The Presbyters Project

Letter 60

1. [...] Ordini clericorum fit indignissima iniuria, si desertores monasteriorum ad militiam clericatus eliguntur, cum ex his, qui in monasterio permanent, non tamen nisi probatiores atque meliores in clerum adsumere soleamus, nisi forte, sicut uulgares dicunt malus choraula bonus symphoniacus est, ita idem ipsi uulgares de nobis iocabuntur dicentes malus monachus bonus clericus est. Nimis dolendum, si ad tam ruinosam superbiam monachos subrigimus et tam graui contumelia clericos dignos putamus, in quorum numero sumus, cum aliquando etiam bonus monachus uix bonum clericum faciat, si adsit ei sufficiens continentia et tamen desit instructio necessaria aut personae regularis integritas.

(ed. Goldbacher 1898: 221-222)

Letter 60

1. [...] A most shameful injury is done to the clerical order if those who abandon their monastery are chosen for the army of the clergy since from those who remain in their monastery we usually choose only the more tested and better to be members of the clergy, unless as the common folk say, “A bad flute player makes a good singer.” In the same way the common folk joke about us and say, “A bad monk makes a good cleric.” It is something highly deplorable if we raise monks up to such ruinous pride and think that clerics, among whom we are counted, are worthy of grave abuse. After all, at times even a good monk does not make a good cleric if he has sufficient continence and, nonetheless, lacks the necessary instruction and the personal integrity required.

(trans. R. Teske)

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:

A. Goldbacher ed., S. Augustini Hipponiensis Episcopi Epistulae, Pars 2, Ep. 31-123, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 34/2, Prague-Vienna-Leipzig 1898.

Saint Augustine, Letters 1-99, trans. R. Teske, New York, 2001.

Categories:

Education - Monastic education

Education - Insufficient education

Monastic or common life - Cenobitic monk

Impediments or requisits for the office - Improper/Immoral behaviour

Former ecclesiastical career - None

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER829, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=829