Augustine of Hippo, in his City of God (22.8), tells of the healing of a demoniac at a memorial shrine (memoria) of *Gervasius and Protasius (brothers and martyrs of Milan, S00313), on the estate of Victoriana, near Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), at the beginning of the 5th c. Written in Latin in Hippo, 426/427.
E01104
Literary - Other
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, City of God 22.8
Victoriana dicitur villa, ab Hippone Regius minus triginta milia abest. memoria martyrum ibi est mediolanensium Protasii et Geruasii.
'There is a villa estate called Victoriana, less than thirty miles from Hippo Regius. At it there is a shrine (memoria) to the Milanese martyrs, Protasius and Gervasius.'
There follows a story of a young man who was possessed by a demon and brought to the the aforementioned shrine.
Ibi cum iaceret uel morti proximus uel simillimus mortuo, ad uespertinos illuc hymnos et orationes cum ancillis suis et quibusdam sanctimonialibus ex more domina possessionis intrauit atque hymnos cantare coeperunt.
'As he lay there, near death, or indeed very like a dead person, the lady of the villa, with her maids and religious attendants (sanctimoniales), entered the place for evening prayer and praise, as her custom was, and they began to sing hymns.'
The demon is expelled, but when leaving the young man makes his eye fall out of its socket.
Ibi maritus sororis eius, qui eum illo detulerat: "potens est, inquit, Deus sanctorum orationibus, qui fugauit daemonem, lumen reddere".
'But his sister's husband, who had brought him there, said, "God, who has banished the demon at the prayers of His saints, is also able to restore his sight".'
Finally, the young man is completely healed.
Text: Dombart and Kalb 1955.
Translation: Dods 1887, modified.
Chant and religious singing
Eucharist associated with cult
Cult PlacesCult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Altar
MiraclesHealing diseases and disabilities
Exorcism
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Source
Augustine of Hippo was born in 354 in the north African city of Thagaste. He received an education in rhetoric at Carthage, and after a period teaching there moved to Rome, and then in 384 to a public professorship of rhetoric in Milan. In these early years of adulthood Augustine was a Manichaean, but then got disillusioned with this religion, and in Milan in 386, largely under the influence of Ambrose, bishop of the city, he converted to Christianity, and was baptised by Ambrose in 387. Returning to Africa in 388, he was ordained a priest in 391 at Hippo Regius (in the province of Numidia), and rapidly acquired a reputation as a preacher. In 395 he became bishop of Hippo, which he remained until his death in 430. Details of his early life were recorded by Augustine himself in his Confessions, and shortly after his death a pupil and long-time friend, Possidius, wrote his Life, focused on Augustine as an effective Christian writer, polemicist and bishop (E00073).Amongst his many writings, the most informative on the cult of saints are his numerous Sermons, the City of God, and a treatise On the Care of the Dead. The Sermons tell us which saints (primarily African, but with some from abroad) received attention in Hippo, Carthage and elsewhere, and provide occasional details of miracles and cult practices. The City of God records the distribution, and subsequent miracles, of the relics of saint Stephen, after they arrived in Africa from Palestine in around 420. On the Care of the Dead, discusses the possible advantages of burial ad sanctos (in other words, close to a saint), and theorises on the link between the saints who dwell in heaven and their corporeal remains buried in their graves. In these works, and others, Augustine reveals his own particular beliefs about the saints, their relics and their miracles.
Augustine wrote Book 22 of the City of God in Hippo, in 426/427. Chapters 8-9 enumerate a number of contemporary miracles, most of which took place in Hippo and other cities of North Africa, either at the relics of *Stephen, the First Martyr or those of Gervasius and Protasius, martyrs in Milan.
Discussion
Augustine uses the word memoria (literally 'memory' or 'memorial') both for the shrines of saints and for their relics. Here it is most readily translated as 'memorial shrine'. It is, however, very likely - given the occurrence of a miracle - that it contained relics of Gervasius and Protasius, whose bodies were discovered in Milan by Ambrose in 386 (see E00904), and whose relics were widely distributed by him.This memoria was evidently in private possession. It had an altar, thus the eucharist was celebrated there, at least occasionally. The sanctiomoniales could be either nuns living in a monastery or virgins devoted to God, who lived in their own houses. Here the context suggests the latter. The words of the demoniac's brother-in-law serve to emphasise that the power of healing belongs to God, the saints' role is to intercede for those who ask them for help.
Bibliography
Edition:Dombart, B., and Kalb, A., Augustinus, De civitate dei, 2 vols. (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 47-48; Turnhout: Brepols, 1955).
English translation:
Dods, M., Augustine, The City of God (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 2; Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887).
Robert Wiśniewski
21/02/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00313 | Gervasius and Protasius, brothers and martyrs of Milan | Gervasius, Protasius | Certain |
|---|
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