Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of *Perpetua and Felicitas (martyrs of Carthage, S00009), after the public reading of their Martyrdom. Sermon 280, delivered in Latin, possibly at Hippo Regius (Numidia, North Africa), sometime between 391 and 430.
E02275
Literary - Letters
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 280
[In natali martyrum Perpetuae et Felicitatis
'On the feast of Perpetua and Felicitas']
1. Hodiernus dies anniuersaria replicatione nobis in memoriam reuocat, et quodam modo repraesentat diem, quo sanctae famulae dei Perpetua et Felicitas coronis martyrii decoratae, Perpetua felicitate floruerunt, tenentes nomen Christi in praelio, et simul inuenientes etiam suum nomen in praemio. Exhortationes earum in diuinis reuelationibus, triumphos que passionum, cum legerentur, audiuimus; ea que omnia uerborum digesta et illustrata luminibus, aure percepimus, mente spectauimus, religione honorauimus, charitate laudauimus. Debetur tamen etiam a nobis tam deuotae celebritati sermo solemnis, quem si meritis earum imparem profero, impigrum tamen affectum gaudio tantae festiuitatis exhibeo.
'This day, coming round year after year, is a reminder to us, and after a certain fashion represents for us the day on which God's holy servants Perpetua and Felicity, adorned with the garlands of martyrdom, burst into bloom in perpetual felicity, holding onto the name of Christ in the war, and at the same time also finding their won names in the reward. We heard of the encouragement they received in divine revelations, and of their triumph in their sufferings, as it was all being read; and all those things, recounted in such glowing words, we perceive with our ears, and actually saw with our minds; we honoured them with our devotion, and praised them with love. However, a solemn sermon is also owed by me at a celebration of such universal devotion. If what I can offer is quite unequal to the merits of these saints, I can still contribute my enthusiastic feelings to the joy of this great feast.'
In what follows, Augustine frequently refers to the story of Perpetua's martyrdom.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1281.
Translation: Hill, 72.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
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.
This sermon was possibly preached in Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see. Its dating cannot be established with any certainty.
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 | S00009 | Perpetua, Felicitas and their companions, martyrs of Carthage | Perpetua, Felicitas | Certain |
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