Augustine of Hippo - Essential Sermons (Works of Saint Augustine 3)

Published in the United States by New City Press
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www.newcitypress.com 2007 Augustinian Heritage Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Leandro De Leon

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. [Sermons. English. Selections] Essential sermons / Daniel Doyle, editor ; Edmund Hill, translator.

p. cm. --(The works of Saint Augustine ) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-56548-276-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sermons, Latin--Translations into

English--Early works to 1800. 2. Sermons--Early works to 1800. 3. Catholic Church-Sermons--Early works to 1800. I. Doyle, Daniel Edward, 1953-II. Hill, Edmund.

III. Title. BR65.A84E5 2007 252'.014--dc22 2007031830

Printed in the United States of America

The publication of The Works of St. Augustine, A Translation for the 21 st Century, sponsored by the Augustinian Heritage Institute, founded by the late Fr. John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., has finally placed into the hands of scholars fresh contemporary translations formerly available only in Latin, the lack of which impeded many from consulting the theological depth and breadth of the brilliant Doctor of Grace. Much English-language scholarship in the past fifty years had focused on the works which were more accessible due to modern-language translations, particularly English and French. Scholars with heavy teaching loads, as well as aspiring scholars, often ignored the texts which were only available in Migne, since the Latin can be daunting and requires much more time to comprehend. Because the corpus of the bishop of Hippo is so extensive, scholars often favored reading the classical texts of Augustine which were more readily available in translations, such as Free Will , The Confessions , The City of God, and The Trinity . Yet Augustines full range of ideas and theological insights is best gleaned from his occasional works as a priest and bishop with pressing pastoral responsibilities, namely his letters and sermons. The letters have been widely available for some time in the Fathers of the Church series, while the sermons were only available prior to the 1990s in a one-volume work that focused on the bishops preaching on the more important liturgical feasts such as Christmas and Easter.

The Sermons of St. Augustine ( Sermones ad populum ) have been skillfully captured in fresh and contemporary English with insightful and lively commentary by the capable Dominican, Fr. Edmund Hill, whose first volume appeared in 1990 in the Works of St. Augustine series. The sermons in their entirety fill eleven volumes, and they include the Dolbeau Sermons discovered in 1989, a collection of thirty sermons that includes twenty-one that were completely unknown thitherto. or engages in rather long commentary in his notes, where he displays his own theological preferences and convictions. I for one appreciate the spontaneity of his comments and find that they put life into theological questions that otherwise appear rather sterile and irrelevant.

This one-volume anthology was born from a direct request of colleagues in the field who teach Augustine or other courses on early Christian writers and who lament the difficulty of using the sermons on their required reading lists because of the expense involved in purchasing all eleven volumes. It is envisioned as a handbook for those who cannot afford the entire series, although it cannot replace the eleven-volume edition. I have been teaching a course on the theology of St. Augustine for ten years and have found the inclusion of several samples of the sermons invaluable in capturing Augustines theology at its best. I believe that many of the gross simplifications of his theology and his subsequent vilification would be unsustainable if more scholars had access to his sermons and letters. Furthermore, given the frequent complaints about the current banal level of preaching today, which settles for generalities, platitudes and political correctness by dumbing down serious theological and ethical questions, Augustine might serve as a model for contemporary preachers who are charged with the awesome task of explaining and applying the words of Sacred Scripture. It is my sincere hope that direct contact with the best of Augustines preaching will lead ministers of the Word to a more enlivened and theologically robust style of preaching.

Augustines preaching has come down to us in various collections, including the Expositions of the Psalms (Enarrationes in Psalmos), Homilies (Tractatus) on the Gospel of John and Homilies (Tractatus) on the first Letter of John and the Sermons (Sermones ad populum) . Since so many of Augustines sermons are worthy of inclusion, it was necessary to limit this anthology to the Sermones ad populum .Furthermore, a decision had to be made as to whether or not the scholarly notes should be included. That would have significantly reduced the number of homilies that could be put in a single volume. After consultation with a committee composed of Joseph Kelly, Thomas Martin and Jane Merdinger, it was decided that we would direct the reader to the eleven-volume edition for the critical notes. The process of choosing the sermons was ultimately a judgment call. I read through all of them several times and presented a list to the same committee for further consideration. I wanted to make sure that the list showcased Augustines genius as a preacher and I wanted to include the wide range of important theological concerns that he addressed on a regular basis: his doctrine of God, his Christology, his understanding of grace, sin, freedom and the will as well as his approach to married life, wealth, poverty, justice and the Christian life with all of its ethical demands. A concerted effort was made to include samples of his preaching on Mary, the martyrs and the most important liturgical occasions. In the final analysis, because of pagination requirements, the list had to be filtered to make a one-volume affordable edition available to students of Augustine today. This also required a rewriting of Cardinal Pellegrinos impressive introduction, which was composed for the first volume of the Italian-language edition of the sermons prepared in 1979. The scholarship is impeccable but dated, and space requirements dictated a summary overview of the general consensus of scholarship on the more important aspects of his preaching.

Augustine is numbered among the most outstanding theologians of the western Church not only because of his intellectual genius but especially on account of his deep insight and clarity of expression in responding to the most pressing human questions encountered in every generation. His preaching showcases his passion, originality and conviction that hearing the Word and following its example in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit is the surest way to eternal life with God.