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I am excited to announce the release of my first book of translations: Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle's Elevation to Jesus Christ Regarding Saint Mary Magdalene.
Bérulle (1575-1629) was a French priest, cardinal, and royal advisor. After helping his cousin, Bl. Marie of the Incarnation (1566-1618), bring St. Teresa of Ávila's reform of the Carmelites to France, he went on to form a society for priests, the Oratory of Jesus, inspired by St. Philip Neri's Oratory. Bérulle was a friend of St. Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul, and he is considered the founder of the French School of Spirituality, whose members include, beside de Paul, St. John Eudes, Jean-Jacques Olier (founder of the Sulpicians), and St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.
Bérulle's magnum opus was the Discourses on the State and on the Grandeur of Jesus, recently published in English translation by Catholic University of America Press. Besides this recent translation, Bérulle has had little presence in English, outside of excerpts in a volume by Paulist Press, Bérulle and the French School: Selected Writings. I have already published a few translations of him: three of his short Works of Piety (#6, #21, and #38), and selections of the presently-translated work, the Elevation on Magdalene, in my Homiletic & Pastoral Review article "Magdalene in the Desert." I am happy to finally have the full translation in print.
This translation includes the full Elevation on Mary Magdalene, with its dedicatory letter to Queen Henrietta Maria of England, sister of King Louis XIII of France; the Observations on the Text of Saint Luke in Favor of Magdalene, appended to most editions of the Elevation; and two of Bérulle's short Works of Piety (#100 and #101), which touch upon St. Mary Magdalene.
Both paperback ($9.99) and Kindle ($4.99) versions are available. For a limited time, the Kindle version will be available for Kindle Unlimited subscribers to read for no extra charge.
I hope that this is just the first of many translations I will publish, of Bérulle and of other authors.
To close, a passage from one of Bérulle's letters—which I recently came across—where he summarizes the glories of Mary Magdalene:
"Honor the saint whom the Church honors at this time, who spent thirty years without knowledge of and communication with anyone, so perfectly honoring, in this privation, the humble and voyaging life of the Son of God upon earth. Do not let this holy time roll by without rendering some particular honor to this saint, to her love towards Jesus, to her faithfulness in following Him unto the Cross, unto the tomb, to her retreat and solitude. For, no longer finding Jesus Christ in the world, she wills to no longer live in the world, and she retires into that desert, in order to converse with no one but Him, and to think of nothing but Him. Oh! What excess! Oh! What life! Oh! What a conference! Oh! What love of Magdalene towards Jesus in that desert! Heaven will make you see it one day, and earth is not worthy of knowing it."
Source: Pierre de Bérulle, Letter LII, in Jean-Paul Migne, ed. Œuvres complètes de de Bérulle (Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1856),1403.
Translation of Letter Excerpt ©2024 Brandon P. Otto. Licensed via CC BY-NC. Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator. (This applies, of course, only to this letter excerpt, not to the published book referenced above.)
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