Undusted Texts

  For an introduction to St. Maximus (or what little is known of him), see my translation of Homily 37 , the first homily on the Forty-Day Fast.  Other translations of St. Maximus include Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4) and Sermon on the Epiphany (Sermon 7) .  As in my previous Lenten translation from St. Maximus, paragraph divisions below are my own. Homily XXXVIII On the Forty-Day Fast II Yesterday, preaching the devotion of the Holy Forty Days, we offered the examples of the holy letters, by which we proved that this number of forty is not constituted by men, but divinely consecrated, not found by earthly thought, but a precept of heavenly majesty. And, therefore, he who breaks the constituted number by eating on one day is not accused as a violator of one day, but is charged as the transgressor of the whole Forty Days. Wherefore is it good for man to fast for the aforesaid number, without labor, and to pursue the sanctity of the whole For...

  Introduction Little is known of St. Maximus, besides his writings and the fact that he was Bishop of Turin. It is thought he was a native of Rhaetia, in modern northern Italy, possibly born in the town of Vercelli. Some think he is the same Maximus who attended a few local synods and councils—the Synod of Milan in 451 and the Council of Rome in 465 (thus giving him a much longer life), but there is no certainty. What has truly cemented his legacy is a large collection of homilies and sermons, along with a few treatises. This homily is the first in a series of 8 on "the Forty-Day Fast" ( De jejunio Quadragesimæ ), that is, Lent.  I have previously translated his Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4) , and his Sermon on Epiphany (Sermon 7) .  It should be noted that Maximus' "sermons" and "homilies" are two complete separate sets of writings, with separate numberings.  Paragraph divisions below are my own; the Latin text I used prints the who...

Here is another Lenten hymn, to pair with my recent setting of my old hymn text "When Time Had Come for Christ to Die."   Whereas that hymn is fitting for commemorating Christ's death on Good Friday, this hymn is a hymn of the myrrh-bearers, who came to anoint Christ's tomb.  It is a hymn of abandonment, a hymn of Holy Saturday.  I first wrote it almost a decade ago, with some adjustments throughout the years, and I'm happy to finally share it. The tune is "Picardy," a French carol tune.  It is best-known through Ralph Vaughan Williams' arrangement of "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence."  That is certainly the inspiration for my use of it here, as the text of that hymn is used as the Cherubikon for Holy Saturday. Have a blessed Fast. Longest Night of Earthly Vigil by Brandon P. Otto on Scribd Scribd link: https://www.scribd.com/document/706723610/Longest-Night-of-Earthly-Vigil Internet Archive mirror: https://archive.org/details/longes...

  Introduction St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) needs little introduction.  Famous for his zeal for the Cistercian reform and his mystical writings, particularly those on Mary, as well as his long series of homilies on the Song of Songs, and perhaps a little more infamous for his fervent preaching of the Crusades, he has often been given the title "Last of the Fathers."  He is also known by the more extravagant title of Doctor Mellifluus , "Honey-Flowing Doctor."  The sermon translated below is the last in a series of Lenten sermons. Lenten Sermons VII On the Pilgrim, Dead and Crucified   Happy are those who show themselves as worthless strangers and pilgrims to the present world , keeping themselves unspotted by it! For we do not have an enduring city here, but we look to a future one (Heb 13:14). Therefore, let us abstain from carnal desires, which fight against the soul, as strangers and pilgrims. A pilgrim, indeed...

Introduction This is one of the texts edited by Cardinal Angelo Mai (1782-1854), a philologist skilled in reading palimpsests, where a previous text is wiped off a parchment in order to make room for a new one. Cardinal Mai could decipher the original texts and printed many collections of otherwise-lost ancient texts. The manuscript only attributes this homily to a "Paulinus"; Cardinal Mai thinks the most likely author is Paulinus of Béziers (fl. c. 418), rather than the more famous St. Paulinus of Nola (354-431), among others. An interesting element of this Lenten homily is Paulinus' explanation of the resurrected state; based on Christ's death age of 30 (we would now say 33), at the General Resurrection, all will be at age 30, no matter what age they died.   Homily for the Beginning of Lent As our Lord Jesus Christ did not permit this world to perish, so He deigned, through the womb of the holy Mary, to come into the world, in order ...

 "And saw the woman, that beautiful was the tree for eating..."--Gen 3:6 Just a few days ago we heard of the beautiful goodness of creation (for καλον means both "beautiful" and "good"), and now we hear of evil coming from something good.  How can this be, that what was made good can to evil?  When we are allured by that good beauty into turning away from the Lord and His designs. The Lord designed creation beautifully, beautiful exceedingly, and He gave us wide freedom to use it.  "From every tree which is in paradise for food, do yotu eat."  Out of every tree, every plant bearing fruit with its seed in it, from every plant on earth man could eat: to this freedom God gave but one restriction.  "From the tree of the knowing of good [καλὸν] and evil, do not eat from it.  In the day you eat from it, by death you shall die."  To this one restriction did God place a mightily terrifying punishment: the punishment of double death. ...

"And God saw everything, which He made, and behold! it was beautiful exceedingly."--Gen 1:31 Tradition lends a new dimension to the Faith which can easily be missed.  Think, for example, of the account of creation in Genesis, in which each day it is repeated: "And God saw, that it was good."  A quick comparison of English Bible translations shows how ubiquitous the use of the word "good" is in these passages, with only one rebel saying "He was pleased" instead.  Even the Vulgate speaks of how God's creation is "bona."  These all translate well the Hebrew טוב, "pleasing, good, agreeable."  Yet Tradition gives us a rich nuance which should not be avoided. The first line of this post is a translation from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Scriptures, according to tradition a miraculous translation, of which St. Augustine said, "the same Spirit that was in the prophets when they spoke was present al...

Lent is a time of the desert.  In the desert, we lack what we previously thought we needed but truly did not: in the desert, we are stripped of excess.  Yet the desert is not just a place of aridity and ascesis: it is also a place of God.  "Spiritual work is essential, it is for this that we have come to the desert." Countless holy men and women went to the desert to be united with the Triune God: St. Anthony the Great, St. Mary of Egypt, Sts. Barsanuphius and John, the great Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers, St. Pachomius, St. Hilarion, and innumerable others.  The desert is a place where we can find Tabor and encounter Christ: in the desert we can become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4). During this holy season of Lent, let us not just strip ourselves of distractions and worldly goods, but let us enter deeper into our relationship with Jesus Christ, and let us fight harder in our spiritual battle. Below is a list of suggestions for making thi...

John Saba (690-780), also known as John of Dalyatha or John the Venerable, was a Syrian monk from the region of Dalyatha, where modern-day Turkey, Iran, and Iraq meet.  His writings were well-read throughout the Christian East, and they are still popular today, at least in the Oriental Orthodox churches (where he is a saint), despite his being condemned as a Nestorian, a Messalian, and a Sabellian at different times.  Among his writings is the following prayer which fits perfectly for this holy season of Lent: You who wept and shed tears of sorrow over Lazarus, accept my bitter tears.  May my passions be allayed by Your Passion; may my wounds be healed by Your wounds, my blood be blended with Your blood, and the lifegiving fragrance of Your holy body be mingled with my body.  May the bitter drink that was given to You by Your enemies soothe my soul, which has been made to drink wormwood by the evil one.  May Your body, which was stretched out o...

Félix Lope de Vega was a famous poet and playwright of the Spanish Golden Age, most well-renowned for his sonnets.  Among his prolific works (Cervantes called him "Monster of Nature" for the sheer volume of them) are many religious poems.  Below is one such poem, which Spanish-speakers sometimes use as a Lenten hymn. "Soliloquio - III -" Manso Cordero ofendido,  puesto en una cruz por mí,   que mil veces os vendí  después que fuiste vendido.  Dadme licencia, Señor,  para que, deshecho en llanto,  pueda en vuestro rostro santo  llorar lágrimas de amor.  ¿Es posible, vida mía,  que tanto mal os causé,  que os dejé, que os olvidé,  ya que vuestro amor sabía?   Tengo por dolor más fuerte  que el veros muerto por mí  el saber que os ofendí,  cuando supe vuestra muerte.  Yo os amo, Dios soberano,  no como Vos merecéis,  pero cua...