Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon, possibly on a feast of martyrs, in which he rejects the cult of the schismatic [i.e. Donatist] martyrs. Sermon 335G, delivered in Latin in an unknown city of central North Africa, possibly in the 410s.
E04446
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 335G
[De martyribus
'On martyrs']
1. Itaque martyres nostri multum amauerunt Deum. Quia perfectam in se habebant caritatem, propterea non timuerunt saeuitiam persecutoris.
'And so our martyrs loved God very much. It's because they had in themselves perfect charity, that they didn't fear the savagery of the persecutor.'
In what follows Augustine evokes the scene in which the judge threatens a martyr-to-be with death and his wife prays him not to abandon his family. Still the martyr stands firm.
2. Ergo ut dicere coeperam, quid iactas poenam tuam malam, o schismatice, quae non habet causam bonam? Martyres itaque intus honoremus in ecclesia catholica habentes gratiam non audaciam, pietatem non temeritatem, constantiam non pertinaciam, collectionem non dispersionem.
'So, as I had begun to say, why boast of your bad punishment, o Schismatic, when it does not have a good cause? So let us honour the martyrs inside, in the Catholic Church, who have grace not effrontery, piety not temerity, constancy not obstinacy, who represent gathering not scattering.'
Text: Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum, 803-804.
Translation: Hill 1994, 243-244.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismAcceptance/rejection of saints from other religious groupings
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
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.
Sermon 335G is not a complete sermon, but part of one. It cannot be dated with any certainty, but the passage against the schismatics (i.e. Donatists) suggests that it was preached in the first decade of the 5th century. The reference to the dialogue between the martyr and his wife seems to be drawn from the acts of specific martyrs which, however, cannot be identified.
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 | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
|---|
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