The Greek text CPG 4408, “Homilia in sanctum pascha”, is one of quite a number of homilies on Easter attributed to John Chrysostom. According to the most recent editor this one is not genuine, but rather a production of the end of the 6th century to the middle of the 8th.1 It was composed around extracts from the works of Chrysostom, for use as part of church services during Easter.

The Greek text appears in the Patrologia Graeca 52, columns 765-772, with the usual Latin translation. Rather remarkably a modern critical edition with French translation exists, made by Nathalie Rambault, “Jean Chrysostome, Hom**élies sur la Résurrection, l’Ascension et La Pentecôte, t. 1”, Sources Chrétiennes 561, Paris: Cerf (2013), pp.267-301. In this volume Dr. Rambault is editing a set of Chrysostom homilies which appear together in the manuscript tradition, and this spurious item formed part of that collection.

The text exists in three recensions; a long recension, a revised version preserved only in one manuscript, and a short recension.2 There is also a translation into Old Slavonic.3

A colleague was asking whether a translation existed. In fact I was unable to locate any English translation, although Dr. R. states that an English translation was proposed back in 1992 in J. Fotopoulos, “John Chrysostom: On Holy Pascha,” Greek Orthodox Theological Review 37 (1992): 123-34. This is not accessible to me, but no such translation could be found using Google.

So, just for fun, last night I quickly converted the French translation by Dr Rambault into English. All the mistakes are my fault, of course. But it might be helpful to others, so here it is:

• Chrysostom-ps-Homilia in sanctum pascha CPG 4408-2025 (PDF)
• Chrysostom-ps-Homilia in sanctum pascha CPG 4408-2025 (Word .docx)

Happy reading!

1. SC 561, p.232.[↩]
2. The short recension is also edited and translated in SC 561.[↩]
3. So the CPG.[↩]

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