Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 400
A monk of the monastery of Hippo, of ill reputation, is ordained a presbyter by Antoninus of Fussala. Augustine excommunicates him, but he is restored to communion by Antoninus. Account of Augustine of Hippo, Letter 20*, North Africa, 422-423.
Letter 20*
 
5.  [...] Erat in monasterio nostro ex notario meo quidam qui me gemente non bonus euaserat et a praeposito monasterii eo quod inuentus fuerit solus hora importuna cum quibusdam sanctimonialibus loquens plagis coercitus contemptibilis habebatur. Iste deserto monasterio ad episcopum de quo agimus mox ut se contulit, ab illo presbyter ordinatus est me inconsulto atque nesciente. Nam prius audiui factum quam futurum credere potuissem, etiamsi mihi aliquis cui credendum fuerat indicasset. Tum uero cor meum, cum euersionem per eum quandoque adfuturam illius ecclesiae formidarem, quantus maeror inuaserit credas uelim, quia explicare non possum. Dedi tamen operam occasione comperta eodem ipso episcopo de tali suo presbytero querelas apud me grauissimas depromente, ut illi communio non esset, sed patriae suae unde mihi fuerat datus redderetur. Et factum erat, sed nescio quomodo me rursus inconsulto eum suae coniunctioni amicitiaeque restituit [...].
 
(ed. Divjak 1981:  96-97)
Letter 20*
 
5. [...] Here was in our monastery my former notary who, much to my distress, did not turn out well. Subjected to a beating by the superior of the monastery because he was found conversing alone with certain nuns at an inappropriate hour, he was considered a scoundrel. He abandoned the monastery, and, as soon as this fellow presented himself to the bishop under discussion [Antoninus], he was ordained a presbyter by him, without consulting me and without my knowledge. For I heard that the deed was done before I could have believed it possible, even if I had been informed by someone whom I ought to have believed. But I wish that you would believe the great sorrow
that filled my heart, because I feared the destruction of that church which he would one day bring about, for I cannot describe it. When I found the opportunity, because the same bishop himself presented to me very serious complaints about this presbyter, I tried to have him excommunicated and returned to his native land, from which he had been given to me. And it happened—but I do not know how, and again without my having been consulted—that Antoninus restored him to his communion and friendship.
 
(trans. R. Teske, 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 bishop of Fussala when the original candidate drew back (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 to be a Donatist see, so the date of the event is between AD 411 (the conference of Carthage) and AD 419 (the recourse of Antoninus to Rome).
 The status of the presbyter in question is unclear: he was a notarius of Augustine and later a monk in his monastery. He came from some place other than Hippo. Probably, the presbyterial ordination was the first he received.

Place of event:

Region
  • Latin North Africa
City
  • Hippo Regius
  • Fussala

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:

Education - Monastic education
    Ecclesiastical transfer
      Impediments or requisits for the office - Improper/Immoral behaviour
        Act of ordination
          Former ecclesiastical career - None
            Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical
              Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema
                Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER400, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=400