{"slug":"tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1","title":"Homilia De Sancto Cypriano Episcopo Et Martyre [Incertus]","title_source":"Homilia De Sancto Cypriano Episcopo Et Martyre [Incertus]","author":"Victor Vitensis","genre":"homily","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:01:59Z","cost_usd":0.002105},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1","work_id":"tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp925/tmp925/tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":3,"english_words":677,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":2500,"commentary_units":18,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":2,"ambiguities":5,"work_notes":4,"external_links":0,"timeline":6},"summary":{"work":"tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1","abstract":"The *Homilia De Sancto Cypriano Episcopo Et Martyre* is a Latin festal homily for the feast of Cyprian of Carthage, transmitted under the name of Victor Vitensis (5th-century African bishop) but likely composed later, in the 6th or 7th century, in North Africa. It survives in a single manuscript tradition, often appended to Victor's *Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae*. The homily follows standard exordium formulas and reflects late antique theology of martyrdom as immediate celestial reward. It was used in the Mozarabic liturgy and cited by medieval hagiographers but never entered the Roman Breviary. The edition lacks a critical apparatus and does not collate variant readings from the two known manuscript witnesses.","historical_context":"The homily is set in post-Roman North Africa, likely under Vandal or Byzantine rule, when the cult of Cyprian remained central to African Christian identity. The text's attribution to Victor Vitensis (fl. 5th c.) is uncertain; stylistic and theological features suggest a later date, possibly 6th–7th century, when the Mozarabic liturgy was developing. The homily survives in a single manuscript tradition, often bound with Victor's *Historia persecutionis*, indicating its association with the historical narrative of African persecution. Its use in the Mozarabic rite shows continued liturgical relevance in Visigothic Spain. The text shows scribal corruptions (e.g., 'solitum doferre sermonem' for 'solitum deferre sermonem'), suggesting a transmission history with limited correction. The homily's theology—emphasizing Cyprian's immediate heavenly reward—aligns with North African hagiographic traditions, but its precise community of origin remains unclear.","significance":"This homily is a rare witness to the post-classical Latin festal sermon in North Africa, bridging the Vandal period and the Mozarabic liturgy. It attests to the enduring veneration of Cyprian and the adaptation of his cult in changing political and ecclesiastical contexts. Its uncertain authorship and textual corruptions highlight the challenges of studying late antique African Christianity.","timeline":[{"date":"3rd c.","event":"Cyprian of Carthage martyred (258 CE), becoming a central saint in North African Christianity."},{"date":"5th c.","event":"Victor Vitensis writes *Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae*; the homily is later attributed to him."},{"date":"6th–7th c.","event":"Probable composition of the homily, based on style and theology, in North Africa."},{"date":"7th–8th c.","event":"Homily used in the Mozarabic liturgy of Visigothic Spain."},{"date":"Medieval period","event":"Cited by medieval hagiographers; never enters the Roman Breviary."},{"date":"Modern","event":"Edition published without critical apparatus; two manuscript witnesses known but not collated."}],"relations":[{"work":"Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae","relation":"Transmitted together with this homily in manuscript tradition","key":"wikipedia:Victor Vitensis","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Mozarabic Rite","relation":"Homily used in this liturgical tradition","key":"wikipedia:Mozarabic Rite","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Letters of Cyprian","relation":"Echoes Cyprian's own language (e.g., Ep. 55)","key":"wikipedia:Cyprian","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Psalm 44","relation":"Possible biblical allusion, though not direct","key":"wikipedia:Psalm 44","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"North African hagiography","relation":"Reflects late antique theology of martyrdom as immediate celestial reward","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["Authorship is uncertain; attributed to Victor Vitensis but likely later (6th–7th c.).","Date of composition is unknown; only a broad range (6th–7th c.) can be inferred from style and theology.","The homily survives in a single manuscript tradition; two witnesses exist but are not collated in the edition.","The text shows scribal corruptions, complicating interpretation.","The homily's use in the Mozarabic liturgy is attested but its exact place of origin is unclear."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000547,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:01:59Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp925/tmp925/tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"tmp925.tmp925.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":3,"translated":3,"commentary_passages":3,"commentary_units":18,"english_words":677,"source_letters":2493,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The homily survives in a single manuscript tradition, often appended to Victor Vitensis’s *Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae*.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"Attributed to Victor Vitensis (5th c.), but the homily’s style and theology suggest a later, possibly 6th- or 7th-century African author.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The homily was used in the Mozarabic liturgy and cited by medieval hagiographers, but never entered the Roman Breviary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The edition does not collate variant readings from the two known manuscript witnesses, nor does it provide a critical apparatus.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: homily in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 3 narrative."},{"kind":"caution","severity":"caution","text":"2 passage(s) are fragmentary in the source; the English bridges each break and says so in the note."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":3},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"HOMILIA DE S. CYPRIANO EPISC. ET MARTYRE.\n\nI. Hodie nos solitum doferre sermonem beati Cypriani natalia festa compellunt. Quis enim possit tanti martyris silere virtutes, tacere gloriam, merita non referre, nisi forte qui nunc mœroris ejus propriæ sedis amissionem jersentiunt. Non ille victoriarum suarum modo agit in coelestibus sic triumphos curonarum suarum [nec] supernis infulis sic polilur, ut non laniati populi, dispersi cIeri, fugati sacerdotii, perditæ castitatis, violati pudoris, polluti sanctuarii, altaris profanati grande vulnus cum ipsa viscerum suorum capiivitate deploret. Ipse est qui et ante lapsos et ruinas suorum tali deOet affectu, dicens: a Et nos cum prostratis fratribus prostravit affectus. Antistes populum, pastor gregem, parens [Colb. pariensl patriam, martyr fidem non sine magno dolore perquiriL. Exstingueretur barbarus, quia civis habetur exstinetus; nec teneret altaria perfidus, a quibus fidelis lugetur exctusus, vel ex parte solaretur ipse martyrum solitudo, cui uiiquc obsecuturus deerat, si devotus non insultabat, sacrilegus non instabat Illusor.","english":"Homily on St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr.\n\nI. Today the feast of the blessed Cyprian’s birth compels us to deliver the customary sermon. For who could be silent about the virtues of such a great martyr, conceal his glory, or fail to recount his merits, unless perhaps those who now feel the loss of his own see in their grief? He does not so conduct his triumphs in the heavens, so shine with the crowns of his victories and the insignia of the highest, that he does not lament the great wound of his own people’s captivity—the scattered laity, the dispersed clergy, the fugitive priesthood, the lost chastity, the violated modesty, the polluted sanctuary, the profaned altar—together with the captivity of his own vitals. It is he who, with such affection, grieves over the fallen and the ruins of his own, saying: “And affection has prostrated us along with our prostrate brothers.” The bishop seeks the people, the shepherd the flock, the parent the fatherland, the martyr the faith, not without great sorrow. The barbarian would be extinguished, because the citizen is considered extinguished; nor would the faithless one hold the altars from which the faithful is mourned as excluded, or the solitude of the martyrs itself be in some part consoled, for whom no one would be lacking to attend, if the devoted did not insult, if the sacrilegious mocker did not press.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Hodie nos solitum doferre sermonem beati Cypriani natalia festa compellunt","severity":"info","text":"The opening formula 'Hodie ... compellunt' is a standard exordium in Latin festal homilies, signaling the liturgical occasion of Cyprian's natalicium (feast of his martyrdom).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"natalia festa","severity":"info","text":"'Natalia festa' refers to the feast of a martyr's birth into heaven, i.e., the anniversary of death. This usage is conventional in early Christian Latin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Et nos cum prostratis fratribus prostravit affectus","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes Cyprian's own language in his letters (e.g., Ep. 55) and may allude to Psalm 44:15 or similar biblical expressions of communal grief, though no direct quotation is identified.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Non ille victoriarum suarum modo agit in coelestibus sic triumphos curonarum suarum [nec] supernis infulis sic polilur","severity":"info","text":"The description of Cyprian's heavenly triumph reflects the late antique theology of martyrdom as an immediate celestial reward, common in North African hagiography.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"HOMILIA DE S. CYPRIANO EPISC. ET MARTYRE","severity":"info","text":"This homily is transmitted under the name of Victor Vitensis (Victor of Vita), a 5th-century African bishop, but its authorship is uncertain; it may be a later composition attributed to him.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"solitum doferre sermonem","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'solitum doferre sermonem' is likely a scribal error for 'solitum deferre sermonem' (to deliver the customary sermon). The text shows other corruptions (e.g., 'jersentiunt' for 'sentientes').","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text contains several apparent scribal errors (e.g., 'doferre' for 'deferre', 'jersentiunt' for 'sentientes', 'polilur' for 'poliatur'), making some readings uncertain. The phrase 'nec supernis infulis sic polilur' is emended with '[nec]' in the edition, indicating a missing negative. The identity of the 'barbarus' and 'civis' in the final sentence is ambiguous: they may refer to the per"],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"Hoc diximus, fratres, ut probaremus iterum pau martyrem, iterum martyrem tormenta sentire Herum pro omnibus carnifices sustinere, qui pro se et de se, post tantas palmas fuerat jam securus; tunc semel caesus capite, nunc quotidie propriis punitur in membris, et quorum laetabatur obsequiis, eorum luctibus nunc tenetur astrictus.\n\nII. Sed in bis omnibus, fratres, crigamur ad Dominum, qui jacemus ex nobis; nec desperationis exstinguamur incommodo, qui spei sumus remcdiis Christo vivificante salvati. Beatus Cyprianus in Deo et cum Deo liber est, qui captivus habetur in nobis; et in supernis regnat, qui in terris hostibus videtur addictus. Adest sibi, nec nobis deest; pio peccatoribus apud justum judicem justus patronus assistit, apud pium regem innocens advocatus exorai. Dicit Domino: Domine, quare tradidisti adversariis domum tuam, inimicis hæreditatem tuam? cur profanis sancta, cur luunda pollutis, et cur lupis agnos? Cur tradit bestiis gregem, pastorum Principem pastor audacter appellat; cur Rex exercitum sic devotum hostili subjecerit ditioni, dux strenuus convenienter inquirit; cur perfidis addixerit sic fideles, sacerdos in martyrio probatus inclamat. Ait etiam corporis sui causas dicendo: Domine, cur membra quae te sic conlessa sunt passus es captivari?","english":"We have said this, brothers, to prove again that the martyr suffers torments, that the martyr endures tortures again and again, that he sustains executioners for all, who for himself and concerning himself, after such great victories, had already been secure; then once beheaded, now daily he is punished in his own members, and he whose obsequies he rejoiced in, by their grief he is now held bound.\n\nII. But in all these things, brothers, let us rise up to the Lord, we who lie prostrate from ourselves; nor let us be extinguished by the inconvenience of despair, we who are saved by the remedies of hope, enlivened by Christ. Blessed Cyprian is free in God and with God, he who is held captive among us; and he reigns in the heavens, he who on earth seems handed over to enemies. He is present to himself, nor is he absent from us; as a pious advocate for sinners, he stands before a just judge as a just patron, before a pious king as an innocent intercessor. He says to the Lord: Lord, why have you handed over your house to adversaries, your inheritance to enemies? Why the sacred to the profane, why the clean to the polluted, and why the lambs to wolves? Why have you handed over the flock to beasts, the shepherd boldly calls out to the Prince of shepherds; why the king has subjected such a devoted army to hostile dominion, the valiant leader fittingly inquires; why the faithful have been so consigned to the faithless, the priest proven in martyrdom cries out. He also speaks concerning the cause of his body, saying: Lord, why have you allowed the members that have so confessed you to be taken captive?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'iterum pau martyrem' is likely a scribal error for 'iterum pati martyrem' (again the martyr suffers), as 'pau' is not a Latin word. The context supports this emendation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"carnifices","severity":"info","text":"'Carnifices' (executioners) is a technical term for those who inflict capital punishment, often used in martyr accounts to emphasize the brutality of persecution.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The rhetorical questions 'cur tradidisti adversariis domum tuam...' echo Psalm 74 (73 in Vulgate): 'Quare tradidisti...' and reflect a tradition of lament over the suffering of the righteous, common in martyr homilies.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The homily's attribution to Victor Vitensis (Victor of Vita) is uncertain; the text is transmitted among his works but may be spurious. Victor was a 5th-century African bishop and historian of the Vandal persecution.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage forms the second part of the homily, shifting from narrative of Cyprian's posthumous suffering to an exhortation to the congregation and a dramatic prosopopoeia of Cyprian addressing God.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text contains several corruptions: 'Herum' for 'iterum', 'luunda' likely for 'munda' (clean), and 'conlessa' for 'confessa' (confessed). These suggest a flawed manuscript tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'iterum pau martyrem' is ambiguous due to the non-word 'pau'; the intended reading is likely 'iterum pati martyrem' (again the martyr suffers).","The clause 'quorum laetabatur obsequiis' could refer to the martyrs whose obsequies Cyprian rejoiced in, or to the faithful whose services he enjoyed; the translation opts for the former."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"cur testem sanguinis, quem tanto sublimaveras honore, tanto despectui reliquisti, ad postremum cL de nobis et de nostris, quæ [Mart. quiaj tua sunt omnia fac sicut vis. Ubi est nomen tuum, ubi est gloria tua, ubi est virtus tua? Hæc dicendo gentes quae te ut nos invaderent blasphema verunt. Exsurge: qaare obdormis, Domine? exsurge. et ne repellas usque in linem. Redde tibi tuam* gloriam, terram tuam tuis redde redde meis ossa mea; ut te triumphante, et hostes lui pereant, et nos in sedibus nostris nostro ordine gaudeamus.\n\nIII. Adest et sanctus Cornelius Romæ urbis antistes, qui hoc eodem die passus in tali causa socium non relinquit, non deserit in tali postulatione collegam.","english":"why have you left the witness of your blood, whom you had raised to such great honor, in such contempt? Finally, concerning us and our people—since all things are yours—do as you wish. Where is your name, where is your glory, where is your power? Saying these things, the nations that invaded us as you did have blasphemed. Arise: why do you sleep, O Lord? Arise, and do not drive us away until the end. Restore your glory to yourself, restore your land to your people, restore my bones to me; so that, with you triumphant, both your enemies may perish and we may rejoice in our own seats, in our proper order.\n\nIII. Here also is the blessed Cornelius, bishop of the city of Rome, who suffered on this same day in such a cause and does not leave his companion, does not desert his colleague in such a petition.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"III.","severity":"info","text":"The Roman numeral III marks a new section, introducing a second saint, Cornelius of Rome, as a companion to Cyprian.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"sanctus Cornelius Romæ urbis antistes","severity":"info","text":"Cornelius was bishop of Rome (251–253) and is traditionally venerated as a martyr; his association with Cyprian here is hagiographic, not historical.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"text","lemma":"hoc eodem die passus","severity":"info","text":"The claim that Cornelius suffered on the same day as Cyprian is liturgically motivated; their actual martyrdom dates differ (Cyprian: 258; Cornelius: 253).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"cL","severity":"caution","text":"The abbreviation 'cL' is unclear; it may be a scribal error or shorthand for 'circa' or a numeral; the translation treats it as 'concerning us'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Exsurge: quare obdormis, Domine?","severity":"info","text":"Echoes Psalm 44:23 (Vulgate: 'Exsurge, quare obdormis, Domine?'), a call for divine intervention.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"gentes quae te ut nos invaderent blasphema verunt","severity":"info","text":"The reference to 'nations' blaspheming may reflect the Vandal persecution context of Victor Vitensis's own time (5th century).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The abbreviation 'cL' is ambiguous; the translation reads it as 'concerning us' but the Latin is corrupt.","The phrase 'quæ [Mart. quiaj tua sunt' shows textual corruption; the edition marks a variant 'quia' for 'quæ'."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]}]}