Agostino d'Ippona e la prassi dei refrigeria

The term refrigerium, derived in turn from the verb refrigerare in the meaning of to refresh, give relief, quietude, rest, indicates the funerary banquet that sources document as being in use from the 4th to the 7th century AD, consisting of the consumption of a meal near the tombs of the deceased, as well as in libation, that is, the offering of food and drink to the deceased themselves. This is, in truth, a ritual already practiced in pagan religion which then flowed into Christianity. In particular, when faced with this rite, the action of Catholic bishops was divided, at first, between tolerance and consent, only to then result in the repression of abuses and unruly conduct. From the sources - conciliar canons, patristic sources, and especially Augustinian writings - emerges the plague of alcoholism, precisely on the occasion of funerary banquets, which often degenerated into drunkenness and debauchery.