Libellus de scripturis et verbis patrum (Little Book of Writings and Words of the Fathers)
Libellus de scripturis et verbis patrum collectus
John's second major work, the Libellus is a reworking of the Confessio theologica arranged as a florilegium of scripture and patristic sentences for lovers of the contemplative life—essentially the version he sent to an anonymous nun around 1030 and then further revised. It was this recension that, retitled 'Meditations of Saint Augustine,' achieved over 450 manuscript copies between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, making it among the most widely read devotional texts in medieval Christendom. Eleven manuscripts survive from the late eleventh and twelfth centuries made for houses in Fécamp's immediate network. Its patristic anthology format made it ideal for the kind of spiritual reading (lectio divina) practiced both in monasteries and in the private chapels of great nobles.