The Presbyters Project

Letter 20*

2. [...] Inter consortes suos lectoris fungebatur officio et talis apparere iam coeperat, ut frater Vrbanus qui tunc apud nos presbyter et praepositus monasterii, nunc uero est ecclesiae Siccensis episcopus, in quodam fundo amplo et in nostra diocesi constituto eum presbyterum fieri me absente uoluerit, quia iniunxeram proficiscens, ut aliquem prouideret quem loco illo non expectato meo reditu uicinus episcopus ordinaret. [...]

(ed. Divjak 1981: 95)

Letter 20*

2. [...] Among his comrades he performed the office of lector and soon began to be viewed as a man of such qualities that Brother Urbanus (who at that time was a presbyter among us and superior of the monastery but is now bishop of the church of Sicca) wanted him [Antoninus], in my absence, to become a presbyter in a certain large estate situated in our diocese. For I had, when departing, given orders that he should find someone whom the neighboring bishop might ordain for that place without waiting for my return. [...]

(trans. R. Teske 2005: 301, slightly altered)

Discussion:

The passage is taken from the letter of Augustine to Fabiola, a noble Roman who offered hospitality and help to Antoninus. Antoninus, a young lector of the Church of Hippo, was ordained as the bishop of Fussala when the original candidate withdrew (see [399]). Antoninus was later accused of several crimes. Augustine and his colleagues tried to make him step down, but he appealed to Rome. Fussala used to be a Donatist see, so the date of Antoninus' ordination is between AD 411 (the conference of Carthage) and AD 419 (the recourse of Antoninus to Rome).

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Hippo Regius

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The letters of Augustine of Hippo cover a wide range of topics: Holy Scripture, dogma and liturgy, philosophy, religious practice and everyday life. They range from full-scale theological treatises to small notes asking someone for a favour. The preserved corpus includes 308 letters, 252 written by Augustine, 49 that others sent to him and seven exchanged between third parties. 29 letters have been discovered only in the 20th century and edited in 1981 by Johannes Divjak; they are distinguished by the asterisk (*) after their number.

The preserved letters of Augustine extend over the period from his stay at Cassiciacum in 386 to his death in Hippo in 430.

Edition:

J. Divjak ed., Sancti Aureli Augustini Epistolae ex duobus codicibus nuper in lucem prolatae, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, v. 88, Wien, 1981.

J. Divjak ed., Saint Augustin. Lettres 1*-29*, Bibliothèque Augustinienne 46B. Paris 1987.

Translation:

Saint Augustine, Letters 211–270, 1*–29*, trans. R. Teske. New York 2005.

Categories:

Ecclesiastical transfer

PR479.

Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop

PR479.

Functions within the Church - Rural presbyter

Functions within the Church - Urban presbyter

PR479.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR479.

Monastic or common life - Monastic superior (abbot/prior)

PR479.

Ecclesiastical administration

PR479.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1671, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1671