Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of *Vincent (deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia, S00290), probably after the public reading of his Martyrdom. Sermon 277, delivered in Latin, in Hippo Regius (Numidia, North Africa), possibly in 413.
E02262
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 277
[In festo martyris Vincenti. Habitus in basilica Restituta
'On the feast of the martyr Vincent. Preached in the Restored basilica']
The preacher mentions the martyrdom of Vincent and claims that the bodies of the martyrs are offered by God to the Church.
Praestitit ergo [Deus] sanctorum corpora ecclesiis suis ad memorias orationum, non ad glorias martyrum. Illi enim habent integram gloriam suam apud creatorem suum. Nec ipsi corpori aliquid timent, quoniam non est quod timeant.
'So God has bestowed the bodies of the saints on the Churches as memorials for prayer (ad memorias orationum), not for the glory of the martyrs. They, after all, have their glory complete and intact in the presence of their creator. Nor are they afraid of anything happening to their bodies, since there is in fact nothing to fear.'
There follow reflections about the status of the body after death and after resurrection with occasional references to the story of Vincent's martyrdom, which suggest that it has been read before the sermon.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1258.
Translation: Hill 1994, 33.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the nature of relics
Considerations about the veneration of saints
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.
This sermon was preached in Hippo after 411 when the former Donatis basilica (Basilica Restituta) was taken over by the Augustine's congregation. Its dating to 413 is also based on its relation with other of Augustine's writings.
Discussion
The term memoria (literally 'memory' or 'memorial') is also used by Augustine both for the shrines of martyrs and, more narrowly, for their relics. Since it is evident that, for Augustine, the memorial shrine (memoria) of a saint contained relics of that saint, there is often no substantive difference in the ways he uses the word.Bibliography
Edition:Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 38 (Paris, 1865).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century,vol. III 9. Sermons 306-340A for the Saints (New York: New City Press, 1994).
Dating:
Kunzelmann, A., "Die Chronologie der sermones des hl. Augustinus," Miscellanea Agostiniana, vol. 2 (Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1931), 417-452.
Robert Wiśniewski
03/01/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00290 | Vincentius/Vincent, deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia | Vincentius | Certain |
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