Quodvultdeus

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Saint Quodvultdeus
Quodvultdeus mosaic portrait, 5th century (San Gennaro catacombs, Naples).jpg
Portrait of Quodvultdeus, 5th-century mosaic, Catacombs of San Gennaro
Church Father and Bishop of Carthage
Died~450 AD
Neapolis, Western Roman Empire
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast 26 October (Roman calendar); 8 January (calendar of Carthage); 19 February (calendar of Naples, Eastern Orthodox)

Quodvultdeus (Latin for "what God wills", died c. 450 AD) was a fifth-century Church Father and Bishop of Carthage who was exiled to Naples. He was known to have been living in Carthage around 407 and became a deacon in 421 AD. He corresponded with Augustine of Hippo, who served as Quodvultdeus' spiritual teacher. [1] Augustine also dedicated some of his writings to Quodvultdeus. [1]

Contents

Quodvultdeus was exiled when Carthage was captured by the Vandals led by King Gaiseric, who followed Arianism. Tradition states that he and other churchmen (such as Gaudiosus of Naples) were loaded onto leaky ships that landed at Naples around 439 AD and Quodvultdeus established himself in Italy. [1] He would go on to convert dozens of Arian Goths to the orthodox Christian faith during his lifetime.

One of the mosaic burial portraits in the Galleria dei Vescovi in the Catacombs of San Gennaro depicts Quodvultdeus. [2]

Writings

Opening page of a 9th-century manuscript of the Sermon against Jews, Pagans and Arians by Quodvultdeus, erroneously attributed to Augustine of Hippo (Bavarian State Library Clm 14098, f. 61v) BSB Clm 14098, f. 61v - Quodvultdeus opening page.jpg
Opening page of a 9th-century manuscript of the Sermon against Jews, Pagans and Arians by Quodvultdeus, erroneously attributed to Augustine of Hippo (Bavarian State Library Clm 14098, f. 61v)

None of the surviving writings by Quodvultdeus were transmitted under his name. While Liber promissionum et praedicatorum Dei was attributed to Prosper of Aquitaine already in the 6th century, Quodvultdeus's sermons came down to us in Augustinian collections. In 1914 Germain Morin was the first to suppose that 12 sermons by Pseudo-Augustine were actually written by Quodvultdeus. [3] In 1920 Desiderius Franses showed this hypothesis to be highly plausible. [4]

List of writings

  1. Contra iudaeos, paganos et arrianos ("Against Jews, Pagans and Arians")
  2. Adversus quinque haereses ("On five heresies")
  3. De symbolo I ("On the creed I")
  4. De symbolo II ("On the creed II")
  5. De symbolo III ("On the creed III")
  6. De quattuor virtutibus caritatis ("On the four virtues of love")
  7. De cantico novo ("On the new song")
  8. De ultima quarta feria ("On the last Wednesday")
  9. De cataclismo ("On the cataclysm")
  10. De tempore barbarico I ("On barbaric times I")
  11. De accedentibus ad gratiam I ("On the approach to grace I")
  12. De accedentibus ad gratiam II ("On the approach to grace II")
  13. De tempore barbarico II ("On barbaric times II")

Editions and Translations

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Patron Saints Index: Saint Quodvultdeus Archived April 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. MacKie, Gillian (2003). Early Christian Chapels in the West. University of Toronto Press. p. 31. doi:10.3138/9781442674189. ISBN   978-0-802035042. JSTOR   10.3138/9781442674189.
  3. G. Morin. Pour une future édition des opuscules de S. Quodvultdeus évêque de Carthage au Ve siècle. Revue Bénédictine 31, 1914, p. 156–162.
  4. D. Franses. Die Werke des hl. Quodvultdeus. Munich, 1920.

Bibliography