E04467: Augustine of Hippo preaches in Latin a sermon on the feast of martyrs, possibly the *Martyrs of Massa Candida (S00904) and *Quadratus (martyr and bishop of Utica, one of the *Martyrs of Massa Candida S00904). Sermon 335E, delivered possibly in Utica (North Africa) on an unspecified date c. 400/430.

Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 335E

[De martyribus

'On some martyrs']


1. Beatorum martyrum sollemnem diem uoluit nos dominus celebrare uobis cum. Hinc ergo aliquid loquamur, quod donauerit dominus, qui arcam in qua figurauit ecclesiam lignis quadratis uoluit fabricari. Quadratum enim quacumque in puluerem, stantem inuenis. Mira res et quasi impossibilis sed tamen aduertite et inuenietis: quadratus deici potest, cadere non potest. Deiecti sunt martyres in terra humilitatis sed non ceciderunt, quia in caelo sunt coronati. Nullus martyr fuit qui non fuerit ueritate quadratus.

'The Lord has willed that I should celebrate the feast of the blessed martyrs with you. So let me say something about this, as the Lord may grant me, whose will it was that the ark, by which he had the Church represented, should be constructed of squared timbers. Throw a squared timber down in the dust, you see, any way at all, you will find it standing upright. It's a wonderful fact, and seems almost impossible, but all the same just watch, and you'll find it's true; a squared timber can be thrown down, it can't fall. The martyrs were thrown down on the earth of humiliation, but they didn't fall, because they were crowned in heaven. There has never been a martyr who was not, in truth, squared.'

In what follows Augustine reflects generally on the martyrs, emphasising that their suffering were the seeds of the faith, but does not name specific personages or form of their cult.

Text: Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum 2, 781; Hill 1994, 324. Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.