Pesikta פסיקתא

The word "pesikta" is Aramaic, from "pasak", a section: the book is divided into sections-homilies. And here is what sets it apart from other midrashim: the Midrash Rabbah follows the weekly portions, the Pesikta follows the calendar. Its homilies are for Chanukah and Purim, for the four special sabbaths before Passover, for the days of awe and for the consolation after the Ninth of Av.

There are two books under the name. The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana is the elder, assigned to the same centuries as the Midrash Rabbah on Bereshit; it was long thought lost, and Solomon Buber reassembled it in 1868 out of scattered citations and manuscripts, while in the twentieth century Bernard Mandelbaum edited it anew from the best manuscripts. The Pesikta Rabbati is the younger, some two centuries later, and part of its homilies are the same.

It is worth reading for this: it shows how a sermon sounded in the synagogue—not the analysis of a verse for students, but a word to the congregation on the day the congregation gathered.