Augustine of Hippo, in his Letter 25* of c. 419, informs his correspondents in Carthage that he has celebrated in Hippo Regius the feast of an unnamed martyr, probably *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00060); all in central North Africa. Written in Latin in Hippo.
E01852
Literary - Letters
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Letter 25*.1
Dominis carissimis et sincerissimis fratribus et compresbyteris Deogratias et Theodoro et diaconis Titiano, Quintiano, Quoduultdeo et Carissimo et fratri Comiti Augustinus in Domino salutem.
Incolumes nos deo propitio ad propria peruenisse, sollemnitatem beatissimi martyris cum populo dei qui de mea multum absentia murmurabat egisse, quod uobis gratissimum esse confidimus, nuntiamus.
'To our most dear lords and most sincere brothers and fellow priests, Deogratias and Theodore, and to the deacons Titian, Quintian, Quodvultdeus, and Carissimus, and to his brother Comes, Augustine sends greetings in the Lord.
We announce that by God’s mercy we have arrived home safe and sound and that we have celebrated the solemnity of the most blessed martyr with the people of God, who were complaining greatly concerning my absence.'
Text: Divjak 1987, 128.
Translation: Teske 2005, 325.
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.
Discussion
As this letter can be dated to September 419, the saint whom Augustine mentions was most probably Cyprian whose feast was celebrated on 14 September.Bibliography
Edition:Divjak, J., Augustin, Oeuvres, vol. 46 B: Lettres 1*- 29*. Nouvelle édition du texte critique et introduction (Paris: Études Augustniennes, 1987).
English translation:
Teske, R., The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century. Letters 1-99, vol. II 4 (New York: New City Press, 2005), 325.
Robert Wiśniewski
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00411 | Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage | Uncertain |
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