E03851: Augustine of Hippo delivers a sermon on Easter Tuesday in Hippo Regius (North Africa), after the reading of a written account (libellus) of a man healed by the agency of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030). The sermon, which mentions miracles at Uzalis (North Africa) and at Ancona (central Italy), where a stone from the stoning of Stephen is preserved, is interrupted by another miraculous healing. Sermon 323, preached in Latin in c. 425.

Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 323 (following on from Sermon 322, E03660)

[Habitus post libellum de sancto Stephano

'Preached after [the reading of] a written account about Saint Stephen']


Augustine starts the sermon by saying that the case of the brother, who was healed two days before, and his sister teach us that we have to respect our parents. Then he refers to St Stephen's shrine in Ancona, which was mentioned in the written account which has just been read.

2. Nos autem, fratres, satagamus Domino deo nostro gratias referre pro illo qui sanatus est; et pro illa quae adhuc tenetur, preces fundamus. Benedicamus Deum, quia dignos nos habuit, ut hoc uideremus. Quid enim sumus, quia ego apparui istis nesciens? Illi enim me uidebant, et ego nesciebam: et admonebantur ut ad istam ciuitatem uenirent. Quis sum ego? homo sum unus de multis, non de magnis. Et uere, ut audiat charitas uestra, multum miror, et gaudeo nobis esse concessum: quoniam iste homo nec Anconae curari potuit; imo potuit, sed propter nos factum non est, quia facillime fieri potuit.

Sciunt enim multi quanta miracula per beatissimum martyrem Stephanum in ista ciuitate fiant. Et audite quod miremini: memoria eius antiqua ibi erat, et ipsa est ibi. Sed fortasse dicis: corpus eius nondum apparuerat, memoria ibi unde erat? Latet quidem causa: sed quid ad nos fama pertulerit, non tacebo charitati uestrae. Quando lapidabatur sanctus Stephanus, aliqui etiam innocentes, et maxime de iis qui iam in Christum crediderant, circumstabant: dicitur lapis uenisse in cubitum, et excussus inde uenisse ante quemdam religiosum. Tulit illum, et seruauit. Homo erat de nauigantibus, sors nauigationis attulit illum ad littus Anconae, et reuelatum est illi ibi debere reponi lapidem illum. Ille obediuit reuelationi, et fecit quod iussum est: ex illo coepit esse ibi memoria sancti Stephani, et rumor erat quia brachium sancti Stephani ibi est, nescientibus hominibus quid contigisset. Verum autem intelligitur propterea ibi fuisse reuelatum, ut ibi poneret lapidem qui de cubito martyris excussus est, quia graece cubitum ἀγκών dicitur. Sed qui sciunt quae ibi miracula fiant, ipsi nos doceant. Non ibi coeperunt fieri ista miracula, nisi posteaquam corpus sancti Stephani apparuit. Ecce ibi non est curatus iste iuuenis, ut nostris oculis seruaretur.

3. Apud Uzalim ubi est episcopus frater meus Euodius, quanta miracula ibi fiant quaerite, et inuenietis. Praetermissis autem aliis, indico uobis unum quod ibi factum est, ut uideatis quanta sit ibi praesentia maiestatis. Mulier quaedam subito aegrotum filium, cui succurrere festinando non potuit, in gremio suo catechumenum amisit: quae clamans, mortuus est, inquit, filius meus catechumenus.

Et cum haec diceret Augustinus, populus de memoria sancti Stephani clamare coepit, Deo gratias. Christo laudes. In quo continuo clamore, puella quae curata est ad absidam perducta est. Qua uisa, populus cum gaudio et fletu, nullis interpositis sermonibus, sed solo strepitu interposito, aliquandiu clamorem protraxit: et silentio facto, Augustinus episcopus dixit, scriptum est in psalmo, dixi, proloquar aduersum me delictum meum omino deo meo, et tu dimisisti impietatem cordis mei. Dixi, proloquar: nondum prolocutus sum: dixi, proloquar, et tu dimisisti. Commendaui istam miseram, imo ex misera, commendaui eam uestris orationibus. Disposuimus orare, et exauditi sumus. Sit gaudium nostrum actio gratiarum. Citius exaudita est mater ecclesia, quam in perniciem maledicta mater illa.
conuersi ad Dominum, etc.


'2. We though, brothers, must do all we can to give thanks to the Lord our God for the man who has been cured; and to pour out our prayers for the woman who is still in the grip of malady. Let us bless God for holding us worthy to see this. After all, what am I, that all unknowingly I should have appeared to these two. I mean, they could see me, and I was unaware of it; and they were thereby advised to come to this city. Who I am? I am one man out of many, not one of the great ones. And indeed, as your graces will hear, I am really astonished, and I rejoice that this has been granted to us; because this man was unable to be cured even at Ancona; or rather, he could have been cured there, but for our sake he wasn't, because of course it could have happened very easily.

You see, many people know what great miracles are performed through the blessed martyr Stephen in that city. And listen to something that should astonish you. He has had a memorial shrine (memoria) there from a long time ago, and it is still there. But perhaps you will say, "His body hadn't yet be discovered, so how could he have a shrine there?" The reason is indeed not known; but I won't conceal from your graces the story that reached us. When Stephen was being stoned, there were also some innocent people standing round, and especially some of those who already believed in Christ. The story goes that a stone struck his elbow, and bounced from there to land at the feet of a religious man. He picked it up and kept it. He was a seafaring man, and the chances of his seafaring brought him ashore at Ancona, and it was revealed to him that the stone should be deposited there. He obeyed the revelation, and did what he was told; and from that time there began to be a memorial shrine of Saint Stephen there; and the rumour was that an arm of Saint Stephen was there, as people didn't know what really happened. In fact, though, we are to understand that the reason why it was revealed that he should deposit the stone there which had bounced off the martyr's elbow, is that the Greek for elbow is ankon. But let those who know what miracles take place there teach us about them. These miracles didn't start happening there until after the body of Saint Stephen had come to light. And lo and behold, this young man was not cured there, so he might be kept for our eyes.

3. Inquire how many miracles take place at Uzalis, where my brother Evodius is bishop, and you will find out. Leaving others aside, I will tell you about one which happened there, so that you may see what a powerful presence of the divine majesty makes itself felt there. A woman's child was taken suddenly ill, so that for all her hurry she couldn't get help for him, and she lost him in her arms, while he was still only a catechumen. She cried out, "He's dead, my son, only a catechumen."

And while Augustine was saying this the people round the shrine of Saint Stephen began to shout, "God be thanked! Christ be praised!" In the midst of this continuous clamour, the young woman who had just been cured was led into the apse. When they saw her, the people prolonged their shouting for some time with great joy and weeping, not uttering any words, but just making noise; and when silence was eventually obtained Bishop Augustine said: It is written in the psalm: I said, I will utter against myself my wrongdoing to the Lord my God, and you have forgiven the impiety of my heart (Ps 32:5). I said, I will utter; I haven't yet uttered. I said, I will utter, and you have forgiven. I commended this unfortunate lady, or rather ex-unfortunate, to your prayers. We were disposing ourselves to pray, and we were heard. Let our joy constitute our thanksgiving. Mother Church was heard more speedily than that accursed mother was to destructive effect.
Turning to the Lord, etc.'

Text: Patrologia Latina 38,1445-1446. Translation: Hill 1994, 162-164. Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.