Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411). Sermon 313, delivered in Latin, probably in Carthage (central North Africa), sometime between 391 and 430.
E02865
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 313
[In natali Cypriani martyris
'On the feast of the martyr Cyprian']
1.Sanctissimus et solemnissimus dies, atque huic ecclesiae ornamento familiarior et praeclarior, laetificandis nobis hodiernus illuxit, quem suae nobis gloria passionis Cyprianus beatissimus illustrauit. Cuius reuerendi episcopi et uenerandi martyris laudibus nulla lingua sufficeret, nec si se ipse laudaret. In hoc itaque sermone nostro, quem de illo debitum uestris auribus reddimus, magis approbate uoluntatis affectum, quam exigite facultatis effectum.
'A most holy and solemn day has dawned for us to rejoice in, and one that is very special and glorious for this Church as its crowning ornament, seeing that the most blessed Cyprian filled it with light for us by the glory of his sufferings. For praising this revered bishop and venerable martyr no tongue would be sufficient, not even were he to praise himself. So in this sermon of mine, which I am paying to your ears as something owed on his account, please acknowledge the loving readiness of my will, rather than demanding an effective display of any skill.'
In what follows Augustine emphasises that when praising the martyrs we praise God who had armed the martyrs for the battle that they won.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1423.
Translation: Hill 1994, 86, lightly modified.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
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.
The date of this sermon is impossible to fix with any certainty. Since Augustine seems to have been invited to preach on this feast, he was evidently not in Hippo, but probably in Carthage.
Bibliography
Edition:Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 38 (Paris, 1865).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century. 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 | S00411 | Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage | Cyprianus | Certain |
|---|
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