Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the eve of the feast of *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411). Sermon 308A, delivered in Latin at Carthage (central North Africa), in the Basilica Mappalia, possibly in 397.
Evidence ID
E02818
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 308A
[Habitus Carthagine in Mappalibus, id est in Basilica beati martyris Cypriani, per vigiliam natali eius
'Preached in Carthage in Mappalia, that is the basilica of the blessed martyr Cyprian, on the eve of his feast']
In this sermon Augustine comments on Psalm 132 without any reference to Cyprian.
Text: Morin 1930, 43.
Translation and Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Liturgical ActivitiesService for the saint
FestivalsBurial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Cult building - independent (church)
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 397 on the basis of intertextual references and its place in the collection of Augustine's sermons.
Discussion
The feast of St Cyprian is named only in the lemma. However, since the sermon does not say anything about any martyr it is unlikely that it was attributed to the feast of St Cyprian, if it had not been really preached on this day. The Basilica of the Mappalia was certainly devoted to Cyprian. It was most probably the place when his body was deposited (see Ennabli 1997, 21-24).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 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.
Further reading on the basilica Mappalia and the topography of Christian Carthage:
Ennabli, L., Carthage, une métropole chrétienne du IVe à la fin du VIIe siècle (Paris: CNRS Éditions, 1997).
Leone, A., Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Bari: Edipuglia, 2007).
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
11/04/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00411 | Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage | Cyprianus | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E02818 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02818