E02615
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 299
1. Praedicandis praedicatoribus, et tantis praedicatoribus, de quibus audiuimus et cantauimus, quod in omnem terram exiuit sonus eorum, et in fines orbis terrae uerba eorum, procul dubio nulla nostra uerba sufficiunt. Deuotionem debemus, uestram exspectationem non implemus. Exspectatis enim a nobis hodie praedicari apostolos Petrum et Paulum, quorum solemnis hic dies est. Agnosco quid exspectetis; et ubi agnosco, succumbo. Video enim exspectari quid, a quo. Sed quia Deus eorum laudari dignatur ab omnibus nobis, non dedignentur serui eius utcumque praedicari ab eis qui seruiunt uobis.
'It is certain that no words of ours will suffice to pronounce the praises of these preachers, and such great preachers too, about whom we have been hearing and singing that "their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the whole wide world' (Psalm 19:4). We owe them our devotion, but we cannot fulfill your expectation. After all, what you are expecting from me today is to pronounce praises of the apostles Peter and Paul, whose feast day (solemnis dies) it is. I acknowledge what you are expecting; and in acknowledging it, I give in. I mean, I can see what is expected, and from whom. But because their God is good enough to be praised by all of us, I trust his servants will not be too proud to have their praises proclaimed by those who are at your service.'
In what follows, Augustine emphasises that Peter was the first and Paul the last of Jesus' disciples and that they both followed Christ by sacrificing their lives, though neither of them wanted to die. The last chapters are devoted to polemic against the Pelagians, without any direct link to the feast or the story of the apostles.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1367.
Translation: Hill 1994, 229.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
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.
This sermon is dated to 418 on the basis of intertextual references, especially to the Pelagian controversy, and its place in the collection of Augustine's sermons. Augustine seems to have been specially invited to preach, which suggests that he was not then in Hippo. Possibly the sermon was pronounced in Carthage.
Discussion
In his sermons on the saints Augustine quite often refers to the readings which preceded them. In this specific case we can see that Psalm 19 was sung.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 |
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