Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the Apostles *Peter and *Paul (S00036 and S00008), addressing the question of why the memorial shrines (memoriae) of these apostles, of *Laurence (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037), and of other martyrs did not save Rome from being captured by its enemies in 410. Sermon 296, delivered in Latin, probably in Carthage (central North Africa) in 411.
E02596
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 296
[In natali apostolorum Petri et Pauli
'On the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul']
Augustine refers to the reading which preceded the sermon and other New Testament passages about Peter.
6. Iacet Petri corpus Romae, dicunt homines, iacet Pauli corpus Romae, Laurentii corpus Romae, aliorum martyrum sanctorum corpora iacent Romae: et misera est Roma, et uastatur Roma: affligitur, conteritur, incenditur; tot strages mortis fiunt, per famem, per pestem, per gladium. Ubi sunt memoriae apostolorum? quid dicis? ecce hoc dixi: tanta mala roma patitur: ubi sunt memoriae apostolorum? Ibi sunt, ibi sunt, sed in te non sunt. Utinam in te essent, quisquis ista loqueris, quisquis ista desipis, quisquis uocatus in spiritu carnem sapis, quisquis talis es: utinam in te essent memoriae apostolorum, utinam tu cogitares apostolos. Videres utrumnam eis terrena felicitas promissa fuerit, an aeterna.
6. '"Peter's body lies in Rome", people are saying, "Paul's body lies in Rome, Laurence's body lies in Rome, the bodies of other holy martyrs lie in Rome; and Rome is grief-stricken, and Rome is being devastated, afflicted, crushed, burnt; death stalking the streets in so many ways, by hunger, by pestilence, by the sword. Where are the memorial shrines (memoriae) of the apostles?
What's this you're saying?
"Here's what I'm saying; Rome is suffering such enormous evils; where are the memorial shrines of the apostles?"
They are there, they are there, but they are not in you. If only they were in you, whoever you are that are saying these things, whoever you are, foolish enough to think these things, whoever you are, called in the spirit and savouring the flesh, whoever you may be of that sort! If only the memorial shrines of the apostles were in you, if only you really gave a thought to the apostles! Then you would see whether they promised an earthly felicity or eternal.
In what follows, Augustine explains that the promises of the apostles concerned the life to come, and not security in this world. He also discusses the issue of the reintegration of the Donatists within the Catholic communities.
Text: Morin 1930, 404-405.
Translation: Hill 1994, 206.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivitySaint as patron - of a community
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the veneration 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 was most probably preached at the feast of the Apostles, ten months after the sack of Rome by Alaric in August 410 and shortly after the 'Conference' in Carthage (411), which was to decide which of the two Churches in Africa, Donatist or 'Catholic', was legitimate. Augustine was probably still in this city.
Discussion
The important issue of the responsibility for the sack of Rome is also widely discussed in the City of God, in which Augustine shows that actually the shrines of martyrs gave asylum to those who sought it there, see E01041.The term memoria (literally 'memory' or 'memorial') is also used by Augustine both for the shrines of martyrs and, more narrowly, for their relics. Since it is evident that, for Augustine, the memorial shrine (memoria) of a saint contained relics of that saint, there is often (as here) no substantive difference in the ways he uses the word.
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.
Robert Wiśniewski
28/02/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
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