A psalm against the party of Donatus: an experiment in a new style of poetics

The publication is devoted to a litle-known work of Blessed Augustine, the so-called Psalm against the Party of Donatus. Tis is the only surviving poetic work of the great bishop of Hippo, in which he acts as a shepherd, enlightener and propagandist. Te occasion for the writing of the psalm is the schism among the clergy in the African provinces that took place at the beginning of the 4th century and continued until the time of Blessed Augustine. Te split between the supporters of Donatus and the Orthodox reached the point that the Numidi priesthood completely separated from the Catholic Church. Te author of the Psalm focuses on moral and ethical issues, as well as serious theological differences, in particular the question of the re-baptism of Christians. Blessed Augustine chooses such a nontraditional genre of preaching - a song - in response to the propaganda couplets composed by the Donatists, with the help of which they successfully recruited new supporters. Te stylistics of the Psalm and innovative techniques in the field of poetics have generated much discussion in Western scholarly literature, with a range of problems that are brought to atention in this publication, which also provides a translation and commentary of the Psalm