Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the nativity of *John the Baptist (S00020). Sermon 293D, delivered in Latin, possibly in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), sometime between 391 and 430.
Evidence ID
E02542
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 293D
1. De Iohanne Baptista, non Euangelista, cuius hodie natalis celebramus diem, magnum diem, magnum est ipsius Domini testimonium.
'About John the Baptist, not the Evangelist, whose birthday we are celebrating today, a great day, the Lord himself has a great testimonial to give.'
In what follows Augustine comments upon the relationship between Christ and John the Baptist and shows John as a voice of the Word and an example of humility. The latter is demonstrated by the fact that after his feast the days get shorter.
Text: Morin 1930, 510.
Translation: Hill 1994, 171.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Liturgical ActivitiesService for the saint
Festivals
Service for the saint
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.
The place and year at which this sermon was preached cannot be determined with any certainty. Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see is just a default location.
Discussion
The feast of the birth of John was (and still is) celebrated on 24 June; this was believed to be the precise day of the summer solstice.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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