Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030; he emphasises that the story of Stephen is well known from the canonical text which is read at his feast, whereas for the feasts of other martyrs relevant texts are less accessible. Sermon 315, delivered in Latin, possibly in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa) in 416/417.
E03587
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 315
[In solemnitate Stephani martyris
'On the feast of the martyr Stephen']
1. Beatissimus Stephanus quomodo fuerit diaconus ordinatus cum aliis sex etiam ipse septimus, et quomodo peruenerit ad supernam coronam, cum ipsa lectio legeretur, audistis. Hoc primum primi martyris meritum commendatum est charitati uestrae: quia cum aliorum martyrum uix gesta inueniamus, quae in solemnitatibus eorum recitare possimus, huius passio in canonico libro est.
'How the blessed Stephen was ordained deacon with six others, himself being the seventh, and how he won through to his heavenly crown, you all heard when the reading was being read. This is the first special privilege of the first martyr, that has to be drawn to your graces' attention; that while we can scarcely lay hands on the stories of other martyrs, to be able to have read them as we celebrate their feasts, the passion of this one is to be found in a canonical book [i.e. in Acts 6 and 7].'
In what follows Augustine compares the death of Christ and Stephen, and exhorts his audience to follow the example of both of them.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1426.
Translation: Hill 1994, 129.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the hierarchy of saints
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 416 or 417 on the basis of intertextual references with other writings of Augustine. Hippo, his episcopal see, is just a default location.
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
01/06/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain |
|---|
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