TeCLA (Texts from Christian Late Antiquity) is a series presenting ancient Christian texts both in their original languages and with accompanying contemporary English translations.
Narsai’s memra 33 is made of 12 by 12 syllables, and its title “On the Sanctification of the Church” suggests that it was written for the feast of the Dedication of the Church celebrated by the Church of the East to this day on the first of November. The memra names the Church of the Nations the Bride of the Bridegroom Christ. The Church had a pagan origin but Christ chose her to become his bride. He thus saved her through his suffering, cleansed her with baptism, prepared the bridal feast for her through the Eucharist, and crowned her victory over all the nations.
In this fourth installment of the long Homily 71, On the Six Days of Creation, Jacob treats of the events of the fourth day, the creation of the spheres of light over the earth: the sun to rule over the day, and the moon and the stars to rule over the night.
This volume provides a study and an original edition and translation from Syriac into English of Discourse Two of Gabriel of Qatar's liturgical commentary, written in the first half of the seventh century.
This book is a part of series of Causes of Celebrations written by Moshe Bar Kepha (813-903). These Causes are unique in that they demonstrate a new genre of the Syriac literature initiated by the East Syriac authors at the beginning of the sixth century. Moreover, these Causes reveal the appreciation and dependency of Moshe Bar Kepha on the East Syriac sources despite the ecclesiastical doctrinal separation between the East Syriac and West Syriac churches.
The so-called "Julian Romance" was discovered among the Nitrian manuscripts in the 1830s. This revised edition, with facing Syriac text and English translation, provides a new, more accurate translation of this important Syriac text.
Cyrillona (fl. 396) has been ranked among the foremost early Syriac poets since his work was rediscovered by scholars in the mid-19th century. His Holy Week discourses on the Last Supper, the Washing of the Feet, and the Institution of the Eucharist have become particularly well-known to western readers through quotations by such diverse authors as Hugo Rahner and Photina Rech. This volume presents the first modern critical edition of Cyrillona’s Syriac works together with the first complete English translation.
In this second part of Homily 71, On the Fashioning of Creation, Jacob treats the making of the firmament: what it was, where it was, what – as far as can be determined – was placed above it and what below it, its purpose and utility for humanity, and the importance of its place in the Genesis account of the six day progression of creation.
Isaac the Syrian lived the solitary life in the 7th century. He was born in Qatar and subsequently lived in present day Iraq and Iran. After life as a monk, then briefly as a bishop, he withdrew to live the solitary life. These discourses are primarily for solitaries to consolidate them in the love and mercy of God. In this volume, the text of Isaac V has also been included because of the light which it sheds on Apocatastasis, of increasing interest in academic and ecclesial circles.
Five homilies by Jacob of Sarug on women whom Jesus met: the Canaanite Woman, the Samaritan Woman, the Hemorrhaging Woman, the Woman Bent Double, and Jairus' Daughter.
In this third part of Homily 71, On the Fashioning of Creation, Jacob treats the God's separation of the waters from the earth, and the bringing forth of vegetation on the newly-revealed dry land.
Part of a series of fascicles containing the bilingual Syriac-English editions of Saint Jacob of Sarug’s homilies, this volume contains his homilies on Praise at Table. These homilies offer a glimpse into the efforts of one late antique author to construct distinctly Christian meaning from the experience of communal meal-sharing. The Syriac text is fully vocalized, and the translation is annotated with a commentary and biblical references. The volume is one of the fascicles of Gorgias Press’s The Metrical Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain all of Jacob’s surviving sermons. Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug (d. 521) produced many narrative poems that have rarely been translated into English. Of his reported 760 metrical homilies, only about half survive.
The Compendious Commentary by the Church of the East monk Dadishoʿ Qaṭraya (7th cent.) was originally written in Syriac but was eventually translated into Garshuni or Syro-Arabic. It is a work aimed at immersing the novice monk in the spiritual lore of the monastic vocation, and saturating his mind and spirit with advice and warnings about the pitfalls of aiming to be perfect while remaining nevertheless an imperfect human being. This is a critical edition and translation of the Compendious Commentary in Garshuni that uses all available manuscripts.
Jacob of Sarug's pastoral concern and rhetorical acumen have appropriately earned him the title “the lyre of the Holy Spirit”. This volume presents Jacob's admonitions to those living a life of consecrated singleness to God.
This volume gives a bilingual Syriac-English edition of Saint Jacob of Sarug’s homily on the Chariot which the Prophet Ezekiel saw. The Syriac text is fully vocalized, and the translation is annotated with a commentary and biblical references. The volume constitutes a fascicle of Gorgias’s Complete Homilies of Saint Jacob of Sarug. In Syriac and English.
Jacob of Sarug's pastoral concern and rhetorical acumen have earned him the title “the lyre of the Holy Spirit”. This volume presents both a text and translation of Jacob’s exposition of a passage central to Christian liturgy and piety.
The first English translation and first complete critical text of a neglected moral treatise from fourth-century Egypt, throwing fresh light on the social history of Egyptian Christianity and on the growth of the church-order tradition.
A critical edition of a fragmentary Arabic manuscript (Mingana Chr. Arab. 18), together with a study which suggests that the three Arabic versions do not represent three different texts, but rather three versions all drawing on the same original text.
This volume presents, with introduction and annotations, two metrical homilies (Bedjan nos. 82, 126) of Jacob of Sarug in which he reflects on the Temptation of Jesus as combat between Satan and Jesus, the latter emerging as the humble victor.
The Syriac Book of Steps collects 30 sermons by a late 4th century anonymous author in the Persian Empire. The author details the spiritual life, highlighting the duties and problems of two ranks of committed Christians, the Upright and the Perfect.
Armenian text of the Prayers attributed to Ephrem the Syrian, with the first-ever translation into a western language. Utilizing a highly developed poetic rhythm, the author manifests a profound spirituality laying his own emptiness before the inexhaustible Mercy of God.
Moses bar Kepha: Commentary on Myron is an important witness to the history of the West Syriac Liturgy. Fr. Baby Varghese has translated the Syriac text into English for the first time.
Mêmrâ 72 is a meditation on the fall of Adam and its consequences, subjecting all creation to corruption. God’s mercy, however, will restore everything to a spiritual, incorruptible state that will exist eternally in the unending light of Christ.
This edition of Mar Jacob of Sarug's (d. 521) homily on Partaking in the Holy Mysteries is one of Jacob’s memre on the sacraments. In this homily, Jacob is shocked that some of his congregants are leaving the service early, before the eucharist has been celebrated. He emphasizes the importance of the liturgical celebrations for a Christian life in a message still applicable today. The volume constitutes a fascicle of The Metrical Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain the original Syriac text of Jacob's surviving sermons, fully vocalized, alongside an annotated English translation.
In this treatise, John the Solitary (ca. 390) enters into a dialogue with two disciples who have come past the beginning stage of the spiritual life and have brought him their struggle against the passions in the life of the inner person (barnâšâ gawwâyâ). John’s description of the life of the soul is outlined here in a framework of the stages of the spiritual life. Included is his analysis of the passions, showing very little if any Evagrian influence. The Dialogue on the Soul is a difficult text. It is hoped that this Syriac-English presentation will enable others to take the discussion forward. John’s genial thought merits this.