This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com A^ck^ *£ SERMONS A UG USTINIAN HERITAGE INSTITUTE Board of Advisors: Gerald Bonner, Maria Boulding, O.S.B. Gervase Corcoran, O.S.A., Robert Dodaro, O.S.A. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Edmund Hill, O.P. John Page, Joseph McGowan John Oldfield, O.A.R., Boniface Ramsey, O.P., Director: John E. Rotelle, O.S.A. THE WORKS OF SAINT A UGUSTINE A Translation for the 21st Century Part III — Sermons Volume 9: Sermons 306-340A The English translation of the works of Saint Augustine has been made possible with contributions from the following: Order of Saint Augustine Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova (East) Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel (Midwest) Province of Saint Augustine (California) Province of Saint Joseph (Canada) Vice Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel (Ireland) Province of Saint John Stone (England and Scotland) Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel (Australia) The Augustinians of the Assumption (North America) The Sisters of Saint Thomas of Villanova Order of Augustinian Recollects Province of Saint Augustine Mr. and Mrs. James C. Crouse Mr. and Mrs. Paul Henkels Mr. and Mrs. Francis E. McGill, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Mariano J. Rotelle THE WORKS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE A Translation for the 21st Century SERMONS III/9 (306-340A) on the Saints translation and notes Edmund Hill, O.P. editor John E. Rotelle, O.S.A. New City Press Hyde Park, New York r* A BR % " I Published in the United States by New City Press £" S~ 202 Cardinal Rd., Hyde Park, New York 12538 / *? ' Q /l ® ' "* Augustinian Heritage Institute pt,3 Cover design by Ben D'Angio Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. The works of Saint Augustine. "Augustinian Heritage Institute" Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents: — pt. 3., v. 1. Sermons on the Old Testament, 1-19. — pt. 3, v. 2. Sermons on the Old Testament, 20-50 — [et al.] — pt. 3, v. 9 Sermons on the saints, 306-340A. 1. Theology — Early church, ca. 30-600. I.Hill, Edmund. II. Rotelle, John E. III. Augustinian Heritage Institute. IV. Title. BR65.A5E53 1990 270.2 89-28878 ISBN 1-56548-055-4 (series) ISBN 1-56548-068-6 (pt. 3, v. 9) Nihil Obstat: John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., S.T.L. Censor Deputatus Imprimatur: + Patrick Sheridan, D.D. Vicar General Archdiocese of New York, June 20, 1994 The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doc trinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed. Printed in the United States V- ,4 M 30^0 CONTENTS Sermon 306 — On the Birthday of the Martyrs known as the White Mass . 17 The death of the saints is precious in the eyes of the Lord, but not in the eyes of fools — 17; If we suffer for a just cause, no punishment will do us any harm — 17; Everybody, though in a great many different ways, wishes to live a happy life — 18; An attempt to define the happy, or blessed life — 18; To live in pain is not really to live at all — 19; What must I do to obtain eternal life? — 20; To be really happy, the blessed life must be not merely eternal, but certainly and assuredly eternal — 2 1 ; No deceit, no disappointment in that kingdom — 22; An essential element of the truly happy life would be genuine knowledge of one another's hearts, without the possibility of false suspicions — 22; Christ is the way, which so many martyrs have made smooth for us by passing along it before us — 23 Sermon 306A — On The Birthday of the White Mass 26 It's the cause, not the punishment, that makes anyone a martyr of Christ — 26 Sermon 306B — Sermon Preached on 21 August on the Birthday of the Martyr Quadratrus 28 Christ, our way, is looking for people to walk along this way by loving — 28; The example given by the apostle — 29; The perfection of the traveler is to know that one has not yet arrived at where one is aiming — 30; The apostle's words, Rom 6:19, are held up as a mirror for each of us to look into and examine ourselves — 31; Observe all that uncleanness, and see how much more is required of you by piety and charity, by the beauty of justice and the sweetness of sanctification — 32; Don't hide your good works for fear of being mocked — 33; Whoever is ashamed of Christ before men, Christ will be ashamed of him before his Father in heaven — 34 Sermon 306C — Sermon of Saint Augustine the Bishop at the table of Cyprian on Saint Quadratus 36 Quadratus was the bishop, whose flock was the Massa Candida; he sent them ahead, and followed them himself four days later — 36; The significance of Quadratus* name, which means "square" — 37; Comment on the text, "The just man falls seven times, and rises again" — 37; The souls of the just and the godless are equally pastured on the word of God, but with different results — 38; It is Cod alone who will free us from the snare of the hunters and from the harsh word — 38; In this life we don't know what's best for us — 39; God in his graciousness does not listen to the prayers of some, and in his anger he does listen to the prayers of others — 40; In all our troubles, all our fears, all our joys, we should beg God to grant us those temporal benefits, which he knows are for the best for us — 41 Sermon 306D — Sermon on the Birthday of Saint Quadratus 43 By believing the martyrs laid hold on life, and by speaking they discovered a death, in which the body would be sown as perishable, and imperishability would be reaped — 43; There is a salvation common to man and beast, and a salvation proper to the faithful, proper to Christians — 43; The distinction between men and the sons of men — 44; The salvation, or health, common to men and beasts, which the martyrs made light of, is something good, all the same — 43; The martyrs have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb — 45 Sermon 307 — On the beheading of the Blessed John The Baptist 47 The murder of John the Baptist occasioned by a rash oath — 47; The reading calls for a sermon on swearing — 48; God, however, has sworn oaths — 48; But we are very sensibly forbidden to do so — 48; Augustine managed to rid himself of the habit of swearing, so you can do it too — 49 Sermon 308 — On the same feast 51 Herod is faced with the choice between offending God by breaking his oath, and offending him by an act of savagery — 51; The example of David, who broke a rash oath, rather than commit murder — 51; About swearing when challenged to do so — 52; Forcing someone to swear when you think he will swear falsely is worse than murder — 52; The story of Tutuslymeni — 53 Sermon 308 A — Preached in Carthage at the Basilica of the Mappalia, that is, of the Blessed Martyr Cyprian, on the eve of his birthday 55 We must inquire who said, / have prepared a lamp for my Christ, etc.; and about whom he said it, because this psalm we have heard (Ps 132) requires this of us — 55; How Christ's enemies were clothed with confusion through John — 56; How to understand the purpose of John's being sent before Christ — 56; The Holy Spirit is the sanctification that flowers upon the Son — 57; How the Trinity was revealed at Christ's baptism — 58; The enemies of Christ were the Jews at that time, bad Christians at this time — 59; How Christ's open enemies, the Jews, were put to confusion by the witness borne by the lamp — 60; Head and body are the one Christ — 61 Sermon 309 — Sermon preached in Carthage at the table of the Blessed Martyr Cyprian on his birthday, 14 September 63 The Church's sadness at the time of Cyprian's martyrdom has changed now to unalloyed gladness — 63; Cyprian's exile and return from exile — 63; Cyprian brought to the proconsul by two officers — like Christ crucified between two thieves — 64; Cyprian, while thinking of the martyr he was to become, did not forget the pastor and bishop he still was — 64; How Cyprian truly took counsel for himself, and consulted his own best interests — 65; Cyprian's final exchange with the proconsul — 65 Sermon 310 — On the Birthday of the Martyr Cyprian 68 What is meant by the birthdays of the martyrs — 68; Why the table, or altar, set up in the place of his martyrdom is called the table of Cyprian — 68; The glory of Cyprian's martyrdom has spread far beyond Carthage, to the whole Church — 69; Cyprian famous throughout the world for both his sufferings and his writings — 69 Sermon311 — On the Birthday of the Martyr Cyprian 71 The right way to celebrate the feasts of the martyrs is by imitating their virtues — 71; Would the apostles have been prepared to suffer what they did, except out of a conviction of the truth and a love of Christ, the truth? — 7 1 ; So despise the world, Christians — 72; Love of earthly things is the birdlime of the soul — 72; We have sung for you, and you have not danced — 73; The song to which we should harmonize our lives and our habits — 73; One dances in time to this song by charity, not by cupidity — 74; Bad times are only made by bad men — 74; Like time, gold is good in itself; it's put to good use by good people, to bad use by the bad — 74; There is really quite a large number of good people among the Church's members, if you care to look for them — 75; There is nothing wrong with things; it's the way they are used that is good or bad — 75; Objections against the ways of God's providence — 76; Good