Augustine of Hippo preaches on an occasion connected with a martyr, probably *Stephen (the First Martyr S00030), and mentions a written account (libellus) of his miracles. Sermon 94, delivered in Latin in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), possibly c. 425.
Evidence ID
E04551
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 94
A me autem fatigato et uix loquente, pauca libenter accipite. Habemus enim et libellum de beneficiis dei per sanctum martyrem datis, pariter libentius audiamus.
'Tired though I am, and scarcely able to speak, accept ungrudgingly a few words from me. After all, we also have a written account about the favours God has granted through this holy martyr, so let us listen to that even more willingly.'
This reference to a written account of miracles (a libellum) gives Augustine a pretext for not speaking about the martyr, and what follows in the sermon does not mention him anymore.
Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 580.
Translation: Hill 1991, 478.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Liturgical ActivitiesMiracle after death
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle after death
Unspecified miracle
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.
At the beginning of this sermon Augustine says that he is preaching in the presence of numerous bishops who visited his city. This might have been the case in 425, when the relics of St Stephen were deposited in Hippo.
Discussion
The martyr whom Augustine mentions is almost certainly Stephen. For the written accounts of miracles, the libelli, see: E01135, E02323, E03631, E03632, E03660 (all in Augustine).Bibliography
Edition:Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 38 (Paris, 1865).
Translation:
Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, vol. III 2. Sermons 20-50 (New York: New City Press, 1990).
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
23/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Certain |
|---|
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