Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the nativity of *John the Baptist (S00020). Sermon 293C, delivered in Latin, possibly in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa) in 397/405.
Evidence ID
E02466
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 293C
1. Per ecclesiam Christi longe late que diffusam natalis hodie Iohannis Baptistae, amici sponsi et praecursoris Domini, celebratur: debeo huic sollennitati sermonem, debetis et uos intentionem, debemus omnes deuotionem.
'Throughout the Church of Christ, spread far and wide in the world, the birthday (natalis) is being celebrated today of John the Baptist, friend of the bridegroom and forerunner of the Lord. I owe a sermon for this solemn occasion, you also owe your attention, we all owe our devotion.'
In the following, Augustine comments upon the relation between Christ and John the Baptist and presents John as an example of humility.
Text: Morin, 351-352.
Translation: Hill 1994, 168-170.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Liturgical ActivitiesService for the saint
Festivals
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the hierarchy 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 is tentatively dated to the early period of Augustine's episcopacy on the basis of its relations with his other writings. It was possibly delivered in Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see.
Bibliography
Edition:Morin, G., Sancti Augustini Sermones post Maurinos reperti (Miscellanea Agostiniana, vol. 1; Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1930).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine. A Translation for the 21st Century, vol. III 9, 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.
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
28/02/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes Baptista | Certain |
|---|
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