E02589
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 295
[In natali apostolorum Petri et Pauli
'On the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul']
1. Istum diem beatissimum apostolorum Petri et Pauli passio consecrauit. Non de obscuris aliquibus martyribus loquimur.
'This day has been consecrated for us by the martyrdoms of the most blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. It's not some obscure martyrs we are talking about ...'
Augustine focuses on Peter being the rock upon which the Church is built, and Paul being the persecutor converted into an apostle.
7. Ipse illi procurauit passionem: ipse perduxit ad istum diem. Unus dies passionis duobus apostolis. Sed et illi duo unum erant: quanquam diuersis diebus paterentur, unum erant. Praecessit Petrus, secutus est Paulus. Primo Saulus, postea Paulus: quia primo superbus, postea humilis.
'He [the Lord] is he who procured them his passion, he that brought them finally to this day. One day for the passion of two apostles. But those two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed, who was first Saul, followed Peter; because first proud, later humble ...'
8. Celebramus diem festum, apostolorum nobis sanguine consecratum. Amemus fidem, uitam, labores, passiones, confessiones, praedicationes. Proficimus enim amando; non ista propter carnalem laetitiam celebrando. Martyres enim a nobis quid quaerunt? minus habent, si adhuc laudes hominum quaerunt. Si adhuc laudes hominum quaerunt, nondum uicerunt. Si autem uicerunt, a nobis propter se nihil quaerunt; sed propter nos ipsos quaerunt ...
'We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labours, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching. We make progress ourselves, you see, by loving them, not by celebrating these things just for worldly pleasure and enjoyment. After all, what are the martyrs looking for from us? They must have very little, if they are still looking for human praises. If they are still looking for human praises, they haven't yet overcome. But if they have overcome, they are not looking for anything from us for their own sakes; but they are looking for it for our sakes ...'
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1348 and 1352.
Translation: Hill 1994, 197-201.
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.
This sermon is dated to the years 405-410 on the basis of intertextual references and its place in the collection of Augustine's sermons.
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 for 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
28/02/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E02589 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02589