Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon, probably at a feast of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030); he reminds his audience of the discovery of Stephen's relics, emphasises that his miracles are performed by God's power, and refers to written testimonies (libelli) of those who have been cured. Sermon 319, delivered in Latin in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), 425/430.
E03610
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 319
[De Stephano martyre
'On the martyr Stephen']
1. Donet mihi Dominus pauca dicere salubriter, qui donauit sancto Stephano tanta dicere fortiter.
'May the Lord who enabled Saint Stephen to say such powerful and courageous things, enable me to say a few salutary things.'
In what follows Augustine reflects upon Stephen's activity and martyrdom, emphasising that he performed miracles by the power of and died for Christ.
6. Triumphauit, coronatus est. Latuit tanto tempore corpus eius, processit quando deus uoluit, illuminauit terras, tanta miracula fecit, mortuus uiuos facit mortuos, quia nec mortuus. Ergo hoc commendo charitati uestrae, ut sciatis quod orationes eius multa impetrant, non tamen omnia. Nam inuenimus etiam in libellis qui dantur, fuisse illi difficultates impetrandi, et accepisse tamen postea beneficium, non deficiente supplicis fide. Non cessatum est, oratum est, et dedit postea Deus per Stephanum. Sunt uerba orantis Stephani, et responsum est illi: pro qua oras non est digna, hoc et hoc fecit. Et tamen institit, rogauit, accepit. Dedit nobis intelligere, quia in cuius nomine faciebat antequam carnem deponeret, in eius nomine faciunt orationes eius ut beneficia impetrentur, quibus nouit ea dari debere.
'He triumphed, he was crowned. His body lay hidden such a long time, it came to light when God willed, it shed its light on many lands, worked many miracles. Being dead, he brings the dead to life, because he isn't in fact dead. So what I would impress upon your graces is that you should realise that his prayers obtain many favours, but not all. We find even in the written accounts (libelli) that are given out that he has had many difficulties in obtaining something, and yet that he eventually won the favour, when the faith of the suppliant did not fail. There was no letup to the praying that was done, and eventually God granted it through Stephen. We have the words of Stephen's prayer and the answer he received: "The woman you are praying for doesn't deserve it; she has done this and that." And yet, he persisted, he begged, he received. He has given us to understand that the one in whose name he performed miracles before he laid aside the flesh, is the one in whose name his prayers ensure that favours are obtained for people he knows they should be given to.'
Augustine continues to explain that Stephen performs miracles by his prayers.
7. ... Per conseruum beneficia sumamus, honorem et gloriam Domino demus. Quid uobis plus dicam et multum loquar? legite quatuor uersus quos in cella scripsimus, legite, tenete, in corde habete. Propterea enim eos ibi scribere uoluimus, ut qui uult legat, quando uult legat. Ut omnes teneant, ideo pauci sunt: ut omnes legant, ideo publice scripti sunt. Non opus est ut quaeratur codex: camera illa codex uester sit. Aliquanto quidem temperius solito processimus: sed quia longa lectio recitata est, et graues aestus sunt, libellum beneficiorum dei per ipsum, quem lecturi hodie fuimus, in diem dominicum differamus.
'... Let us receive favours through our fellow servant, let us give the honour and glory to the Lord. Why should I say anymore to you, and talk at length? Read the four lines of the verse which I have had written up in the shrine; read them, hold onto them, have them by heart. The reason I wanted to have them written there, after all, was so that any who wanted could read them, read them whenever they wanted. So that all could remember them, that's why they are few; so that all could read them, that's why they are written up in public. There's no need to go looking for a book; let that little room be your book. I see we have been proceeding a little more quickly than usual. But because a long reading was chanted, and the heat is rather oppressive, let us put off until Sunday the leaflet (libellum) of God's favours received through Stephen, which we were going to have read today.'
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1440-1442.
Translation: Hill 1994, 151, 153, 154.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
Power over life and death
RelicsBodily relic - unspecified
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Discovering, finding, invention and gathering of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Women
Cult Related ObjectsInscription
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the nature of miracles
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 was preached certainly after the discovery of the relics of Stephen in Chapkargamala (Palestine) in 415 and their arrival in Africa c. 420 and in Hippo c. 425, for the relics were evidently deposited in the church in which Augustine is preaching.
Discussion
Augustine mentions four lines which he had had written up and displayed in the basilica of Hippo (presumably a painted or carved inscription), but does not quote them. It is difficult to say whether they referred to Stephen.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
23/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain |
|---|
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