Blickling Homilies - Interpretation

Interpretation

There is little known about the homilies and their origin or the homilist, so the purpose and principles behind the homilies will never be fully known. The scribe(s) who put them together had a plan in choosing the sermons and wrote with a fairly consistent religious philosophy. The homilies in this collection deal primarily with Lent, but only include Sundays which the compiler saw fit. The second and fourth Sundays in Lent are not discussed, but the first and third are. Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, and Holy Week are also included. There are three homilies dealing with Rogation Days. Ascension Day is the eleventh, and the twelfth day is Pentecost. The rest of the homilies in the collection are saints’ feast days.

The main focus of these homilies is concentrated on the immediate connection of the readers and their moral lives. The writings begin by stating the greatness of Christ’s power and glory and lets the reader know that God is everything, and that all people should be more God-like. It attempts to persuade readers of this in a very straightforward manner. The homilies in this collection are mostly not exegetical (meaning that they do not explain the gospels) but rather they straightforwardly give instructions. Attempts at in-depth interpretation or explanation of the gospels are often not as clearly written. The Blickling Homilies essentially convey the idea that fasting, almsgiving, and resisting temptation are the best preparation for the Lenten season.