E01135: Augustine of Hippo, in his City of God (22.8), tells how two siblings from Cappadocia were healed at the memorial shrine of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030) in Hippo Regius (North Africa) at Easter c. 425. The account of this miracle is publicly read in the church. Written in Latin in Hippo, c. 426/427.

Augustine of Hippo, City of God 22.8

Summary:

Having enumerated a number of contemporary miracles, especially in Hippo and other places in North Africa, in which relics of Stephen were deposited, Augustine presents in detail a miracle that he qualifies as greater, more evident, and better known that those named above.

Ten siblings in Cappadocia are cursed by their mother and they are seized by shaking of their limbs. They wander through the Roman world and two of them, Paul and Palladia, come to Hippo, two weeks before Easter. They visit the church every day and pray at the memorial shrine (memoria) of Stephen. Just before the mass of Easter, Paul, who holds the railings of the holy place (loci sancti cancelli), 'where the relics are' (ubi martyrium erat) of Stephen, suddenly falls asleep and after waking up does not tremble anymore. People in the church shout with joy. Augustine celebrates mass. Next day he promises the congregation that on the following day a written account (libellus) of the miracle will be read in the church, and it is read accordingly in the presence of the siblings. When, after the reading, they withdraw to the memoria, Palladia is healed as well.

Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.