Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon for the feast of the *Martyrs of Massa Candida (S00904), Sermon 306, delivered in Latin in an unknown city of central North Africa, sometime between 391 and 430.
E02745
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 306
[In natali martyrum Massae Candidae
'On the feast of the Martyrs of Massa Candida']
In this sermon Augustine encourages his audience to follow the example of the martyrs, but refers to the specific martyrs of Massa Candida only twice (§§ 2 and 10) without giving any further particulars.
2. ... Haec est prima martyrum causa, haec est candida martyrum massa. Si causa candida, et massa candida. Massa enim dicta est, de numeri multitudine; candida, de causae fulgore.
'That is the primary cause of the martyrs, that's what makes this mass of martyrs white. They are called the mass, after all, from their large numbers; called white from the splendor of their cause'
10. ... Massae ergo Candidae solemnitatem candida conscientia celebremus; et uestigia martyrum sectantes caputque martyrum et nostrum intuentes, si ad tam magnum bonum uenire concupiscimus, iter durum non timeamus.
'So let us celebrate the festival of the Shining White Mass with shinning white consciences. And as we follow in the footsteps of the martyrs, and keep our eyes fixed on the head both of the martyrs and of ourselves, if we are really eager to attain to such a great good, let us not be afraid of a hard journey.'
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1400 and 1405.
Translation: Hill 1994, 18 and 23.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
RelicsBodily relic - unspecified
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.
It is impossible to establish the date of this sermon and the place in which it was delivered. The Martyrs of Massa Candida were venerated particularly in Utica, but it is hard to say whether Augustine preached in that city.
Discussion
The martyrs of Massa Candida, close to Utica, are known mostly from short mentions in a few sermons by Augustine. See E01760, E01836, and E02773. The term Massa Candida referred to a pit of lime into which the martyrs were thrown.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 9. Sermons 306-340A 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 | S00904 | Martyrs of Massa Candida (Utica) | Massa Candida | Certain |
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