The Presbyters Project

Dialogue 2.1.2

Hanc enim sibi etiam in ecclesia solitudinem permissa clericis libertate praestabat, cum quidem in alio secretario presbyteri sederent, uel salutationibus uacantes uel audiendis negotiis occupati; Martinum uero usque in eam horam, qua sollemnia populo agi consuetudo deposceret, sua solitudo cohibebat.

(ed. Fontaine 2006: 216)

Dialogue 2.1.2

This solitude he maintained for himself also in church thanks to the liberty of clerics. When presbyters were seating in one secretarium chatting freely or occupied with some sort of business activity, Martin preserved his solitude [in another secretarium] until the hour at which he usually celebrated the sacred rites for the people.

(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

The world secretarium is not easily translated, as it can mean a ''council chamber'', as well as a sanctuary (i.e. the place in the church where the altar stands), or a sacristy. What can add to the reader's confusion is the fact that both the latter places could have served as a place for an ecclesiastical gathering. In the context of this chapter, it was likely a sacristy, a small room adjacent to the sanctuary, where priests could prepare for Mass. However, it was certainly not a ''private chamber'' as Goodrich (Goodrich 2015: 212) suggests.

Place of event:

Region

Gaul
East

City

Tours

About the source:

Author: Sulpicius Severus
Title: Dialogues, Dialogi, Gallus sive dialogi de virtutibus sancti Martini, Dialogorum libri II
Origin: Primuliacum (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Sulpicius Severus` hagiographical corpus concerning Martin of Tours consists of the Life itself, three letters, and three Dialogues. The Dialogues were composed between the year 400 (the year of the Origenist controversy, to which Sulpicius makes a reference), and the year 410-412 when Jerome`s Commentary on Ezekiel was published, in which Jerome mentions the Dialogues. Stancliffe (Stancliffe 1983: 81) suggests that the Dialogues were composed between 404 and 406, judging by the comment of one of the interlocutors that eight years have passed since Martin`s death (in 397) and no allusion to the barbarian invasions of Gaul in 406-407. The work was likely published in two separate volumes, with volume 1 containing the first and second Dialogues and volume 2 the third and last. It can be proved by both early manuscript tradition and the account of Gennadius (see [670]).

Edition:

Sulpicius Severus, Gallus: dialogues sur les “vertus” de Saint Martin, ed. and transl. J. Fontaine, Sources Chrétiennes 510, Paris 2006.

Translation:

Sulpicius Severus, The Complete Works, transl. R.J. Goodrich, Ancient Christian Writers 70, New York 2015.

Bibliography:

C. Stancliffe, St. Martin and his hagiographer: history and miracle in Sulpicius Severus, Oxford 1983.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Ritual activity - Eucharist

Economic status and activity - Buying & selling

Friendship

Relation with - Another presbyter

Entertainment

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1008, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1008