Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah

<p>During his twenty years as abbot of the Yorkshire monastery of Rievaulx Aelred preached many sermons: to his own monks in other monasteries and at significant gatherings outside the cloister. In these thirty-one homilies on Isaiah chapters 13-16 together with an introductory Advent sermon Aelred interprets the burdens that Isaiah prophesied against the nations according to their literal allegorical and moral senses. He sees these burdens as playing a role both in the history of the church and in the progress of the individual soul. This collection of homilies is an ambitious unified work of a mature monk synthesizing biblical exegesis ascetical teaching spiritual exhortation and a theory of history.</p>