Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of a martyr. He claims that even the earthly glory of martyrs is greater than that of the great men of old, and to illustrate this point alludes to emperors visiting the tomb of *Peter (the Apostle S00036). Sermon 335C, delivered in Latin in an unknown city of central North Africa (possibly Hippo Regius), in 405/411.
E04442
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 335C
[De uno martyre sermo beati Augustini episcopi
'Sermon of the blessed Augustine on a martyr']
Quia beati martyris natalis illuxit dies quem uoluit nos Dominus celebrare uobis cum aliquid donante illo de martyrum gloria et patientia disseramus.
'Seeing that the feast has dawned of the blessed martyr, whom the Lord willed that we should celebrate with you, let me hold forth a little, if the Lord grants me to say, about the glory and the patience of the martyrs.'
In what follows Augustine preaches vaguely about heavenly and earthly love without any reference to the saint until he returns to the martyrs, comparing them to people who sought the glory of this world:
11. Si terrena ab eis quaererentur, quid huic gloriae addi potest qua eorum natalicia celebrantur. Insanierunt pro gloria multi uiri fortes, et pro patria sanguinem fundendum esse dixerunt, nec fundere dubitauerunt, scientes transire quidem ipsam uitam sed remanere uel immortalem in illis gloriam. Quae illorum gloria gloriae martyrum comparatur? Quis potuit inuenire in gloria huius terrae, quis potuit inuenire in gloria humanarum rerum, quis potuit inuenire dictator quod potuit inuenire piscator? Virorum fortium qui pro patria perierunt sepulchra sunt Romae. Ad cuius sepulchrum intrare dignatus est imperator? ecce si terrena gloria fuerat concupiscenda, nec ipsa fraudati sunt qui honorem tantum inter angelos quaesierunt. Videmus eorum glorias in terris et stupemus. Quid pateremur si in caelo uideremus? Quantum nos stupor admirationis apprehenderet si uideremus martyres inter angelos gloriantes, quorum natalicia uidemus populos celebrantes?
'Who has ever been able to find in the glory of this earth, who has ever been able to find in the glory of human annals, which great leader has ever been able to find what a fisherman has been able to find? The tombs of the great men who died for their country are there in Rome. To whose tombs has an emperor even deigned to pay a visit? There you are; if earthly glory was to be desired, those who looked for honour only among the angels were not even done out of that. We see their glory renowned on earth, and we are amazed. What would we experience if we could see it in heaven? What amazement and wonder would overwhelm us if we could see the martyrs triumphing among the angels, as we see whole populations celebrating their birthdays!'
Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum 2, 750 and 753.
Translation: Hill 1994, 221 and 225.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the veneration 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 405/411 on the basis of intertextual references, but this dating is far from secure. It was possibly preached in Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see.
Discussion
Augustine obviously refers to the tomb of Peter at Rome, but it is difficult to say which emperor he has in mind.Bibliography
Edition:Hamman, A., Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum, vol. 2 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1960).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine. A Translation for the 21st Century, vol. III 9. Sermons 306-340A on the Saints (New York: New City Press, 1994).
Robert Wiśniewski
23/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Certain |
|---|
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