The Presbyters Project

12. Homo quidam Curma nomine municipii Tulliensis, quod Hipponi proximum est, curialis pauper, uix illius loci duumuiralicius et simpliciter rusticanus, cum aegrotaret, ablatus a sensibus paene mortuus iacuit aliquot diebus.

Later Curma had different visions in his dreams.

Ipsos autem uere forsitan credidissem, si non inter illa quasi somnia sua uidisset etiam quosdam, qui nunc usque adhuc uiuunt, clericos

uidelicet aliquos regionis suae, a quorum ibi presbytero audiuit, ut apud Hipponem baptizaretur a me, quod et factum esse dicebat. Viderat itaque in illa uisione presbyterum, clericos, me ipsum, nondum scilicet mortuos, in qua postea uidit et mortuos.

(ed. Zycha 1900: 644-645)

12. A certain man, Curma by name, of the township of Tullium, which is next to Hippo, was a poor member of the local curia, who has hardly managed to be the duumvir of the town, merely a simple country fellow. When he was taken ill, he was out of his mind and lay almost dead for some days.

Later Curma had different visions in his dreams.

Indeed, I might have believed him had he not seen during those so-called dreams some who are even living to this day, some clerics of his own district. And he was told by their presbyter that he should be baptized by me at Hippo, something which he said had already been done. Thus he had seen in that vision a presbyter, clerics, me myself among the living, and in the same vision he later saw dead persons.

(trans. J.A. Lacy, slightly altered)

Discussion:

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Hippo Regius

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: The Care To Be Taken for the Dead, De cura pro mortuis gerenda
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The work is the response of Augustine to a lost letter of Paulinus of Nola, in which he asked whether it is useful for a Christian to be buried near the tombs of the saints. It was written between AD 421 and 424 (the usually accepted date is AD 421).

Edition:

J. Zycha ed., S. Aureli Augustini de cura pro mortuis gerenda ad Paulinum episcopum, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 41, Prague-Vienna-Lepzig 1900, 621-660.

Translation:

The Care To Be Taken for the Dead, trans. J.A. Lacy, in: Saint Augustine, Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects, ed. R.J. Deferrari, Washington 1955, 351-384.

Categories:

Functions within the Church - Rural presbyter

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER883, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=883