Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the nativity of *John the Baptist (S00020). He emphasises that it is the only earthly birthday of a man other than Christ which is celebrated by the Church and explains why it falls on the summer solstice, 24 June. Sermon 287, delivered in Latin, possibly in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa) in the later 420s.
E02345
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 287
1. Prolixa narratio, sed compensatur labor auditoris dulcedine ueritatis. Illustrem natiuitatem beatissimi Ioannis preconis et praecursoris Christi, cum sanctum euangelium legeretur, audiuimus. Hic attendat charitas uestra, quam magni hominis natiuitas facta sit. Natalis dies carnis nulli prophetarum, nulli patriarcharum, nemini apostolorum celebrauit ecclesia: solos duos natales celebrat, huius et Christi.
'It was a long drawn story, but the hard work of listening is compensated for by the sweetness of the truth. When the holy gospel was read, we heard about the illustrious birth of the most blessed John, the herald and the forerunner of Christ. From this your graces should observe how really great a man he was, whose birth was so brought about. The Church has never celebrated the birthday in the flesh of any of the prophets, any of the patriarchs, any of the apostles. It only celebrates two birthdays, this man's and Christ's.'
[....]
4. Denique quia humiliandus erat omnis homo Christo, ac per hoc et Ioannes; et quod exaltandus erat Deus homo Christus, demonstrauit et dies natalis, et genera passionum. Natus est Ioannes hodie : ab hodierno minuuntur dies. Natus est Christus octauo calendas ianuarias: ab illo die crescunt dies.
'Finally, that every human being should be humbled before Christ, and thus John also; and that Christ, the God-man, was to be exalted, was demonstrated both by their birthdays and by the ways in which they suffered. John was born today. From today on, the days diminish. Christ was born on the sixth day before the Kalends of January [25 December]; from that day the days grow longer.'
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1301-1302.
Translation: Hill 1994, 107-108, lightly modified.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the hierarchy of saints
Relationships with pagan practices
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 425-430 on the basis of intertextual references and its place in the collection of Augustine's sermons.
Discussion
The story of the conception and birth to Zechariah and Elizabeth of the Baptist features prominently in the first chapter of Luke's gospel, which is why his Nativity became a feast of the Church. It is interesting to remark that Augustine is looking for a rationale for the dates of the Nativities of Christ and the Baptist occurring respectively on the winter and summer solstices, though he considers both as their actual birthdays.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 | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes Baptista | Certain |
|---|
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