Undusted Texts

 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 ...

  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...

  Introduction St. Juan de Ávila (1499-1569) was an Andalusian priest and preacher, brought to new prominence upon being named a Doctor of the Church by the late Pope Benedict XVI on October 7, 2012.  Though he tried to arrange a fraternal community of priests, little came of it outside his immediate circle, and, towards the end of his life, he started sending his interested disciples to the Jesuits.  The majority of his work was focused on being a preacher, for which he was nicknamed the "Apostle of Andalusia."  He was also the first rector of the University of Baeza, which became a model for Jesuit seminaries.  His process of veneration was slow: declared Venerable in 1759 (during the investigation for which the Vatican misplaced manuscripts for dozens of his works), he was not beatified until 1894 and not canonized until 1970. Being primarily a preacher, it is fitting that a large portion of his writings consists of sermons.  Oddly, when many of these we...