Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the *Scillitan Martyrs (martyrs in Carthage from Scillium, S00913), referring to their Acts. Sermon 299F, delivered in Latin, possibly in Carthage (central North Africa), sometime between 391 and 430.
E02686
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 299 F
[In natale sanctorum martyrum Scillitanorum
'On the feast of the holy Scillitan martyrs']
1. De martyribus Christi, hoc est de testibus Christi, qui non sunt confusi confiteri nomen eius coram hominibus, dies huius sollemnitatis hortatur ...
'This solemn feast day is calling for something about the martyrs of Christ, that is about the witnesses of Christ, who were not ashamed to confess his name before men ...'
Augustine explains that the Greek term martyr means 'witness' and says:
Confessiones martyrum quorum hodie sollemnitas celebratur, cum recitarentur, audistis.
'You heard the confessions of the martyrs whose feast is celebrated today, when they were recited.'
Subsequently he refers to the Acts of the Scillitan martyrs, quoting the dialogue between the judge and the martyrs.
'4. Orent pro nobis martyres sancti ut non solum eorum sollemnia <celebremus>, uerum etiam eorum mores imitemur.'
'May the holy martyrs pray for us that we should not only celebrate their feasts, but also imitate their virtues.'
In the last part of the sermon Augustine persuades his audience to follow the example of the martyrs.
Text: Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum 2, 788-789 and 791.
Translation: Hill 1994, 271 and 273.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityOral transmission of saint-related stories
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 dating of this sermon is uncertain. The Scillitan martyrs were buried in Carthage, but it is difficult to say whether the sermon was preached there.
Bibliography
Edition:Hamman, A., Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum, vol. 2 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1960).
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
11/04/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00913 | Scillitan Martyrs, martyrs in Carthage from Scillium | Certain |
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