Augustine of Hippo, in a sermon preached in an unknown city of central North Africa, mentions the *Martyrs of Massa Candida (close to Utica, S00904), emphasising their great number. Exposition on Psalm 49, delivered in Latin, 392/417.
Evidence ID
E01760
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 49, ch. 9
Augustine reflects upon the number of martyrs in the Kingdom of Heaven named in the Book of Revelation and other biblical books. On this occasion he mentions 153 fish, caught by Peter who followed the command of Jesus, and says the following:
Adtendite martyrum numerositatem: sola in proximo quae dicitur Massa Candida, plus habet quam centum quinquaginta tres martyres.
'Mind the great number of martyrs. In the place alone which is called Massa Candida, there are more than one hundred and fifty-three martyrs.'
Text: Dekkers and Fraipont 1956.
Translation and summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Cult Places
Place of martyrdom of a saint
Places Named after SaintOther
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
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.
The Expositions on the Psalms are based on Augustine's homilies, preached either in Hippo or in other places in North Africa in the period from 392 to 417.
Discussion
The martyrs of Massa Candida, close to Utica, are known mostly from short mentions in a few sermons by Augustine (see E01836, E02745 and E02773). The term Massa Candida referred to a pit of lime into which the martyrs were thrown. They were supposedly much more numerous than 153 – Augustine quotes this number here only to show that the number of 153 fish, caught by Peter the Apostle, cannot be taken as reflecting the total number of the saints.Bibliography
Edition:Dekkers, E., and Fraipont, J., Enarrationes in psalmos (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 38, Turnhout: Brepols, 1956).
About the text:
La Bonnardière, M.A. "Les Enarrationes in Psalmos prêchées par saint Augustin à l'occasion de fêtes des martyrs," Recherches Augustiniennes 7 (1971), 73-104.
Further reading:
Monceaux, P., "Les Martyrs d'Utique et la légende de la "Massa Candida"," Revue Archéologique 37 (1900), 404-411.
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
27/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00904 | Martyrs of Massa Candida (Utica) | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01760 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01760