Augustine of Hippo, in his City of God (22.8), tells how a dead boy in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), anointed 'with oil of the martyr' *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), was brought back to life. Written in Latin in Hippo, 426/427.
Evidence ID
E01120
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, City of God 22.8
Rursus ibidem apud nos Irenaei cuiusdam collectarii filius aegritudine extinctus est. Cum que corpus iaceret exanime atque a lugentibus et lamentantibus exequiae pararentur, amicorum eius quidam inter aliorum consolantium uerba suggessit, ut eiusdem martyris oleo corpus perungueretur. Factum est, et reuixit.
'There [in Hippo], too, the son of a man, Irenaeus, one of our tax-gatherers, took ill and died. And while his body was lying lifeless, and the last rites were being prepared, amidst the weeping and mourning of all, one of the friends who were consoling the father suggested that the body should be anointed with the oil of the same martyr [Stephen]. It was done, and he revived.'
Text: Dombart and Kalb 1955.
Translation: Dods 1887.
MiraclesMiracle after death
RelicsOfficials
Miracle after death
Power over life and death
RelicsContact relic - oil
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOfficials
Children
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
This passage does not say where precisely the oil came from. Most probably, it could be either taken from lamps in the memoria of Stephen, or had more direct contact with the relics.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).
Further reading:
Meyers, J., Les miracles de saint Etienne. Recherches sur le recueil pseudo-augustinien (BHL 7860-7861), avec édition critique, traduction et commentaire (Turnhout: Brepols, 2006).
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
21/02/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01120 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01120