Commentary on Philemon is one of a number of texts unearthed by Cardinal Angelo Mai (1782-1854) through analyzing he original text of palimpsests (manuscripts which had been erased and reused, but which still bore traces of their original writing).   Due to the length of this work, I have uploaded it as a paper on Academia.edu rather than posting the full text here; once the Internet Archive is back up and running, I will upload a copy there as well

Introduction Whatever Biblical commentaries St. Gregory wrote were vastly overshadowed by his historical works, particularly the History of the Franks .  His other works (whether authentic or attributed) include lives and collections of miracles of various saints (including St. Martin of Tours, former occupant of his episcopal seat).  The fragments below seem to be all that remains of Gregory's strictly theological (and not historical or hagiographical) writings. The main fragments included here are less a commentary on the Psalms themselves, and more a "commentary on the inscriptions of the Psalms," which is a separate category of commentary.  (St. Gregory of Nyssa, for instance, wrote such a commentary in full.)  Even these fragments seem in no clear order, as they bounce around the Psalter.  The final two fragments have little clear relation to the Psalms, but the textual source (a manuscript collection on virtues and vices) claims Gregory's Commentary on t

There are many holy names connected to Bérulle's Oratory of Jesus : St. Vincent de Paul; St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort; St. John Eudes; Charles de Condren; Jean-Jacques Olier; Jean-Baptiste Massillon; in recent times, Louis Bouyer.  Only some of these were Oratorians proper, yet they all had some connection to Bérulle and his spirituality. But, as is ever the case with institutions of men, there were bad apples in the Oratory as well.  (Bérulle's own history reveals a bad apple among the Carmelites: Francisco de la Madre de Dios, superior general of the Carmelites from 1600 to 1607, who had a vendetta against Bérulle, and continually sought to strip him of his authority over the Carmelites in France.)  Here, I want to point out two of these Oratorian bad apples. Richard Simon (1638-1712) Despite his English-sounding name, Simon was a Frenchman and an Oratorian.  He early took an interest in Hebrew and other Eastern languages, which was not out of the ordinary for the Ora

  Defense of the Genius of Christianity François-René de Chateaubriand Buy the Kindle Edition Here   Chateaubriand (1761-1848) was a major French author of his time, and one of the forefathers of Romanticism, but he is little-read today.  (Though, circumstantially, a newly-translated anthology of his writings was just released a week and a half ago, which views him from the angle of his anti-Enlightenment and anti-Revolutionary thought.) One of his greatest works is the Genius of Christianity , an apology for the Catholic religion primarily on the basis of its effect on aesthetics and morals, rather than a philosophical or theological defense.  Though wildly popular, it also had its critics; to rebut his critics, Chateaubriand, inspired by Montesquieu's Defense of the Spirit of the Laws , wrote this Defense . Unfortunately for English readers, the only available translation of the Genius (as far as I have found) omits this addition.  To remedy this lack, I have translated the De

  Joan of Arc: Hero of Lorraine, Hero of France, Hero of Christendom Selected Writings by Maurice Barrès Buy the Paperback Here Buy the Kindle Edition Here    Newly-released is a collection of writings by Maurice Barrès (1862-1923).  Barrès was a novelist, traveloguist, and politician.  Among his political accomplishments was successfully pushing for France to establish a national feast of Joan of Arc and patriotism, celebrated on the second Sunday of May: due to Barrès' efforts, this feast was established in 1920, shortly after Joan's canonization, and it is celebrated to this day. The core of this volume is a collection of articles Barrès wrote during World War I, relating to this drive for a national feast.  To supplement, I have also included some earlier, more lyrical essays on Joan of Arc's childhood, and a chapter from a travelogue about his visit, with his son, to Joan's hometown of Domrémy.  Appendices also include selections from Barrès' journals relatin

  Introduction Paul Claudel (1868-1955) was a French playwright and poet, known for his devout Catholicism and how it affected his poetry.  The following diptych, "The Crucifix," first appeared in his 1916 collection Other Poems During the War .  The original poem consists of long lines that rhyme in couplets; my translation is instead in a kind of ballad meter: alternating tetrameters and trimeters rhyming ABCB.  Each two of my lines reflects one of Claudel's lines, so the rhymes are still in equivalent relation. The Crucifix Paul Claudel His Head Seen From the Right Of all the Body crucified,     only Head is free. The thorns they’ve wrapped around, with care,     mean no support can be. Three hours it has reigned and prayed;     three hours we’ve seen God’s Face. In the end, the Head must fall     when force has left His frame. Behold! the moment has arrived     that patient we’ve awaited. We can look at Christ, but now     He looks at us no more. Behold Him now upon t

  Hail to you, Cross,  joying of Christians!  Hail to you, Cross,  crushing of tyrants!  Hail to you, Cross, firming of faithful! Hail to you, Cross, comfort of faithful! Hail to you, Cross, firming of martyrs! Hail to you, Cross, victory's weapon! Hail to you, Cross, throne of the King! Hail to you, Cross, sign of salvation! Hail to you, Cross, O shining light! Hail to you, Cross, sword of the Spirit! Hail to you, Cross, fountain of grace! Hail to you, Cross, storehouse of goods! Hail to you, Cross, to age upon age!   Nota Bene: This litany is adapted from a Coptic liturgical text; see Service of the Deacons: Rites and Hymns of the Liturgies and Services of the Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, 2010), 255-256.   Adaptation ©202 4 Brandon P. Otto .  Licensed via CC BY-NC.   Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.

  It is not enough to escape evil, if we are to attain the kingdom of the heavens, but many works of virtue are needed. So that we might escape Gehenna, we must cleave from wickedness; so that we might attain the kingdom, we must cleave to virtue….Not doing good is a part of evil; for this is idleness, and idleness is a part of evil; rather, not a part, but the foundation and root of wickedness; for idleness has taught all evil...For to not do good is to do evil…. Because of this, the blessed Paul, too, leading us from wickedness, leads us towards virtue. For what is the use, tell me, of cutting away all the thorns, if you do not plant good seeds? For, the toil remaining incomplete, it turns again to our loss….He who does not weep does not, because of that, laugh, but he is in a middle state. So, too, here, he who is not bitter is not thereby good, nor he who is not wrathful thereby compassionate; but another effort is needed so that we might obtain the good.   Source

  Introduction Maurice Barrès (1862-1923) was a novelist, traveloguist, and politician.  After the initial portion of his life—in which he wrote a novel trilogy entitled The Cult of I and ran for office as a" national socialist" (long before the Nazis adopted the name)—he became a strongly anti-German nationalist.  His nationalism involved both strong ties to one's local land (his homeland of Lorraine was a polestar for his politics and writing) and Catholicism as part of the national French character (hence his push to have Joan of Arc declared patron of France and to be given a national patriotic feast).   Barrès' last prehumous novel was A Garden on the Orontes (1922).  The novel told the story of a Crusader who renounces the chance to recapture Jerusalem in order to spend his life with a Saracen princess with whom he had fallen in love.  Somewhat surprisingly, the novel stirred up a virulent reaction from some Catholics, who claimed the novel was detrimental to

  The Rosary in the Sun Francis Jammes Purchase the Paperback Edition Purchase the Kindle Edition   The most recent entry in the Undusted Texts Translations series is the first work of fiction in the series: the novel The Rosary in the Sun (1916) by French poet Francis Jammes (1868-1938).  Jammes early gained recognition for his poetry, particularly his 1898 collection From the Dawn Angelus to the Evening Angelus .  Despite the title of that collection, Jammes was a fallen-away Catholic until he struck up a friendship with poet and playwright Paul Claudel (1868-1955).  Due to that friendship, Jammes "converted" to practicing Catholicism in 1905, and all of his later works were infused with a fervent Catholicism.  The present novel is no exception: it tells the story of Dominica, a young rich girl from Marseille torn between our love for Christ and the poor and her love for a young scientist and for children.  A chance encounter with a poor widower and his son outside a host

 Introduction This Greek homily is one of the many, many spurious works ascribed to St. Athanasius.  Quite possibly it is a homily for the Sunday Before the Nativity (Sunday of the Holy Fathers), one of the many days when Hebrews 11 is read at Liturgy: a large portion of this chapter is paraphrased in the first section of this homily.  The homily is notable for its detailed portrayal of God as a judge, with various prophets and others who had been wronged by the wicked approaching Him with their complaints.  Due to the references to Iconoclasm in §8, it is probably from around the 8th century, or later. Homily on the Holy Fathers and the Prophets Psuedo-Athanasius Faith, leading [us] on the way of God-knowledge, and in the virtuous and unconquered way of life, does not have a recent beginning, as the lawless and abominable Jews say; but it is f rom above, from the holy and pious Fathers, I say, from Abel, and from Enoch, and from Noah, and from Abraham, and from a