As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have been working on a translation of a commentary on the Book of Judith for many years. Not only that, I am nearly ready to self-publish it on Amazon. I have made at least 5 editing passes over the manuscript and feel fairly confident in its accuracy and readability. To qualify that, I will also make it clear that it will never be perfect. Every time I look at it I find something that needs correction or could be improved. But at this point, I will not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

One of the reasons I chose to translate this particular book was that it had never been translated before and was completely unavailable in English. Not to mention, it is the only pre-schism commentary on the book of Judith available. I was looking for a project that would help me to learn Latin better, but also bring me a bit of glory in the fact that I would be the first to publish this commentary.

Sunday morning, before heading out to Church, I was tinkering with it a bit on Amazon KDP to see how my latest changes looked. I made some tweaks and decided to check and see if it might already be listed in pre-release state on the main Amazon site. What I found there shocked me. I had searched many times over the years to see if anyone else was doing work on this book but had never found anyone. Sunday morning there it was, a new translation of the commentary by Rabanus Maurus on the books of Ruth, Esther, and Judith, published 4 days ago by a company that had been formed last year. Not only that, but they published it just a few days before I had been planning to. My jaw about hit the floor. I had wanted to not only be the first, but the only “expert” to publish this book.

(Not to sell myself too short and also to brag a little, I was still the first to complete a translation of the book. You’ll note that I announced the completion of the first draft in 2020, and it has been available online in its entirety at every step of the editing process.)

I frittered away about this the entire 40-minute drive to Church. On this particular Sunday, our priest was out sick and our Deacon was presiding over a Typica service. It was the Sunday of Saint John Climicus, so at the end of the service, Deacon Andrew read a portion of The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It happened to be the section on vainglory, and let me tell you, that reading drilled right into my soul. That reading was for me.

The timing of these events was far too coincidental to be happenstance. This event reminds me of the prayer of Saint Philaret of Moscow, particularly the line that says, “When unforeseen things occur, let me not forget that all is sent by Thee.” I prayed many years ago that God would help me to overcome my vainglory. When God answers prayer, it may take many years and you may not like the outcome, but he will respond. God knows how to arrange things in such a way that the lesson will be learned effectively. I could have rejected what he was teaching me, but the way things came together made it easier to receive the outcome in peace and realize that if God wants something to be done, it will be done whether I do it or not. As the tagline says on my blog, “he’s just this guy, you know?” That’s it. I’m just this guy.

I offer hearty congratulations to my Brothers in Christ at Scriptorium Press for their new book, Saints of the Old Testament: Rabanus Maurus’ Commentary on Ruth, Judith, and Esther. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to order a copy.

Oh, and look for an upcoming post from me when my translation has been published on Amazon. There will be a paperback and a Kindle ebook available. Amazon is currently reviewing it and, assuming it passes muster, it should be available in a few days. And, as always, the full commentary continues to be available for free online for your reading pleasure.