Wednesday, May 10, 2006

on iohannes cassianus

Mentioned elsewhere. I looked on the internet for a needed text, but the bastard Bowdlerizers refused to translate it. The library catalog refused to locate the modern English translation [it turned out to be on Reserve]. So I picked up the French edition, which has the Latin side-by-side. I'll grab the English and photocopy the relevant sections later. Unfortunately, it too is slightly Bowdlerized, and evidence of it is on the first page in the friggin' table of contents. Regardez, s'il vous plaît:

Latin text
III. Quod triplici ratione proueniat genitalis fluxus egestio.

La texte française
III. De telles attaques proviennent d'une triple cause.

"Telles attaques" indeed. One need not speak Latin [and I don't] to notice there's something missing. The rest of the chapters in De nocturnis inlusionibus, however, are quite interesting. It seems that he will go into a complete discussion of the Incarnation and our redemption from sin in discussing what to do about nocturnal emissions [well, and dreams and other things that go bump in the night]. Titles of the chapters produced below, pay attention to 8-13 [in the Latin]:
I. De iterato ad abbatem Theonam reditu nostro eiusque exhortatione.
II. Commemoratio interrogationis nostrae, cur maiorem abstinentiam maior interdum carnis inpugnatio consequatur.
III. Quod triplici ratione proueniat genitalis fluxus egestio.
IIII. Interrogatio, an ad sacrosanctam conmunionem accedere liceat nocturna inlusione pollutos.
V. Responsio, quando reatum contrahat passio dormientis.
VI. Quod nonnumquam etiam inimici factione haec contingat inclusio.
VII. Quod numquam dignum se conmunione dominica quispiam debeat iudicare.
VIII. Obiectio, ea quod omnes dominica communione piuandi sint, si nullus absque peccato.
VIIII. Responsio, eo quod multi sancti esse possint, nemo tamen absque peccato nisi Christus.
X. Quod solus filius dei absque ullo peccati uulnere uicerit temptatorem.
XI. Quod in similitudine carnis peccati solus uenerit Christus.
XII. Quod iusti et sancti omnes non fuerint in similitudine, sed in ueritate peccati.
XIII. Quod non sint tam grauia peccata sanctorum, ut eis auferant meritum sanctitatis.
XIIII. Quomodo intellegendum sit illud apostoli: non enim quod uolo facio bonum.
XV. Obiectio, eo quod ex peccatorum potius persona hoc apostolus dixisse credendus sit.
XVI. Dilatio propositae quaestionis.
French excerpt from IIII:
IV. GERMAIN: -- C'est une providence de Dieu, croyons-nous, que cette question ait été posée ouvertement. Il est un point, en effect, dont jamais nous n'avons pu être instruits, parce que la modestie nous ôtait la hardiesse d'interroger.
A pox on you, translators into English who fail to translate this dispensatio dei!

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