Undusted Texts

  My first traditionally-published book is now available for pre-order.  My Burden Is Light contains selected sermons of St. John of Ávila (1499-1569), Doctor of the church.  See the publisher's blurb below: " 'Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.' Matthew 11:28–30   Christ’s words ring true for this earthly life that we must endure in order to, hopefully, attain eternal rest with Him in heaven. Our fallen world is full of sufferings and struggles; from the everyday aggravations to the life-altering sorrows that we sometimes face. Yet, Christ assures us that His 'yoke is sweet and [His] burden light.' This is so because He always helps us carry our crosses throughout this life and because the ultimate battle is already won, thanks to Christ’s love ...

The Byzantine Rite is, unfortunately, woefully lacking in hymns and traditions for Advent and Christmastide compared to the Roman Rite, particularly the rich old English tradition.  Liturgically, outside of the Matins Katavasia (the Nativity katavasia are first used on November 21), there is no preparation for the Nativity until two Sundays beforehand.  The Byzantine Rite has the Nativity Fast itself, of course, but it has no traditions like the Advent Wreath.  Some have tried to adapt Latin traditions: for instance, Elissa Bjeletich put an Orthodox spin on the Jesse Tree with her 2016 book Welcoming the Christ Child: Family Readings for the Nativity Fast .  (Originally, the book was packaged with a set of ornaments, to form a true Jesse Tree; the ornaments seem out of print, but a Kindle version of the book is available, and the paperback still appears available from the publisher, St. Sebastian Orthodox Press .) There are a couple of paraliturgical services: the M...

For more details on Jean Gerson's idea for a Feast of the Espousals of Mary and Joseph, to be hold on the Thursday between the Third and Fourth Sundays of Advent, see my recent post , quoting some of his letters.  For the other texts of the Office Gerson wrote for this proposed feast, see this older post .  What I translate here are the Matins readings Gerson wrote for this office.   In the Tridentine Divine Office, the Office of Matins was generally equivalent to the modern Office of Readings; however, while the Office of Readings can be read at any time of day, Matins was a midnight office (though its name means "morning").  The traditional arrangement of readings was three groups (Nocturns), each consisting of three readings.  For a normal day, these would consist Psalms or portions of Psalms; on feast days, or during certain liturgical seasons, some or all of these Psalms would be replaced by other readings (maybe Epistles; maybe lives of the saints; ma...

  Wedding of Joseph and Mary, from St. John the Baptist Basilica in Berlin, Germany    Earlier this year, I translated the main text of an Office that Jean Gerson (1363-1429) composed for a Feast of the Espousals of Mary and Joseph. Here, I summarize two letters he wrote promoting such a feast.    Letter of August 13-17, 1400 In this letter, Jean Gerson discusses his proposal for a Feast of the Marriage ( conjugium ) of Mary and Joseph: " It has pleased divine wisdom (who reaches from end to end strongly, disposes all things sweetly (Wis 8:1)) to, in these last times, incline the hearts of many to teach that the virginal (so Jerome calls it) marriage of the just Joseph and Mary should be venerated with the solemn cult of the Church, and to promote its devotion.They are moved (so I deem) by the Gospel’s word, excellently and often preaching the prerogatives with which that just Joseph shone. They are moved by the honor and love of his most blessed wife, who ca...

Dante's Divine Comedy quickly attracted commentaries on its intricacies, beginning with Dante himself (in his Epistle to Can Grande , often labelled Epistle XIII).  The earliest commentary was by Dante's son Jacopo (1285-1348), in Italian; a Latin commentary was later written by another son, Pietro (d. 1364). Pietro kept revising his commentary throughout his life, becoming a miniature of the Renaissance, in a way.  The earliest version—out of the three distinct ones that have been preserved—is rich in Patristic and theological references; as time went on, these references gave way to classical references, as the burgeoning Renaissance spurred an increase in studies of and love for the classics.   In 2002, Massimiliano Chiamenti edited the third version of Pietro's Commentary ; from that edition, I have translated the introduction, which serves as both an introduction to the whole Comedy as well as to the Inferno in particular. Academia.edu Direct Download

To pair with this blog, I've finally launched a basic author page at Undusted Texts .  It provides little-to-no information not already found on this blog, but it is arranged in a different way.  The key benefit to the author page is that it includes self-hosted copies of many of my articles, translations, and essays, so that potential readers no longer have to head to Academia.edu or Internet Archive to find them.  Browse through the Publications page and its subsections to find them.  I will also add links to these direct downloads at relevant locations on this blog.

  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. EDIT: Direct download can be found here .

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 Commentar...

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 ...

  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 ha...

  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' jo...

  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. ...

  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 credi...

  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. ...

  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...