Augustine of Hippo preaches a sermon on the feast of the nativity of *John the Baptist (00020). Sermon 379, delivered in Latin, possibly in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), sometime between 391 and 430, .
Evidence ID
E04542
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 379
1. Sanctus Iohannes Baptista, cuius natiuitatis dies hodie celebratur, tam magnus exstitit inter homines ut Dominus Christus ei tale testimonium perhiberet dicens: in natis mulierum nemo surrexit maior Iohanne Baptista.
'The blessed John, whose birthday (nativitas) is being celebrated today, stood out as so great a man among men, that the Lord Christ bore this kind of witness to him, saying, "Among those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptist" (Mt 11:11).'
In what follows Augustine reflects upon the story of John the Baptist and presents his role as that of a witness of Christ, who directs people to him.
Text: Lambot 1949, 62.
Translation: Hill 1995, 355.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Liturgical ActivitiesSermon/homily
Festivals
Sermon/homily
Service for the saint
FestivalsSaint’s feast
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.
It is impossible to determine the date on which this sermon was preached. Hippo, Augustine's episcopal see, is just a default location.
Bibliography
Edition:Lambot, C., "Sermons inédits de s. Augustin pour des fêtes de saints," Revue Bénédictine 59 (1949), 55-81.
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).
Dating:
Kunzelmann, A., "Die Chronologie der sermones des hl. Augustinus," Miscellanea Agostiniana, vol. 2 (Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1931), 417-452.
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
23/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes Baptista | Certain |
|---|
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Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E04542 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04542