Newly identified St. Augustine sermons explore troubling Bible passage

The diocesan library of Pelplin in the Pomerania region of northern Poland was unknowingly safeguarding a true treasure.

Situated next to the imposing Gothic cathedral where Cistercians have prayed for centuries, this depository of knowledge preserved a medieval manuscript whose significance has since come to light.

In 2024, Paul Alexander Nebauer, an independent researcher specializing in the medieval history of the former Cistercian monastery of Bad Doberan in Germany, contacted Christian Tornau, a professor of classical philology (Latin studies) at the University of Würzburg, to propose a mission to him: He had located a medieval codex containing several sermons attributed to St. Augustine and needed help identifying and translating them.

The shelves of the Pelplin diocesan library in Poland where the St. Augustine manuscripts were housed. | Credit: Pelplin Diocesan Library

Tornau, considered one of Germany’s leading specialists on the works of St. Augustine of Hippo and Christian literature of late antiquity, accepted the challenge.

To an untrained observer, the manuscript might appear to be little more than a collection of aged pages, yellowed in hue with the…