Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the nativity of *John the Baptist (S00020). Sermon 293A, delivered in Latin in an unknown city of central North Africa, 397/405.
E02432
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 293A (Sermo Dolbeau 3)
Augustine opens the sermon saying that it was God's decision to make him speak today to this congregation.
2. Vnde ergo loquamur hodie, nisi de illo cuius natalis est hodie? Iohannes ergo sanctus natus de sterili, praecursor domini nati de uirgine, factus est domini sui salutator ex utero, adnuntiator post uterum ... Cum ergo multos praecones ante se miserit Dominus, quid tantum iste meruit, quid excellentiae amplius habuit, cuius natalis nobis hodie commendatur? Nam neque hoc sine signo cuiusdam magnitudinis est, ut non lateat dies natalis eius, sicut non latet dies natalis Domini eius. Alii prophetae quando nati fuerint ignoramus; de Iohanne nescire non licuit.
'So what else should we talk about today, but about the person whose birthday (natalis) it is? So Saint John, born of a barren woman as the forerunner of the Lord who was born of a virgin, was to greet his Lord from the womb, to proclaim him after leaving the womb ... So considering that the Lord had sent many heralds before him, what was the extra special merit of this man, whose birthday is being brought to our notice today; what altogether superior excellence was to be found in him? I mean, even the fact that his birthday is not unknown to us, just as his Lord's birthday is not unknown to us, is a sign of some special greatness. When other prophets were born we don't know; about John we have not been allowed to remain in ignorance.'
In what follows Augustine comments upon the relation between Christ and John the Baptist, presents John as an example of humility, and reflects on the issue of rebaptism.
Text: Dolbeau 1996, 484.
Translation: Hill 1994, 159.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
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.
The beginning of this sermon suggests that Augustine was in a place where he was preaching to the congregation unexpectedly, so it is unlikely that it was pronounced in Hippo or Carthage.
Bibliography
Edition:Dolbeau, F., Augustin d'Hippone, Vingt-six sermons au peuple d'Afrique (Paris: Institut des Études Augustinennes, 1996), 484-494.
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). This translation is based on the edition in Patrologia Latina 46, which has only part of the text published later by Dolbeau.
Dating:
Kunzelmann, A., "Die Chronologie der sermones des hl. Augustinus," Miscellanea Agostiniana, vol. 2 (Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1931), 417-452.
Robert Wiśniewski
28/02/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes Baptista | Certain |
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