The Presbyters Project

Sermon 356

3. Nuntio ergo uobis unde gaudeatis. Omnes fratres et conclericos meos, qui mecum habitant, presbyteros, diaconos, subdiaconos, et Patricium nepotem meum, tales inueni, quales desideraui. [...]

Augustine refers to the facts that concern the deacons, and then he passes to the presbyters:

9. Restant presbyteri. Sic enim ad eos gradatim ascendere uolui. Cito dixerim, pauperes dei sunt. Nihil ad domum societatis nostrae adtulerunt, nisi ipsam, qua nihil est carius, caritatem. Verumtamen quoniam scio natos fuisse rumores de diuitiis ipsorum, non a me ad aliquid compellendi, sed uobis meo sermone purgandi sunt.

(ed. Lambot 1950: 134. 137-138)

Sermon 356

3. So then, I've news for you to rejoice at. I have found all my brothers and my fellow clergy who live with me, presbyters, deacons, subdeacons, and my nephew Patricius, to be such as I desired.

Augustine refers to the facts that concern the deacons, and then he passes to the presbyters:

9. There remain the presbyters; I have wanted, you see, to come to them like this step by step. Let me say at once, they are God's poor. They have brought nothing to our community house except the charity than which nothing is more precious. However, since I know that rumors have been going around about their wealth, they don't have to be obliged by me to do anything, but their name does have to be cleared to you by my words.

(trans. E. Hill, slightly altered)

Discussion:

Sermons 355 and 356 were delivered by Augustine in 425/426 (Sermon 356 after Epiphany 426 AD) when it turned out that some of the clerics of the monastery of Hippo had retained some private property. For the context, see [ 843].

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Hippo Regius

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: Sermons, Sermones, Homilies
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Copies of between 400 and 500 of Augustine`s sermons have survived to our times. Most of these 400-500 sermons were taken down by scribes as he preached without the use of a prepared script. They are a faithful stenographic record of what Augustine actually said, with probably no subsequent editing of them by himself.

They cover a wide range of topics. They are usually based on the Scripture passage read during the liturgy. The homilies on the Psalms and the Gospels have been preserved in separate collections.

Edition:

C. Lambot ed., Sancti Aurelii Augustini Sermones selecti duodeviginti, Stromata Patristica et Mediaevalia 1, Utrecht - Brussels 1950.

Translation:

Saint Augustine, Sermons (341-400) on Various Subjects, trans. E. Hill, New York 1995.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Monastic or common life - Clerical community

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

Economic status and activity - Indication of poverty

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER846, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=846