Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon at the feast of *Crispina, (of Thagora, martyred at Theveste, S00905), probably at Theveste or in Hippo Regius (both Numidia, central North Africa). Exposition on Psalm 120, delivered in Latin, 392/417.
E01771
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 120, ch. 13
Et saeuiebant persecutores in Crispinam, cuius hodie natalitia celebramus; saeuiebant in feminam diuitem et delicatam; sed fortis erat, quia dominus tegumentum eius super manum dexterae eius, ille qui eam custodiebat.
'The persecutors raged against Crispina whose annual feast (natalitia) we are celebrating today; they raged against a rich and delicate woman: but she was strong, for the Lord defended her and was her covering upon her right hand.'
There follows a short description of Crispina's martyrdom.
Putate, fratres, quia per natalem beatae Crispinae inuitaui uos, et immoderatior fui in conuiuio producendo. Nonne posset hoc uobis fieri, si quis uos militaris inuitaret, et ad mensam sine mensura bibere cogeret? Liceat nobis hoc facere in diuino sermone, ut inebriemini et satiemini, quemadmodum et dominus pluuia sua temporali dignatus est terram irrigare, ut cum maiore gaudio nos sineret ire ad locum martyrum, sicut hesterno die promiseramus. Illi enim martyres sine labore hic sunt nobiscum.
'You think, brothers, that I invited you for the annual feast (natalitia) and was immoderate in preparing the feast. Does it not happen to you, if invited by some military man, that you are forced at the table to drink without measure. It is proper for us to do the same with the holy sermon, that we be made drunk and satiated, as the Lord at times deigns to water the earth by rain. All this will let us go with a greater joy to the place of martyrs (locum martyrum), as we promised yesterday. For those martyrs are here with us, without any toil.'
Text: Dekkers and Fraipont 1956.
Translation and summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Saint’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.
Discussion
La Bonnardière argues that the sermon belongs to a series preached in Hippo, but the penultimate phrase of the quoted passage suggests that it was delivered in Theveste, the place of the martyrdom of Crispina.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.
Robert Wiśniewski
27/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00905 | Crispina, of Thagora, martyred at Theveste, with companions | Crispina | Certain |
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