Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon for the feast of *Laurence (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037), citing the story of his martyrdom and referring to his vivid cult and favours, most probably miracles, which are obtained through him at Rome, and complaining about the small size of the local congregation attending the feast. Sermon 303, delivered in Latin, possibly in Milevis (Numidia, central North Africa) in the late 420s.
E02724
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 303
1. Beati Laurentii illustre martyrium est, sed Romae, non hic: tantam enim uideo uestram paucitatem. Quam non potest abscondi Roma, tam non potest abscondi Laurentii corona. Sed quare adhuc istam ciuitatem lateret, scire non possum. Ergo pauci audite pauca: quia et nos in hac lassitudine corporis et aestibus non possumus multa.
Diaconus erat, secutus apostolos: tempore post apostolos fuit. Cum ergo persecutio, quam modo ex euangelio audistis praedictam fuisse christianis, Romae, sicut in caeteris locis, uehementer arderet, et tanquam ab archidiacono postulatae essent res ecclesiae; ille respondisse fertur, mittantur me cum uehicula, in quibus apportem opes ecclesiae.
'The blessed Laurence's martyrdom is famous, but at Rome, not here; such as, I mean, is the smallness of the congregation which I see. Just as Rome cannot be hidden, so Laurence's crown cannot be hidden. But why it should still escape the notice of this city, I cannot tell. So listen, the few of you who are here, to just a few words; because I too, in this bodily weariness and this heat, am not capable of much. He was a deacon, following the apostles; he was after the apostles' time. So when a persecution, which as you heard just now from the gospel had been foretold to the Christians, was raging furiously at Rome as in other places, and the goods of the Church were demanded from him, as being the archdeacon, he is reported to have replied: "Let carts be sent with me, in which to bring the wealth of the Church".'
There follows a story in which Laurence fills the carts with the poor and returns with them saying that these are the wealth of the Church. Subsequently Laurence is roasted on a gridiron, bears the torment with calmness and asks the executioner to put him on the other side, since the first one is already cooked.
Tale duxit martyrium: ista gloria coronatus est. Beneficia eius Romae tam clara sunt, ut numerari omnino non possint.
'Such was the martyrdom he achieved; that was the glory he was crowned with. The favours he obtains at Rome are so notable, they simply cannot be counted.'
In what follows Augustine encourages his audience to follow the example of Laurence.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1393 and 1394.
Translation: Hill 1994, 313.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityOral transmission of saint-related stories
MiraclesMiracle after death
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 tentatively dated to 425-430 on the basis of intertextual references and its place in the collection of Augustine's sermons. Its beginning suggests that it was not preached in Hippo, and since we know that in those years Augustine, who did not travel much any more, spent some time in Milevis, it was possibly delivered in that city.
Discussion
It is difficult to say whether the story of the martyrdom was read before the sermon. Augustine refers directly only to the New Testament readings and seems to quote Laurence's story that he knew by heart. It is interesting to remark that he felt obliged to explain to his audience that Laurence, who had died in the middle of the 3rd century, was not contemporary to the Apostles.Bibliography
Edition:Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 38 (Paris, 1865).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century 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
11/04/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain |
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