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E02834: Augustine of Hippo delivers a Latin sermon on the feast of *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411). Sermon 309, preached most probably in Carthage, at an unknown date between 391 and 430.

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posted on 2017-05-22, 00:00 authored by robert
Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 309

[In natali Cypriani martyris

'On the birthday of the martyr Cyprian']

Sermonem a nobis debitum auribus et cordibus uestris exigit tam grata et religiosa solemnitas, qua passionem beati martyris celebramus ...

'Such a happy and religious occasion as this, on which we are celebrating the blessed martyr's passion, requires me to pay the debt of the sermon I owe to your ears and hearts ...'

In what follows Augustine tells the story of Cyprian's exile, arrest, and hearing before the proconsul. His death is just mentioned.

Text: Patrologia Latina 38, 1410-1412. Translation: Hill 1994, 63-67. Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.

History

Evidence ID

E02834

Saint Name

Cyprian, bishop of Carthage (Africa) and martyr, ob. 258 : S00411

Saint Name in Source

Cyprianus

Type of Evidence

Literary - Sermons/Homilies

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

391

Evidence not after

430

Activity not before

391

Activity not after

430

Place of Evidence - Region

Latin North Africa

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Carthage

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Carthage Carthage Carthago Karthago قرطاج‎ Qarṭāj Mçidfa Carthage

Major author/Major anonymous work

Augustine of Hippo

Cult activities - Liturgical Activity

  • Service for the Saint

Cult activities - Festivals

  • Saint’s feast

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy

Source

According to a colophon the sermon was preached in Carthage, in the place of Cyprian's martyrdom. Its date is impossible to establish with any certainty.

Discussion

This sermon is quite exceptional in Augustine's homiletic collection, because after a short introduction it just tells the story of Cyprian's martyrdom. Normally Augustine rather referred to such stories than told them and he usually commented upon the biblical readings. The story is evidently based on the Proconsular Acts of Cyprian (see E05168), which most probably were not read before the sermon.

Bibliography

Text: Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 38 (Paris, 1865). Translation: Hill, E., The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, vol. III 9. Sermons 306-340A for 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.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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