Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 1255–1257
Augustine, Sermo 276 (In natali Vincentii martyris)
Sermon CCLXXVI
SERMO CCLXXVI. In festo martyris Vincentii, III.
SERMON CCLXXVI. On the feast of the martyr Vincent, III.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Martyris fortitudo a Christo est. In passione, quae nobis hodie recitata est, fratres mei, evidenter ostenditur judex ferox, tortor cruentus, Martyr invictus. In cujus corpore poenis variis exarato,
CHAPTER ONE. — 1. The martyr's fortitude is from Christ. In the passion which has been read to us today, my brethren, there is plainly shown a fierce judge, a bloody torturer, an unconquered Martyr. In whose body, furrowed
Editors' notes and page, col. 1255
Footnotes
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLXXVI› · call in col 1255 Castigatus ad duos cb. et tres gr. ad m. n.pr.rm. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.
Corrected against two cb. and three gr. manuscripts, against m. n. pr. rm., and against the editions of Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain.
(printed under page 634)
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLXXVI› · call in col 1255
Alias, de Sanctis 12.
Formerly, de Sanctis 12 (On the Saints, 12).
(printed under page 634)
jam tormenta defecerant, et adhuc membra durabant. Tot convicta miraculis persistebat impietas, tot vexata suppliciis non cedebat infirmitas: agnoscatur ergo operata divinitas. Quando enim corruptibilis pulvis contra tam immania tormenta duraret, nisi in eo Dominus habitaret? In his enim omnibus ille agnoscendus, ille glorificandus, ille laudandus est, qui et in prima vocatione dedit fidem, et in suprema passione virtutem. Vultis nosse quia utrumque donatum est? Audite apostolum Paulum: Vobis, inquit, donatum est pro Christo, non solum ut credatis in eum, verum etiam ut patiamini pro eo (Philipp. I, 29). Acceperat haec utraque levita Vincentius, acceperat et habebat. Si enim non accepisset, quid haberet? Habebat in sermone fiduciam, habebat in passione tolerantiam. Nemo ergo de suo corde praesumat, quando profert sermonem; nemo de suis viribus confidat, quando suffert tentationem: quia et ut bona prudenter loquamur, ab illo est nostra sapientia; et ut mala fortiter perferamus, ab illo est nostra patientia. Recolite Dominum Christum suos in Evangelio discipulos admonentem: recolite martyrum Regem cohortes suas armis spiritualibus instruentem, bella monstrantem, adjutoria ministrantem, praemia pollicentem: qui cum dixisset discipulis suis, In hoc mundo pressuram habebitis; mox unde territi consolarentur, adjunxit dicens, Sed confidite, ego vici mundum (Joan. XVI, 33). Quid ergo miramur, charissimi, si in illo Vincentius vicit, a quo victus est mundus? In hoc, inquit, mundo pressuram habebitis: ut si premit, non opprimat; si oppugnat, non expugnet.
with various punishments, the torments had already given out, and still the limbs held out. Convicted by so many miracles, impiety persisted; harassed by so many punishments, weakness did not yield: let the divinity at work, therefore, be acknowledged. For when would corruptible dust hold out against torments so monstrous, unless the Lord dwelt in it? For in all these things He is to be acknowledged, He to be glorified, He to be praised, Who both in the first calling gave faith, and in the final passion strength. Do you wish to know that both were given? Hear the apostle Paul: To you, he says, it has been given for Christ, not only that you should believe in Him, but also that you should suffer for Him (Phil. 1:29). These two things the levite Vincent had received; he had received them and he had them. For if he had not received them, what would he have? He had confidence in speech, he had endurance in suffering. Let no one therefore presume on his own heart, when he utters a word; let no one trust in his own strength, when he undergoes temptation: because both, that we speak good things prudently, our wisdom is from Him; and, that we bear evil things bravely, our patience is from Him. Recall the Lord Christ admonishing His disciples in the Gospel: recall the King of martyrs equipping His cohorts with spiritual arms, showing them the wars, supplying aid, promising rewards: Who, when He had said to His disciples, In this world you shall have distress, at once added, [so] that the frightened might have something whence to be consoled, saying, But have confidence, I have conquered the world (John 16:33). Why then do we wonder, dearly beloved, if Vincent conquered in Him by Whom the world was conquered? In this world, He says, you shall have distress: so that if it presses, it may not crush; if it assaults, it may not overthrow.
CAPUT II. — 2. Duplex mundi acies contra milites Christi, blanditiae et terrores. Duplicem mundus aciem producit contra milites Christi. Advertite, fratres. Duplicem, dixi, aciem producit mundus contra milites Christi. Blanditur enim, ut decipiat; terret, ut frangat. Non nos teneat voluptas propria, non nos terreat crudelitas aliena; et victus est mundus. Ad utrosque aditus occurrit Christus, et non vincitur christianus. Si consideretur in ista passione humana patientia, incipit esse incredibilis; si agnoscatur divina potentia, desinit esse mirabilis. Tanta grassabatur crudelitas in Martyris corpore, et tanta tranquillitas proferebatur in voce, tantaque poenarum asperitas saeviebat in membris, et tanta securitas sonabat in verbis; ut miro modo putaremus Vincentio patiente, alium non loquentem torqueri. Et vere, fratres, ita erat: prorsus ita erat; alius loquebatur. Promisit enim et hoc testibus suis Christus in Evangelio, quos ad hujusmodi certamina praeparabat. Sic enim ait: Nolite praemeditari quomodo aut quid loquamini. Non enim vos estis qui loquimini, sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis (Matth. X, 19 et 20). Caro ergo patiebatur, et Spiritus loquebatur. Et loquente Spiritu, non solum convincebatur impietas, sed etiam confortabatur infirmitas.
CHAPTER II. — 2. The twofold battle line of the world against the soldiers of Christ: blandishments and terrors. The world leads out a twofold battle line against the soldiers of Christ. Take note, brethren. A twofold battle line, I said, the world leads out against the soldiers of Christ. For it flatters, that it may deceive; it terrifies, that it may break. Let not our own pleasure hold us, let not another's cruelty terrify us; and the world is conquered. At both approaches Christ comes to meet it, and the Christian is not conquered. If in this passion human endurance be considered, it begins to be incredible; if divine power be acknowledged, it ceases to be wonderful. So great a cruelty was raging in the Martyr's body, and so great a tranquillity was put forth in his voice, and so great a harshness of punishments was savaging his limbs, and so great a security was sounding in his words, that in a wondrous way we might suppose that, while Vincent suffered, another, not the one speaking, was being tortured. And truly, brethren, so it was: exactly so it was; another was speaking. For this too Christ promised in the Gospel to His witnesses, whom He was preparing for contests of this kind. For thus He says: Do not think beforehand how or what you are to speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father Who speaks in you (Matt. 10:19–20). The flesh therefore was suffering, and the Spirit was speaking. And with the Spirit speaking, not only was impiety refuted, but weakness too was strengthened.
CAPUT III. — 3. Vincentius tormentis suis non tantum vastatus, quantum Dacianus. Clariorem nobis Martyrem tot tormenta faciebant. Multiplici enim
CHAPTER III. — 3. Vincent was not so much wasted by his own torments, as Dacian. So many torments made the Martyr the more illustrious to us. For with a manifold
vulnerum varietate confossus, non deserebat pugnam, sed acrius iterabat. Putares quod eum duraret flamma, non ureret; et tanquam figuli fornax lutum molle suscipiens, duram redderet testam. Poterat Martyr noster dicere Daciano: Jam non urit ignis tuus carnem meam, quia exaruit velut testa virtus mea (Psal. XXI, 16). Et quoniam veraciter scriptum est, Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines justos tentatio tribulationis (Eccli. XXVII, 6); probatus est atque decoctus illo igne Vincentius: arsit vero et crepuit Dacianus. Si enim non ardebat, unde clamabat? Quid enim erant verba irascentis, nisi fumus ardentis? Ergo Martyri nostro refrigerium in corde habenti, flammas extrinsecus admovebat: sed ipse facibus furoris accensus, tanquam clibanus intus ardebat, et habitatorem suum diabolum concremabat. Per furiosas enim Daciani voces, per truces oculos et minaces vultus et totius corporis motus ille habitator ejus interior monstrabatur; et per haec signa visibilia, tanquam per sui vasculi, quod impleverat, crepantis rimulas videbatur. Non tantum Martyrem cruciabant tormenta, quantum illum vastabat insania.
variety of wounds pierced through, he did not abandon the fight, but renewed it the more fiercely. You would have thought that the flame made him hard, not that it burned him; and, like a potter's kiln receiving soft clay, made it into a hard shard. Our Martyr could say to Dacian: Now your fire does not burn my flesh, for my strength has dried up like a shard (Ps. 21:16). And since it is truly written, The furnace tests the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation tests just men (Sir. 27:6 [Sir. 27:5]); Vincent was tested and refined by that fire: but Dacian burned and crackled. For if he was not burning, whence did he cry out? For what were the words of one in a rage, but the smoke of one burning? So to our Martyr, who had refreshment in his heart, he was applying flames from without: but he himself, set alight by the torches of his own fury, was burning within like an oven, and was consuming his own inhabitant, the devil. For through Dacian's furious voices, through his fierce eyes and threatening looks and the movements of his whole body, that inward inhabitant of his was shown; and through these visible signs, as through the cracking chinks of his own vessel which he had filled, [the devil within] could be seen. It was not so much the torments that tortured the Martyr, as madness that laid the other waste.
CAPUT IV. — 4. Vincentii gloria post passionem, etiam in hoc mundo. Sed jam, fratres, illa omnia transierunt, et ira Daciani, et poena Vincentii. Nunc autem poena Daciano, corona vero manet Vincentio. Denique his praemissis futurae videlicet retributionis finibus, etiam in hoc mundo martyrum gloriam demonstremus. Quae hodie regio, quaeve provincia ulla, quo usque vel Romanum imperium, vel christianum nomen extenditur, natalem non gaudet celebrare Vincentii? Quis autem hodie Daciani vel nomen audisset, nisi Vincentii passionem legisset? Quod vero tanta cura servavit Dominus Martyris corpus, quid aliud demonstravit, nisi se gubernasse viventem, quem non reliquit exanimem? Vicit ergo Dacianum vivens Vincentius, vicit et mortuus. Vivens tormenta calcavit, mortuus maria transnatavit. Sed ipse inter undas gubernavit cadaver exstinctum, qui inter ungulas animum donavit invictum. Non flexit flamma tortoris cor ejus, non mersit aqua maris corpus ejus. Sed in his et hujusmodi omnibus nihil est aliud, nisi pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus (Psal. CXV, 15).
CHAPTER IV. — 4. Vincent's glory after his passion, even in this world. But now, brethren, all those things have passed away, both Dacian's anger and Vincent's punishment. Now, however, the punishment remains for Dacian, the crown for Vincent. Finally, having set forth these things — that is, the ends of the retribution to come — let us also show forth the glory of the martyrs even in this world. What region today, what province at all, as far as either the Roman empire or the Christian name extends, does not rejoice to celebrate the birthday of Vincent? But who today would have heard even the name of Dacian, had he not read the passion of Vincent? But that the Lord kept the Martyr's body with such great care — what else did it show, but that He had governed him while living, whom He did not abandon when lifeless? Vincent, then, conquered Dacian while living, he conquered him dead too. Living, he trod down the torments; dead, he swam across the seas. But He Himself governed the extinguished corpse amid the waves, Who amid the hooks had granted the spirit unconquered. The flame of the torturer did not bend his heart, the water of the sea did not sink his body. But in these and all things of this kind there is nothing else, but that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (Ps. 115:15).