Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of *Castus and Aemilius (martyrs of Carthage, S01202). Sermon 285, delivered in Latin, probably in Carthage (central North Africa), possibly in 405/410.
E02300
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 285
[In natali martyrum Casti et Aemilii
'On the feast of the martyrs Castus and Aemilius']
In the first part of the sermon Augustine does not refer to any specific martyrs other than biblical personages, including Peter the Apostle.
4. Tale aliquid factum esse arbitror etiam in his martyribus sanctis Casto et Aemilio, quorum diem hodie celebramus.
'The same sort of thing also happened, I am inclined to think, with these holy martyrs Castus and Aemilius, whose feast we are celebrating today.'
In the following part of the sermon Augustine encourages his audience to follows the martyrs, again without making any references to Castus and Aemilius. The sermon ends with the words which start the Eucharisitic celebration:
Conuersi ad Dominum, etc.
'Turning to the Lord, etc.'
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1295.
Translation: Hill 1994, 97.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Eucharist associated with cult
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.
This sermon is tentatively dated to the years 405-410, on the basis of intertextual relations with other works of Augustine. It was probably preached in Carthage, since Castus and Aemilius were martyrs of this city.
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 8. Sermons 273-305A. On 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 | S01202 | Castus and Aemilius, martyrs of Carthage | Castus, Aemilius | Certain |
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