E04547
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 381
1. Petri et Pauli apostolorum dies, in quo triumphalem coronam, deuicto diabolo, meruerunt, quantum fides romana testatatur, hodiernus est. Quibus solemnis festiuitas exhibetur, solemnis etiam sermo reddatur. Laudes audiant a nobis, preces fundant pro nobis. Sicut traditione patrum cognitum memoria retinetur, non uno die passi sunt per coeli spatia decurrente. Natalitio ergo Petri passus est Paulus, non quo ex utero matris in numerum fusus est hominum, sed quo ex uinculo carnis in lucem natus est angelorum; ac per hoc ita singuli dies dati sunt duobus, ut nunc unus celebretur ambobus.
'As the belief of the Romans assures us, today is the day of the apostles Peter and Paul, on which, having roundly defeated the devil, they earned the victor's crown. Since a solemn feast (solemnis festiuitas) is held in their honour, let our respects also be paid to them with a formal sermon, may they hear our praises, may they pour out prayers on our behalf. The common memory, basing itself on the tradition of the fathers, knows that they did not actually suffer in the course of the same day between sunrise and sunset. So Paul suffered on Peter's birthday (natalitium), not the day he emerged from his mother's womb to join the ranks of mankind, but the one on which he was released from the bonds of the flesh and born into the light of the angels. And so it is, while each was given his own day of martyrdom, they are now both celebrated on the same day.'
In what follows Augustine reflects upon the role of Peter and Paul in the beginning of the Church.
Text: Patrologia Latina 39, 1683.
Translation: Hill 1995, 372.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
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.
Neither the dating of this sermon nor the place at which it was delivered can be established with any certainty. As the sermon is preserved only in medieval lectionaries, and not in collections of Augustine's sermons, Hill 1995, 374 raises doubts as to its authenticity (strengthened by the peculiarities of the style which he considers rather that of an imitator than that of Augustine himself).
Discussion
Similar remarks on the dates of death of the Apostles Peter and Paul can be found in Sermon 295 (E02589).Bibliography
Edition:Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 39 (Paris, 1865).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine. A Translation for the 21st Century, vol. III 10, Sermons 341-400 On Various Subjects (New York: New City Press, 1995).
Robert Wiśniewski
23/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain |
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