Jacob of Serugh in His Time: A Preacher in Late Mesopotamia | Dr.Muriel Debié

As the Narrative of the period of distress which occurred in Edessa, Amid, and all Mesopotamia reminds us, at the time of the Persian invasion of north Mesopotamia (502/3), “the respected Jacob, the periodeutes, who composed many mimre on Scriptural passages, and sugyoto and zmiroto … wrote letters of encouragement to different cities.” As a periodeutes, an ecclesiastical visitor, before he became a bishop, Jacob shared the lives of the lay and religious communities he visited and to whom he addressed his mimre, or metrical homilies. Hundreds of these survived until today, of which 60 were recently edited for the first time.

This talk aims at trying to understand what it means to be a preacher in Northern Mesopotamia at the beginning of the 6th century, at a time of war, famine and plague as well as religious unrest, when the Christological controversies caused restlessness. What can we say about Jacob’s role and about the way he composed and delivered his speeches if we look at them not just from the perspective of patristic studies, as pieces written by a Church Father, but as late Antique contributions anchored in the living conditions of the contemporary communities?

Urho, The Way is pleased to announce that we will be a hosting partner of this illuminating online series organized by thehiddenpearl.org and the Eparchy of Los Angeles.

On the third Wednesday of each month in 2021, at 10:00 am ET (3pm GMT, 8.30pm IST), world-renowned scholars on St. Jacob of Serugh will be presenting a live lecture that can be viewed through Urho, The Way Facebook page.

May God bless all of you!

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