Augustine of Hippo, in a sermon preached in Carthage (central North Africa), tells how Bishop Aurelius has ended the old ways of celebrating vigils when even at the memorial shrine of Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411) men mixed with women and immodest songs were sung. Sermon Dolbeau 2, delivered in Latin, the day after the feast of *Vincent (deacon of Zaragoza and martyr of Valencia, S00290), probably in 404.
E04548
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermo Dolbeau 2 (= 359B,5)
5. Augustine praises his Carthaginian audience for their obedience to bishop Aurelius. This obedience is proved by the abandonment of the old ways of celebrating vigils in which men mixed with women, which led young people into temptation.
In ecclesia Mappaliensi apud memoriam beati episcopi et martyris Cypriani, quanta fieri solebant, si meminerimus, fortasse adhuc dolebimus; si obliuiscamur, minus Deo gratias agimus. Recolat nobiscum caritas uestra, fratres: beneficia Dei commemoro in uos per episcopum uestrum. Vbi tunc impudicae cantiunculae perstrepebant, nunc hymni personant; ubi uigilabatur ad luxuriam, uigilatur ad sanctitatem; postremo ubi offendebatur Deus, propitiatur Deus.
'Up to now we grieve when we recall how often this happened in the church of Mappalia, at the memorial shrine of the blessed bishop and martyr Cyprian. We would fail to give thanks to God if we forgot about it. Let Your Charity, brothers, recollect with us: I'm recounting the good deeds on God in you through your bishop. The hymns resound now where immodest songs were heard. Vigils are kept for sanctity where vigils were kept for lust. And finally, God is venerated where God was offended.'
13. ... Hesterna die martyris ueri laudes audiuimus: quae tormenta pertulit, quam ingentia, quam multa, quam densa!
'Yesterday we heard praises of a true martyr. What torments he suffered, how refined, how numerous, how intense!'
14. Vnde ergo oboediens, unde sanctus, unde adeptor uerae coronae Vincentius, unde uictor tot passionum et suo nomini congruus?
'That is why Vincent was obedient, why he was saint, why he obtained a true crown, why he won over all the sufferings and was equal to his name.'
Text: Dolbeau 1996, 330, 337 and 338.
Translation and summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Chant and religious singing
Activities accompanying CultFeasting (eating, drinking, dancing, singing, bathing)
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismCondemnation of other activity associated with cult
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading 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.
In this sermon mentions Aurelius as the local bishop, so it was evidently preached in Carthage (§2), on the day after the feast of Vincent (22 January), as stated in the sermon, probably in 404, when Augustine attended a synod in this city.
Discussion
The Basilica of the Mappalia was certainly devoted to Cyprian. It was probably the place where his body was deposited (see Ennabli 1997, 21-24). The term memoria (literally 'memory' or 'memorial') is also used by Augustine both for the shrines of martyrs and, more narrowly, for their relics. Since it is evident that, for Augustine, the memorial shrine (memoria) of a saint contained relics of that saint, there is often (as here) no substantive difference in the ways he uses the word.Bibliography
Edition and commentary:Dolbeau, F., Augustin d'Hippone, Vingt-six sermons au peuple d'Afrique (Etudes Augustiniennes, Antiquité, vol. 147; Paris, 1996), 328-344.
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine. A Translation for the 21st Century, vol. III 11, Newly discovered sermons (New York: New City Press, 1997).
The basilica Mappalia and the topography of Christian Carthage:
Ennabli, L., Carthage, une métropole chrétienne du IVe à la fin du VIIe siècle (Paris: CNRS Éditions, 1997).
Leone, A., Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Bari: Edipuglia, 2007).
Robert Wiśniewski
23/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00290 | Vincentius/Vincent, deacon of Zaragoza and martyr of Valencia | Vincentius | Certain | S00411 | Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage | Cyprianus | Certain |
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