Sermon to the People of the Church of Caesarea · §4 · Augustine of Hippo

The lost sheep bearing the sign of peace

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Augustine is addressing Emeritus directly, answering his objection that he should not be sought if he has perished, and explaining that the very sacrament Emeritus possesses is the reason he must be sought.

So pay attention, brother, pay attention, I beg you. You say to me: Why are you seeking me? I answer: Because you are my brother. You answer me and say: If I have perished, why are you seeking me? And I answer: If you had not perished, I would not be seeking you. Why are you seeking me? You say to me: If I have perished, why are you seeking me? When I answer: I am seeking you because you have perished. And why am I seeking you, for what gain? So that one day it may be said to me: Your brother was dead and has come to life again; he had perished and has been found. You answer me and say: But I have the sacrament. You do have it; I acknowledge that. That is why I am seeking you. You have given me a great reason to seek you all the more diligently. For you are a sheep from my Lord's flock; you have strayed with the sign. That is why I seek you more, because you have the sign itself. Why do we not possess one church? We have one sign; why are we not in one sheepfold? I am seeking you so that this sacrament may be for you a help toward salvation, not a testimony toward condemnation. Do you not know that a deserter is condemned by the mark by which a soldier is honored? That is why I am seeking you, so that you may not perish with the sign. For it is a sign of salvation, if you have salvation, if you have love. This sign of salvation can be on you outwardly, but it cannot benefit you. Come, so that what you had may benefit you—not so that you may receive what you had, but so that what you had may begin to benefit you, and you may receive what you did not have. For you had the sign of peace, but you did not have peace itself. In that house—that is, in you—discord was living, and on the threshold it was posting signs of peace. I recognize the signs, but I am seeking the inhabitant. I read the sign of peace: baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is a sign of peace; I read it. Who lives there, I am seeking. I look at my brother; I recognize the sign of peace. I too have it; I want to enter. What does 'I want to enter' mean? Accept me as your brother, so that together we may pray to the Father. 'I do not pray with you.' The signs of peace are there, and discord contradicts me? Clearly I will labor, with the Lord's help, to cast out discord, which possesses wrongly, and to bring in peace as the rightful possessor. So when I cast out discord and bring in peace, why should I take down the signs of peace? I say plainly to my Lord: O Christ, you who are our peace, who made both one—make us one, so that we may rightly sing: See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity. Bring in concord, drive out discord; bring in yourself into your own signs. You remain; let no other possess them and deceive by your signs.

Latin

Attende ergo, frater, attende, obsecro te. dicis mihi: quid me quaeris? respondeo: quia frater meus es. respondes mihi et dicis: si perii, quid me quaeris? et ego respondeo: si non perisses, non quaererem. quid me quaeris? dicis mihi: si perii, quid me quaeris? cum ego respondeam: quaero quia peristi. et quare quaero, quo fructu quaero? ut aliquando dicatur mihi: frater tuus mortuus erat et reuixit, perierat et inuentus est. respondes et dicis mihi: sed habeo sacramentum. habes, agnosco; propter hoc te quaero. magnam causam addidisti, quare diligentius te quaeram. ouis es enim de grege domini mei, cum signo errasti; ideo quaero magis, quia ipsum signum habes. quare unam ecclesiam non possidemus? unum signum habemus; quare in uno ouili non sumus? ideo te quaero, ut hoc sacramentum sit tibi in salutis adiutorium, non in damnationis testimonium. nescis quia desertor de charactere damnatur, de quo militans honoratur? ideo te quaero, ut non pereas cum signo. salutis enim signum est, si habeas salutem, si habeas caritatem. hoc enim signum salutis extra tibi inesse potest, prodesse non potest. ueni, ut prosit tibi quod habebas, non ut accipias quod habebas, sed ut prodesse tibi incipiat quod habebas et accipias quod non habebas. habebas enim signum pacis, ipsam pacem non habebas. in domo illa, id est in te, discordia habitabat et in limine titulos pacis figebat. agnosco titulos, sed quaero habitantem. lego titulum pacis: baptismus in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. titulus pacis est, lego; quis habitet, quaero. fratrem meum attendo, titulum pacis agnosco. ipsum et ego habeo, intrare uolo. quid est 'intrare uolo'? fratrem me accipe, ut simul oremus patrem. 'non tecum oro'. tituli pacis sunt, et mihi discordia contradicit? plane laborabo adiuuante domino eicere discordiam male possidentem et introducere pacem tamquam legitimum possessorem. cum ergo discordiam excludo, pacem introduco, titulos pacis quare depono? dico plane domino meo: 'o Christe, qui es pax nostra, qui fecisti utraque unum. fac nos unum, ut recte cantemus: ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum. introduc concordiam, pelle discordiam; introduc te ipsum in titulos tuos. tu mane, non alter possideat et de titulis tuis fallat.

About this text

Augustine preaches at Caesarea in 418 before the Donatist bishop Emeritus: their baptism is Christ's, but without love in Catholic unity it profits nothing.

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) preached this sermon to the Catholic congregation of Caesarea in Mauretania. He was bishop of Hippo and had come to Caesarea in 418 on church business. The occasion was a public meeting with Emeritus, the Donatist bishop of the city, who had entered the Catholic church and begun a conversation with Augustine.

He argues that Donatists are received as brothers because their baptism and faith belong to Christ, not to Donatus, but that these gifts are useless without love, which is found only in Catholic unity.

Augustine quotes Emeritus's opening words, the congregation's acclamation, and passages from Paul, the Psalms, and the Gospels.

New English from the Latin base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from CSEL 53 (1910) (Latin)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.