Two previously unknown sermons by St. Augustine of Hippo have been discovered in a 12th-century manuscript held at a monastery in Pelplin, Poland. The discovery began with a 2024 phone call to a Latin scholar asking for help deciphering medieval text. Aleteia reports the full story of how the sermons came to light after centuries of obscurity. For readers who love the Church Fathers, this is a rare glimpse into new primary material from one of Christianity’s most influential theologians.
What happened
In 2024, an employee of the Bad Doberan Monastery Association in northern Germany contacted Professor Christian Tornau, a Latin scholar, for help with a 12th-century manuscript. The manuscript originally belonged to Bad Doberan Abbey but is now housed at the abbey’s daughter monastery in Pelplin, Poland.
Upon examination, Professor Tornau identified two sermons that had never been attributed to Augustine before. The texts were copied in the 12th century, but the sermons themselves date to Augustine’s lifetime in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. The manuscript likely survived in monastic libraries for centuries without scholars recognizing the Augustinian authorship.
Read the full details at Aleteia.
Why this matters
Augustine of Hippo wrote prolifically, but not everything he preached or wrote survived in complete form. Medieval monasteries preserved what they could, often copying texts without always knowing the author. Discoveries like this one add to our understanding of Augustine’s pastoral work and theological development. Every new sermon is a window into how he taught his North African congregation in the years when the Western Roman Empire was collapsing.
The Polish monastery connection also highlights how medieval monastic networks preserved patristic texts across Europe. Manuscripts traveled with monks, survived wars and reformations, and sometimes sat unidentified in archives for centuries. This discovery reminds us that more Augustine texts may still be waiting in libraries we haven’t fully cataloged.
For Catholic readers
If you’ve never read Augustine’s sermons, this is a good time to start. His Expositions on the Psalms and occasional homilies are more accessible than The City of God and show Augustine the pastor, not just Augustine the philosopher. The Vatican’s website hosts some English translations of his major works, or try a parish library for a collected volume.
Sources:
1. Aleteia — original report
