Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–c. 394)
Contemplation sur la vie de Moïse: ou, Traité de la perfection en matière de vertu
Introduction and translation byJean Daniélou
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, [1941]
43.01.d.1.1, inner title page

Image © Editions du Cerf. Reproduced with permission.

Two French Dominican friars, Marie-Dominique Chenu and Yves Congar, spearheaded the renewal in the twentieth century of Catholic theology. Congar saw his task as recalling people from a shallow version of tradition into deeper waters awaiting rediscovery. The Church was to be refreshed with new theological resources and re-sensitized to the Biblical and Patristic sources of theological reflection. This ressourcement was advanced in large part by the French Dominicans’ publishing house, Editions du Cerf, set up in 1927.

In collaboration with leading Jesuits and other scholars the friars began to publish Sources chrétiennes. This is a series of critical editions of Patristic texts in Greek or Latin with a French translation and commentary. The first, Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses, was edited by Jean Daniélou SJ and appeared in 1941. This copy was presented to Cambridge University Library by the University of Paris in 1946.