As seen from the preceding brief look at Sunday observance in the early Middle Ages, the sixth century was fertile ground for the creation of a piece such as the Sunday Letter. It was a time when there was a great need to convince the newly converted of the importance of setting aside time once a week for the rituals of the Church and basic instruction in its tenets. Although one might assume that compliance with this injunction was at best intermittent, it seems that a popular belief in taboo-like restrictions developed independently and was perhaps encouraged to ensure that the day was set aside for worship and, ideally, good deeds. Whoever wrote the Sunday Letter – and we should bear in mind that we can only guess at its original form – he must have felt either that the obligation of Sunday rest was not sufficiently recognized or that it was inadequately observed. In the absence of convincing theological justification from the Church, our writer saw himself as providing divine confirmation of practices which, though not required by the fathers, were in the process of becoming obligatory. He clearly had no reservations about the new dogma, nor, apparently, about composing a piece which claims to speak in the voice of Christ. As we shall see, it is this latter offence that caused the most consternation among the letter's medieval readers.

In this chapter, I will outline the recensions of the known Latin versions of the Sunday Letter. It may, however, be useful to begin with a brief synopsis of its contents. The way in which the Sunday Letter accounts for its divine origin is by devising an elaborate narrative of its arrival in Christendom. Written by Christ, it falls from heaven to Jerusalem (Recensions I and III) and travels to Rome or is received there by a Bishop Peter (Recension II). In the earliest version, a story of its being transmitted from priest to priest is related, after which a three-day period of fasting and prayer is held in which divine guidance on its import is sought. In the letter proper Christ speaks in the first person and warns believers of impending doom if Sunday is not honoured more zealously.