Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the *Twenty Martyrs (of Hippo, including bishop Fidentius, Victoria and Valeria, S00703). He emphasises that it is the rightness of the cause, not the suffering itself, which makes a martyr, and presents the local saints as examples which are easier to follow than Christ or the Apostles. Sermon 325, delivered in Latin in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), possibly in 400/410.
E04009
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 325
[In natali viginti martyrum
'On the feast of the Twenty Martyrs']
1. Die solemni sanctorum martyrum debitus sermo reddendus est. De gloria martyrum locuturos, breuiter iustam causam martyrum locuturos, adiuuent nos orationes martyrum. Hoc enim per istas solemnitates commemorari debet sanctitas uestra, primum ne arbitremur aliquid nos conferre martyribus, quia eorum dies solemnissimos celebramus.
'The debt of the sermon must be paid to you on the feast day of the holy martyrs. May the prayers of the martyrs assist me, as I set out to speak about the glory of the martyrs, and so state briefly the just cause of their martyrdom. This, you see, is what your holinesses need to be reminded of by these solemn occasions; first and foremost, that we shouldn't imagine we are conferring any favour on the martyrs by keeping their feasts with great solemnity.'
In what follows, Augustine says that the saints, being with God, do not need festivities, but they rejoice that people imitate them. The saints were indeed given to people to imitate, for the example of Christ may be considered too difficult to follow. For those who think they cannot follow great saints such as the Apostles Peter and Paul there are others to imitate:
Postremo adhuc dicit: impar sum Petro, impar sum Paulo. impar es ueritati? coronatur rusticitas, non excusatur uanitas. Postremo impar es pueris? impar es puellis? impar es sanctae Valerianae? Si adhuc sequi piget, non uis adhaerere Victoriae? Sic enim nobis sanctorum uiginti martyrum series recitata est. Coepit ab episcopo Fidentio, clausit ad fidelem feminam sanctam Victoriam. Initium a fide, finis ad uictoriam.
'Finally, he is still saying, "I'm not Peter's equal, I'm not Paul's equal." Are you not the equal of truth? Country bumpkins are crowned, city slickers have no excuse. Finally, aren't you the equal of boys, aren't you the equal of girls? Aren't you the equal of Saint Valeriana? If you are still reluctant to follow, don't you want the company of Victoria? That, you see, is how the list of the Twenty Martyrs has been read out to us; it began with bishop Fidentius, and concluded with the faithful woman Victoria. It starts with fidelity, ends with victory.'
Augustine encourages once more the imitation of the martyrs, emphasising that it is the rightness of the cause which makes a martyr, not the sufferings themselves. The sermon ends with the following words:
2. ... Haec charitati uestrae pro exhortatione in hoc sancto loco sufficiant; quoniam dies parui sunt, et adhuc nobis in maiore basilica restant quae agamus cum charitate uestra.
'... Let that be enough by way of exhortation for your graces in this holy place, since the days are short, and there still remain things we have to do together with your graces in the main basilica.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1447-1449.
Translation: Hill 1994, 167-169.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the veneration of saints
Considerations 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 the first decade of the 5th century on the basis of vague intertextual links and our general knowledge of Augustine's whereabouts. It was certainly preached in Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see, and the site of the cult of the Twenty Martyrs.
Discussion
This is the only text which names specific persons belonging to the group of the Twenty Martyrs of Hippo. They do not appear in the early 6th century Calendar of Carthage.Augustine's emphasis that the cause, and not the suffering, makes a martyr, is a common motif of his anti-Donatist polemic.
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 | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00703 | Twenty Martyrs of Hippo Regius | Viginti martyres, Valeriana, Victoria, Fidentius | Certain |
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