Undusted Texts

  The Rosary in the Sun Francis Jammes Purchase the Paperback Edition Purchase the Kindle Edition Purchase on Kobo   Available on Apple Books     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 c...

 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 ...

  Purchase the Kindle edition here   I have just released a translation of Bl. Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam's essay "On Progress Through Christianity."  Ozanam (1813-1853) was a literary historian, lawyer, and journalist, but he is best-known as one of the founders of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. His books include Civilization in the Fifth Century , Germanic Studies , Franciscan Poets in Italy in the 13 th Century , Dante and Catholic Philosophy in the 1 3 th Century , and a translation and commentary on Dante’s Purgatorio .  I previously translated a few passages by Ozanam on care for the poor. Being somewhat short, this release is only available in eBook (Kindle) format, not paperback; however, its price ($0.99) is much lower than my paperback-also eBooks ($2.99).  I am also in the process of preparing a longer anthology of Ozanam's writings, to be available in both paperback and eBook formats. You might notice that, in contrast to my prior books, the...

Rainer Specht, in an essay on Alfred North Whitehead's interpretation of John Locke, develops a schema of six forms of authorial presence.  The purpose is to explain how Locke was present to Whitehead, although Whitehead misunderstood and misquoted Locke in many ways (which is the main theme of the paper).  These forms are: Institutional presence .  "In this case, the institution, for reasons that can be reconstructed, identifies itself with an author to such an extent that an attack on him is also an attack on the institution that needs to be punished politically or through disciplinary sanctions."  The examples Specht gives are St. Thomas Aquinas in the Roman Catholic Church (at least, for many centuries) and Karl Marx in the Soviet Union.  (This essay comes from a book published in 1990, just before the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall: the back-cover blurb highlights that it is mainly the work of authors from West Germany.)  We might also t...

"Olivet, Olivet!  Where heaven robbed us And stole our Christ, and sailed Him to the sky!" His cloudy chariots snatched Him from us in a whirlwind of glory, and the Apostles were left, like Elisha, bereft—yet, like Elisha, they were to receive a mantle, and a double portion of glory. As Christ "suspended" His glory during His lifetime, and suspended His "place of glory" before the Ascension, so, too, the glory of the Apostles is suspended.  It is the shortest suspension of these: a mere ten days, compared to the forty days of the Ascension, the thirty-three years of Christ's life, or the many decades of Mary Magdalene's .  Yet it is a suspension, and painful one, nonetheless, that wait until they would "receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon" them (Acts 1:8). In those ten days, when they were "packed and shuttered...in utter beggary, / Behind the thin doors of the Cenacle," perhaps, once again, with the "doors locked f...

Along with the announcement of my new book translation, Pierre de Bérulle's Life of Jesus , I'm also proud to announce a new article publication (also Bérullean): "The Feast of Beholding Jesus," published last month at the Homiletic & Pastoral Review .  This article discusses an interesting feast found amidst the liturgical celebrations proper to the Oratory of Jesus, founded by Bérulle.  Though the text of the office may not have been prepared by Bérulle himself, it is certainly an authentic example of his spirituality. (Though I'm not opposed to them, please note that I have no hand in choosing the artwork that accompanies my Homiletic & Pastoral Review articles.)

  Life of Jesus Pierre de Bérulle Purchase the Paperback on Amazon Purchase the eBook on Amazon As a companion to my recent publication of Bérulle's Elevation to Jesus Christ Regarding Saint Mary Magdalene , I am proud to announce the release of a new Bérullean translation, the Life of Jesus . The Life of Jesus is an unfinished work, intended to be the "Second Part" of Bérulle's chief-work, the Discourses on the State and on the Grandeurs of Jesus .  Due to Bérulle's death, the Life only covers the Annunciation and the Incarnation; it stops just before Bérulle would have treated the Visitation.  Thus, despite the title of the book, the work is heavily Marian: a more accurate title for the work as we have it might be Life of Jesus Living in Mary . Along with the Life itself, this book includes an introduction on the work, Bérulle's life, and his other writings.  In addition, it includes two appendices: one is the infamous Vows , because of which Bérulle was...