13.02.

2017 ALostCopticFragmentfromaSermononPenitencebySeverianofGabala(CPG4186)|AlinSuciu

AlinSuciu
Patristics,Apocrypha,CopticLiterature
andManuscripts

ALostCopticFragmentfromaSermononPenitencebySeverianofGabala(CPG4186)
PostedonMay2,2012

Inarecentpost,IidentifiedaseriesofpapyrusfragmentsfromtheCopticversionoftheAsceticonofAbbaIsaiah.
ThefragmentsformerlybelongedtothelibraryoftheUniversityofLouvain,buttheydisappearedforeverinafire
whichdestroyedthelibraryduringthebombingsinWW2.Luckily,alltheLouvainfragmentswerepublishedby
LouisThophileLefortshortlybeforetheirphysicaldisappearance.TheBelgianCoptologistinthiswaygrantedus
accesstodocumentswhichtodayarelost.

HereIshouldliketointroduceanotherofthepapyrusfragmentsinLouvain,whichhaveremainedunidentified
untilnow.

Under no. 48, Lefort published an unidentified papyrus fragment which he tentatively dated to the 6th or 7th
century.[1]Infact,thetextcanbeidentifiedasaportionfromahomilyonpenitencebySeverianofGabala(CPG
4186). Like all the other sermons of Severian, the Greek manuscript tradition transmitted this text under the
name of John Chrysostom. It is thus no wonder that the homily can be found in different modern editions of
GoldenMouthsworks.Forexample,inMontfauconsedition,whichwastakenoverbyMigneinhisPatrologia
Graeca,thetextwasprintedastheseventhhomilyonpenitencebyJohnChrysostom(cf.PG49,coll.323336).

However, the attribution of this sermon to Severian was defended on good grounds by Charles Martin.[2] He
pointedoutthatsomePatristiccatenaearequotingthetextunderthenameofitsrealauthor:SeverianofGabala.
Besides,itshouldberemarkedthatthestyleofthedocumentdoesnotconformtothatofJohnChrysostom,but
rathercontainsmanyfeaturespropertoSeverian.

TheCoptictextpublishedbyLefortcorrespondsliterallytoMignePG49,col.325,lines1525.However,asthe
pagination of the Louvain fragment is lost and Lefort was not able to identify its content, he mixed up the
recto/versofaces.

HereisLefortseditionoftheCopticandtheparalleltextextractedfromMignesPatrologiaGraecavol.49,col.
325:

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13.02.2017 ALostCopticFragmentfromaSermononPenitencebySeverianofGabala(CPG4186)|AlinSuciu

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13.02.2017 ALostCopticFragmentfromaSermononPenitencebySeverianofGabala(CPG4186)|AlinSuciu

[1]L.Th.Lefort,LesmanuscritscoptesdelUniversitdeLouvain1:Texteslittraires(Louvain:Bibliothquede
lUniversit,1940)134135.

[2] Ch. Martin, Une homlie De Poenitentia de Svrien de Gabala, Revue dhistoire ecclsiastique 26 (1930)
331343.

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AnEncomiumonthe12ApostlesAttributed MoreCopticFragmentsfromanEncomium OnceAgainontheAsceticonofAbbaIsaiah

toSeverianofGabala:NewSahidic ontheApostles(PsSeverianofGabala, In"AsceticAuthors"
Fragments EncomiuminXIIapostolos)
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AboutAlinSuciu
IamaresearcherattheGttingenAcademyofSciencesandHumanities.IwritemostlyonCopticliterature,Patristics,and
apocryphaltexts.
ViewallpostsbyAlinSuciu

ThisentrywaspostedinJohnChrysostom,Patristics,SeverianofGabalaandtaggedAlinSuciu,CopticManuscripts,JohnChrysostom,L.Th.Lefort,Louvain,papyri,Patristic
literature,Patristics,SeverianofGabala.Bookmarkthepermalink.

4ResponsestoALostCopticFragmentfromaSermononPenitencebySeverianofGabala
(CPG4186)

rpearsesays:
May2,2012at19:29

Excellent!Andwellspotted.WhatapitythatSeveriansworksdonotexistinEnglish!
Reply

AlinSuciusays:
May3,2012at11:10

https://alinsuciu.com/2012/05/02/alostcopticfragmentfromasermononpenitencebyseverianofgabalacpg4186/ 3/4
13.02.2017 ALostCopticFragmentfromaSermononPenitencebySeverianofGabala(CPG4186)|AlinSuciu
Roger,
SomeofthemexistinEnglish,buttheyweretranslatedunderJohnChrysostomsname.Forexample,thehomily
whichIdiscusshereisavailableinG.G.Christo,St.JohnChrysostom.OnRepentanceandAlmsgiving(Fathersof
theChurch,96Washington,D.C.:TheCatholicUniversityofAmericaPress,1998)86ff.AlthoughFatherChristo
takesitasagenuineChrysostomicpiece,IwouldsayitisbySeverian.

Checkthisout:http://books.google.de/books?id=xlvGwf
1h3wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=St.+John+Chrysostom.+On+Repentance+and+Almsgiving&hl=de&sa=X&ei=fFmiT4u1GYHhtQbd
iiBw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=St.%20John%20Chrysostom.%20On%20Repentance%20and%20Almsgiving&f=false
Reply

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