Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon at a feast of unnamed martyrs, probably at Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa). Exposition on Psalm 40, delivered in Latin, possibly in 400/410.
E01802
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 40.1
... Quoniam sollemnis dies martyrum illuxit, propter gloriam passionis Christi imperatoris martyrum, qui sibi non pepercit militibus imperans pugnam, sed prior pugnauit, prior uicit, ut pugnantes exemplo suo hortaretur, et maiestate sua adiuuaret, et promissione coronaret, audiamus aliquid in isto psalmo, quod pertineat ad eius passionem.
'The solemn day of the martyrs has shined, for the glory of Christ, the emperor of the martyrs, who when ordering the fight to his soldiers did not spare himself, but fought before them, was first to win, encouraged by his example, assisted by his majesty, crowned with the promise. Let us listen what in this psalm tells about his sufferings.'
There follows the exposition without further references either to the martyrs or the feast.
Text: Dekkers and Fraipont 1956.
Translation and summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
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 other places in North Africa in the period from 392 to 417. In this sermon Augustine refers to the destruction of idols (ch. 4) and does not mention the sack of Rome, which, according to La Bonnardière, 88-89, suggests that it was preached after 399, when some actions against pagan shrines in Carthage took place, and before 410, when Rome was taken by Alaric. Nothing indicates either which martyrs were celebrated on this day or where the sermon was preached. Hippo is just a default location.
Bibliography
Edition:Dekkers, E., and Fraipont, J., Enarrationes in psalmos (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 38; Turnhout: Brepols, 1956).
Further reading:
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 | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
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Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01802 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01802