Abstract
The Letter from Heaven on the observance of the Lord’s Day exists in a number of Old English versions. One of them is particularly interesting because of its origin and its composition. It is not actually a version of the Letter. Its source is a (non extant) sermon by a Yorkshire itinerant preacher named Pehtred, living in the 830s, based on the visions and prophecies of an Irish monk, Niall, of the same period, predicting great disasters if men do not observe the Lord’s Day according to the prescriptions of the Sunday Letter. The Latin source of this Letter is also the source of the Irish Cain Domnaig (the Sunday Law). The English text exists in two independent versions in manuscripts of the XIth century. It was probably composed in the second half of the Xth century. It reproduces Pehtred’s sermon, incorporating a number of original elements, such as the idea of the Sunday respite for the damned by making the distinction between those who are in purgatory and those in hell.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
