Peter Chrysologus

by David Vincent Meconi

Peter Chrysologus is the first book to offer an introduction to the life of Peter Chrysologus and a selection of his most important sermons in translation, as well as his letter to Eutyches.

Bishop Peter of Ravenna preached before the imperial family for nearly two decades (c. 430-450) after the imperial capital was moved to Peter’s See of Ravenna in 402 by Emperor Honorius. With the Empire’s elite directly before him, Peter also had the problems of 5th century Monophysitism behind him. As such, his homilies stress the incarnate Christ’s ability to change lives by reuniting mortal humans with their life-giving God. The thorough introduction explores the figure of Peter, beginning with the obscure biographies telling of his early life, to his becoming Metropolitan of Ravenna, situating his elevation in the wider socio-political context of the powerful court of Valentinian III and the 5th century Roman West. It also looks at the significant influence his legacy had on future generations.

Translated into a modern idiom, this collection of sermons makes the preaching and pastoral wisdom of this key figure accessible to modern readers. It is an invaluable tool for anyone working on early Christian theology and the Early Church, as well as students of Late Antiquity and the Western Empire.

158 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2020

About the author

In 1992, David Meconi entered the Jesuit novitiate. He was sent to Xavier University to teach Classics and Philosophy, and then to the University of Innsbruck to obtain a pontifical license in Patrology. There he wrote a thesis on the apologetic nature of the Christian cento.

He was missioned to Oxford, studying Augustine under one of Henry Chadwick's last students. His dissertation was on Augustine’s use of deification and the Christian’s call to become Christ.