Augustine of Hippo in a sermon preached at the feast of *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411), probably in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), invites his audience to celebrate the feast with sobriety. Exposition on Psalm 88 (Sermon 2), delivered in Latin, 392/417.
Evidence ID
E01768
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 88, sermon 2
[Lemma in Cod. Vallicelanus, B 38:
Habitus per vigilia sancti Cypriani
'Preached at the vigil of saint Cyprian']
Ch. 11
... Dixerunt ista martyres, quorum natalitia celebramus.
'... So said these martyrs whose annual feast (natalitia) we are celebrating.'
Ch. 14
... Natalitia sanctorum cum sobrietate celebrate, ut imitemur eos qui praecesserunt et gaudeant de uobis qui orant pro uobis, ut benedictio Domini in aeternum maneat super uos.
'... Celebrate the annual feasts of martyrs in sobriety, in order to imitate those who went before us and who rejoice with you, and who pray that the blessing of the Lord rest with you for ever.'
Text: Dekkers and Fraipont 1956.
Translation: Robert Wiśniewski.
Liturgical Activities
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
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. The two sermons on Psalm 88 (see E01767) were preached the same day, that is, according to the lemma of a single manuscript (Vallicelianus B. 38), on the feast of *Cyprian of Carthage: Habitus in natale sancti Cypriani vigiliis. Yet in both sermons Augustine refers only generally to a feast of martyrs, always in plural. It is impossible to say where the sermon was preached, Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see, is just a default location. See La Bonnardière, 96-97.
Discussion
The references to celebrating the feast in sobriety probably refer to the habit of drinking at feasts of martyrs, which was widespread in Africa.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.
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
27/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00411 | Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01768 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01768