Previously unknown sermons of St. Augustine discovered in ancient manuscript

A page from the manuscript containing sermons of Saint Augustine. Photo: damascenegallery.com and roger-pearse.com

A team of researchers in Poland has discovered previously unknown sermons by St. Augustine of Hippo. The texts were identified in a 12th-century manuscript that once belonged to the German abbey of Bad Doberan, UOJ-USA reports.

The discovery was made by Professor Christian Tornau of the University of Würzburg. While studying a volume containing six sermons attributed to Augustine, he determined that two of the texts had never before been known to scholarship.

In the newly identified homilies, St. Augustine examines the biblical account of the Witch of Endor from the First Book of Samuel. He discusses whether King Saul truly summoned the spirit of the Prophet Samuel or whether the event was a deception, and explains how it relates to Divine Providence.

To confirm the authorship, Tornau consulted specialists from the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL) and experts in Vienna. The researchers concluded that the style and rhetoric of the texts fully correspond to Augustine’s authentic works. A scholarly edition of the sermons is expected to be published by the end of 2026.

As the UOJ reported, scholars recently recovered 42 pages of the lost letters of the Apostle Paul.

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