Gregory the Great was pope from 590 to 604, a time of great turmoil in Italy and in the western Roman Empire generally because of the barbarian invasions. Gregory's experience as prefect of the city of Rome and as apocrisarius of Pope Pelagius fitted him admirably for the new challenges of the papacy. The Moral Reflections on the Book of Job were first given to the monks who accompanied Gregory to the embassy in Constantinople.
This third volume, containing books 11 through 16, provides commentary on twelve chapters of Job, from 12:6 through 24:20. Whereas volume 1 concentrated largely on the moral reading of the first four chapters of Job and volume 2 on the mystical interpretation of the next seven, volume 3 offers a rapid overview of nearly thirteen chapters in their original oral format, including a brief comment at the beginning of each of the six books to explain its contents.
Product Preview
| Format: | Hardcover book |
|---|---|
| Product code: | LPCS258H |
| Dimensions: | 5½" x 8½" |
| Length: | 344 pages |
| Publisher: |
Liturgical Press
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| ISBN: | 9780879073589 |
| 1-2 copies | $35.15 each |
|---|---|
| 3-9 copies | $33.55 each |
| 10-49 copies | $31.96 each |
| 50-99 copies | $31.16 each |
| 100+ copies | $29.96 each |
Praise
This book is a work worthy of intense scrutiny and contemplation. If we read St. Gregory carefully and contemplatively, we will develop positive reading and interpretation habits, and hopefully bear much fruit in our lives and ministry. Since the Moralia has not been fully translated into English since 1848, and that translation is outdated, we are greatly indebted to the author and publisher for the opportunity to encounter this classic work. It stands as one of the outstanding biblical expositions of all time.
Throughout his commentary Gregory displays the careful, insightful reading we expect from patristic authors, who knew how to read a biblical passage in light of all of Scripture and of the tradition of the church. Readers who enjoy patristic biblical commentary will find this an engaging work, ably translated by Brian Kerns.
I recommend this book enthusiastically to all Catholics and all people who wish to drink from a very deep well of spirituality.
Gregory's homilies reflect profound pastoral wisdom at points about the nature of morality and the church. It is a good resource for personal devotion as well as a better understanding of early medieval hermeneutics. Recommended.
Author
Br. Brian Kerns has been a Trappist for sixty years, seventeen years at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, and the rest at the Abbey of the Genesee in upper New York state, interrupted by a year at Oxford, North Carolina, and five years at Genesee's foundation of Novo Mundo in Parana, Brazil. He hails originally from Pottsville, in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. For many years he worked in the library at Genesee and Novo Mundo, and he has interested himself in various translation projects, among which is the life of Dom Gabriel Sortais, abbot general of the Trappists in the early 1960s. That volume has also been published by Cistercian Publications, in the Monastic Wisdom series. The first volume of his translation of Gregory the Great's Moral Reflections on the Book of Job was published by Cistercian Publications in 2014 and the second in 2015..
