Sophia Scriptura

Octavius 29.8

Minucius Felix · Octavius · ca. 197–250 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: The shape of the cross is found in nature, in ships, and in the posture of prayer.

Latin text · CSEL 2:43

signum sane crucis naturaliter uisimus in naui, cum uelis tumentibus uehitur, cum expansis palmulis labitur: et cum erigitur iugum, crucis signum est, et cum homo porrectis manibus Deum pura mente ueneratur. ita signo crucis aut ratio naturalis innititur aut uestra religio formatur.

English · Claude translation

We see the sign of the cross naturally in a ship, when it is carried with swelling sails, when it glides with outspread oars; and when a yoke is raised it is the sign of the cross; and when a man worships God with a pure mind, with hands outstretched. So either natural reason rests on the sign of the cross, or your religion is shaped by it.

About this passage

Source
CSEL 2:43 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in CSEL 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.
Topics
Prayer

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/29/8/).

Plain text
Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/29/8/).

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