Paulinus of Nola, in a letter to Sulpicius Severus of c. 400 (Letter 29), refers to pilgrim accommodation at the basilica complex surrounding the tomb of *Felix (priest and confessor of Nola, S00000) at Nola/Cimitile (southern Italy), and to the singing of boys and virgins. Written in Latin at Nola.
E05096
Literary - Letters
Paulinus of Nola
Paulinus of Nola, Letter 29.13 (to Sulpicius Severus)
Extract:
Tugurium uero nostrum, quod a terra suspensum cenaculo una porticu cellulis hospitalibus interposita longius tenditur, quasi dilatatum gratia domini non solum sanctis <cum> illa plurimis, sed etiam diuitum illorum cateruis non incapaces angustias praebuit, in quo personis puerorum ac uirginum choris uicina dominaedii nostri Felicis culmina resultabant.
'We have a cottage here raised off the ground, which runs quite a distance along to the dining hall and had a colonnade separating it from the guest rooms. God in his kindness seemed to make this bigger, and it afforded modest but not too constricted accommodation not only for the numerous holy ladies who accompanied Melania, but also for the bands of rich people as well. The ringing choirs of boys and maidens in the cottage made the nearby roof of our patron Saint Felix resound'
Text: Hartel 1894.
Translation: Walsh 1967.
Chant and religious singing
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Cult building - secondary installation (fountain, pilgrims’ hostel)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Non Liturgical ActivityVisiting graves and shrines
Vigils
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesCrowds
Other lay individuals/ people
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Source
Letter 29 in the letter collection of Paulinus of Nola (ob. 431). It is one of many letters which Paulinus addressed to aristocratic and ascetic Roman circles in the later fourth and early fifth centuries. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Paulinus did not curate any collection of his letters: instead collections were compiled by friends and admirers. This letter dates from c. 400.Discussion
This passage describes this religious singing in the context of an account of the visit to Nola/Cimitile in c. 400 of *Melania the Elder (Roman aristocrat and monastic founder in Jerusalem, ob. 410, S01185). For a fuller account of this visit see E05102. In this visit, Melania and her entourage stayed in the rooms (cellae) provided for pilgrims. This pilgrim hostel -- constructed under Paulinus' supervision -- is described in more detail in E04768.Paulinus provides early evidence for the practice of singing hymns (see also E04741). Similar accounts can be found in Italy in a similar period. Paulinus himself refers to a Gallic hymnal which he received sometime after 398, in his Letter 41.1. Similarly, Augustine (bishop of Hippo, ob. 430) describes how, from 386, the congregation in Milan were encouraged by Ambrose (bishop of Milan, ob. 397) to sing hymns (Confessions, 9.15). Augustine suggests that this practice was instigated by Ambrose, and had originated in the East. For more on the hymns attributed to Ambrose, see the discussion of E05212.
Bibliography
Edition:Hartel, W., Sancti Pontii Meropii Paulini Epistulae, 2nd ed., revised M. Kamptner (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 29; Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1999).
Translation:
Walsh, P.G., Letters of St. Paulinus of Nola, vol. 2 (Ancient Christian Writers 35; Westminster MD: Newman Press, 1967).
Further Reading:
Conybeare, Catherine, Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Trout, Dennis, Paulinus of Nola: Life, Letters and Poems (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
Frances Trzeciak
19/02/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00000 | Felix, priest and confessor of Nola | Felix | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E05096 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05096