Epistula e caelo missa de seruanda dominica
Standard abbreviation: Ep. Chr. Heav.
Other titles: Letter(s) from Heaven, Leaflets from Heaven, Letter on the Observance of the Lord’s Day, Sunday Letter(s), Scrolls from Heaven, Himmelsbrief
Clavis numbers: ECCA 880; CANT 311
VIAF: 212164336
Category: Epistles
Related Literature: Dormition of the Virgin by the Apostle John, Apocalypse of Anastasia
Compiled by: Calogero A. Miceli, Concordia University ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Miceli, Calogero A. “Epistle of Christ from Heaven.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/epistle-of-christ-from-heaven/.
Posted April 2017. Current as of December 2022.
1. SUMMARY
This apocryphal work claims to have been written by Jesus Christ and to have come down to earth from heaven. The letter is unique in that it instructs readers to observe the holy Day of the Lord (Sunday) and warns that those who do not own a copy of the letter will face terrible punishments. The instructions to make copies of the letter mean that this work is likely the oldest known form of a chain letter (a message that attempts to convince recipients to make copies of the letter and pass them on to others). As a result, this letter has been copied and recopied throughout the centuries. Today, it can be found in a plethora of ancient and modern languages including Ancient (Koine) Greek, Armenian, Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Latin, Russian, Modern Greek, French, English, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, etc. The great number of copies of this letter and its wide transmission mean that a critical edition of the work is out of reach. One of the oldest versions is a Koine Greek text—likely the original language of the epistle—found in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 929.
The content of the letter features a framing narrative that describes its delivery from heaven. The archbishop of Rome is visited by the apostle Peter in a dream and then witnesses the epistle suspended in the air in the middle of the sanctuary. The letter comes down into the hands of the bishop who proceeds to read the contents of the letter to his congregation. The letter, purportedly written in the first person by Jesus/God, begins by admonishing those who have failed to honor or celebrate the holy Day of the Lord and to curse those who do not continue to observe it. Included among the narrator’s many menaces is the threat that he “will send venomous wild beasts, so that they devour women’s breasts (who then will be unable to breastfeed babies that do not have their mothers’ milk), and savage wolves to snatch away your children” (1:18). A number of heinous extortions are offered for those who fail to follow the instructions and observe the holy day. The epistle concludes by returning to the framing narrative where the archbishop is addressing the congregation. He implores those listening to honor the holy Sunday that they may avoid harsh punishments and instead be rewarded at the time of judgment.
Named historical figures and characters: Abraham (patriarch), Adam (patriarch), Eve (matriarch), Gabriel (angel), Jesus Christ, John (the Baptist), Mary (Virgin), Moses, Peter (apostle), Satan.
Geographical locations: Gomorrah, Mount Sinai, Rome, Sodom.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Online Resources
Miceli, Calogero A. “A Story about Jesus Outside the New Testament.” Inquisitive Minds Podcast (Posted 27 February 2016).
VanArsdale, Daniel W. Chain Letter Evolution (currently available as a PDF). No pages. (Includes an archive of Ep. Chr. Heav. texts).
Solly, Meilan. “Before Chain Letters Swept the Internet, They Raised Funds for Orphans and Sent Messages From God.” Smithsonian Magazine. 2 July 2020. Online: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/chain-letters-swept-internet-they-raised-funds-orphans-and-conveyed-messages-god-180975005/.
2.2 Licinianus, Ep. 3, ad. Vincentium Episcopum
Van Impe, Steven. “Licinian of Cartagene, Letters (2004).” Tertullian.org. Administered by Roger Pearse. English translation of Licinian’s letter about Ep. Chr. Heav.).
Migne, Jacques-Paul. Patrologiae Latinae. 217 vols. Paris: Lutetiae Parisiorum, 1844–1864 (text of Licinian’s letter vol. 72, pp. 699–700).
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic
3.1.1.1 Arabic Script
Bucharest, Academia Romana, Orientale 365
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 536, fols. 84v–89v (15th cent.)
Frantsouzoff, Serge A. Five Lives of Saints. Essays on Study of Arabic Orthodox Hagiography. Researches and Publications [Пять житий. Очерки изучения арабо-православной агиографии. Исследование и публикация]. Sаint Petersburg: Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 2021 (edition of Bucharest Or. 365 with Russian translation, and discussion, pp. 246–65).
3.1.1.2 Garšūnī Script
Aleppo, Syriac-Orthodox Archdiocese, 52 K, in two forms: fols. 274r–279r, fols. 279r–286r (17th cent.)
Homs, Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese, 2, fols. 43r–48r (1824/1825)
Mdina (Malta), Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Paul, Misc. 502 (ACM 00015), pp. 119–139 (17th/18th cent.)
3.1.2 Greek (BHG 812i–812r)
Athens, Ethnikē Bibliothēkē tēs Hellados, 838, 198r–201v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Carpentras, Bibliothèque municipale (Bibl. Inguimvertine), 103, fols. 1–20 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Athos, Monē Koutloumousiou, 176 (Lambros 3249), fols. 25r–25v (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Athos, Monē Philotheou, 98 (Lambros 1862) (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Jerusalem, Patriarchikē bibliothēkē, Hagiou Saba 57, fol. 173 ~ Pinakes; LOC
London, British Library, Add. 10073, fols. 307r–317r (16th cent.)
London, Highgate School, II.29, fols. 120v–124v (15th cent.)
London, Lambeth Palace Library, 1197, fols. 5r–10v (15th/16th cent.)
Meteōra, Monē Hagiou Stephanou, 119, fol. 35 (1771) ~ Pinakes
Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, B 146 sup., fols. 5–6 (17th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Palermo, Biblioteca centrale della Regione siciliana “Alberto Bombace,” II. D. 26, fols. 36v–39r (15th/16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 929, pp. 548–561 (15th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 947, fols. 21v–26r (1574) ~ Pinakes; Gallica
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1313, fols. 1r–5r (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Gallica
Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II, S. A. Valle 102, fols. 168–170 (17th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, 481, fols. 27–37 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Sinai, Mone tes Hagias Aikaterines, gr. 1670, fols. 130v–136r (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes; LOC
Tubingen, Universitatsbibliothek, Mb 33, fols. 131–137 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes; catalog
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barb. gr. 284 (olim III 3), fols. 55–65 (1497) ~ Pinakes
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 2235, fols. 222–229 (14th cent.) ~ Pinakes; DigiVatLib
Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. VII. 38 (coll. 1385), fols. 339–342 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Bittner, Maximilian. “Der vom Himmel gefallene Brief in seinen morgenländischen Versionen und Rezensionen.” Denkschriften der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-historische Klasse 51.1 (1906): 1–240 (comprehensive study of the tradition with versions published in numerous ancient languages, including the text of Paris gr. 929, pp. 16–21).
Fabricius, Johann Albert. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. Hamburg: Schiller, 1703 (3 vols. 1719) (Greek text from Bodleian, Huntington 583, vol. 3, pp. 510–13; see discussion also in vol. 2, 309–13).
Vassiliev, Athanasius. Anecdota graeco-byzantina, pars prior. Moscow: Imperial University, 1893 (Greek texts of Vatican, Barb. gr. 284 and Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, VII 38, pp. 23–32; discussion pp. xii–xx).
3.1.3 Latin (known in 26 manuscripts from the 12th–15th centuries; See Haines, Sunday Observance, pp. 52–54)
London, British Library, Add. 30853, fol. 231r–232v (10th/11th cent.) ~ BRITISH LIBRARY
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 9550 (11th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5302, fols. 52v–53r (11th cent.) ~ GALLICA
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12270, fols. 31v–32v (12th cent.) ~ GALLICA
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12315, fols. 37v–40r (12th cent.) ~ GALLICA
Toulouse, Bibliothèque d’Étude et du Patrimoine (olim Bibliothèque municipale) 208, fols. 101r–104v (13th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Trier, Stadtbibliotek, 550/1538, fols. 82v–83v (14th cent.)
Delehaye, Hippolyte. “Note sur la légende de la lettre du Christ tombée du ciel.” Pages 171–213 in Bulletin de l’Académie royale de Belgique: Classe de lettres. Brussels: Hayez, 1899. [Repr. as pages 150–78 in Hippolyte Delehaye. Mélanges d’hagiographie grecque et latine. Subsidia Hagiographica 42. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1966.] (text from Munich Clm 9550, pp. 155–56; Paris BNF 12270, pp. 157–59).
Delehaye, Hippolyte. “Un exemplaire de la lettre tombée du ciel.” RSR 18 (1928): 164–68 (text of BL Add. 30853).
Rivière, Ernest M. “La Lettre du Christ tombée du ciel: le manuscrit 208 de Toulouse.” Revue des questions historiques, N.S. 35 (1906): 600–605.
3.1.4 Middle Irish
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 P 16 (the Leabhar Breac), pp. 202b–204b (1408–1411)
3.1.5 Welsh
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Peniarth 15, pp. 11–12 (ca. 1375–1425)
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Miceli, Calogero A. “The Epistle of Christ from Heaven: A New Translation and Introduction.” Pages 455–63 in volume 1 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.
3.2.2 French
Backus, Irena. “Lettre de Jésus-Christ sur le dimanche.” Pages 1101–19 in vol. 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by P. Geoltrain and J.-D. Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005.
Migne, Jacques-Paul. Dictionnaire des Apocryphes. 2 vols. 1856. Repr., Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (vol. 2, cols. 366–69).
3.2.3 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966–1981 (the epistle is translated in vol. 3, pp. 113–18).
3.2.4 Spanish
Santos Otero, Aurelio de. Los Evangelios Apócrifos. 2nd ed. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1963 (the epistle is translated on pp. 670–82).
3.2.5 Russian
Frantsouzoff, Serge A. Five Lives of Saints. Essays on Study of Arabic Orthodox Hagiography. Researches and Publications [Пять житий. Очерки изучения арабо-православной агиографии. Исследование и публикация]. Sаint Petersburg: Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 2021 (edition, Russian translation, and discussion, pp. 246–65).
3.3 General Works
Beskow, Per. Strange Tales about Jesus: A Survey of Unfamiliar Gospels. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983 (pp. 25–30).
Borsje, Jacqueline. “The Bruch in the Irish Version of the Sunday Letter.” Ériu 45 (1994): 83–98.
Deletant, Dennis. “The Sunday Legend.” Revue des études sud-est européennes 15 (1977): 431–51.
Dieterich, Albrecht. “Himmelsbriefe.” Pages 234–42 in Kleine Schriften. Leipzig: Teubner, 1911.
Esbroeck, Michel van. “La lettre sur le Dimanche, descendue du ciel.” AnBoll 107 (1989): 267–84.
Fogel, Edwin M. “The Himmelsbrief.” German American Annals 10 (1908): 286–311.
Goodspeed, Edgar J. Strange New Gospels. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1931 (pp. 96–107).
Haines, Dorothy, ed. Sunday Observance and the Sunday Letter in Anglo-Saxon England. Anglo-Saxon Texts 8. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2010.
Hand, Wayland D. “A North Carolina Himmelsbrief.” Pages 201–207 in Middle Ages – Reformation – Volkskunde: Festschrift for John G. Kunstmann. Edited by Frederic E. Coenen. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1959.
Hall, Isaac H. “The Letter of Holy Sunday: Syriac Text and Translation.” JAOS 15 (1893): 121–137.
Jones, W. R. “The Heavenly Letter in Medieval England.” Pages 163–78 in Medieval Hagiography and Romance. Edited by Paul Maurice Clogan. Medievalia et Humanistica 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Laansma, Jon C. “Sunday Letter.” Pages 416–24 in Early New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by J. Christopher Edwards. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022.
Lees, Clare. “The ‘Sunday Letter’ and the ‘Sunday Lists.’” Anglo-Saxon England 14 (1985): 129–51.
Priebsch, Robert. Letter from Heaven on the Observance of the Lord’s Day. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1936 (text, pp. 35–37).
Renoir, E. “Christ (lettre du) tombée du ciel.” DACL 3/1 (1948): 1534–46.
Röhricht, Reinhold. “Ein ‘Brief Christ.’” ZKG 11 (1890): 436–41.
Stern, Jean. “La Salette et la légende des lettres tombées du ciel.” Pages 375–92 in vol. 1 of La Salette: Documents authentiques: Dossier chronologique intégral. Collection Sanctuaires, Pèlerinages, Apparitions. 3 vols. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1980–1991.
Stübe, Rudolf. Der Himmelsbrief: Ein Beitrag zur allgemeinen Religionsgeschichte. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1918.
Yoder, Don. “Heaven Sent: When Homeowners’ Insurance Came Straight from the Top.” Fine Books Magazine (posted June 2009). No pages. Online: https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/200906/himmelsbrief-1.phtml.