Bishop and Doctor of the Church (354-430)
His life
+ Augustine was born in North Africa and was the son of Saint Monica and Patricius.
+ A lifelong learner, Augustine’s early life was marked by experimentation, speculation, and periods of sin and doubt. For a time he embraced the Manichean Heresy but through the prayers of his mother and the influence of Saint Ambrose, whom he met in Milan, Italy, Augustine was baptized in 387. He was ordained a priest in 391.
+ In 395, Augustine was named bishop of Hippo (modern-day Annaba, Algeria), becoming the spokesman of the Church in North Africa.
+ As bishop, Augustine guided his flock for 34 years, instructing them by his teaching and writing. He is especially honored for his highly developed, careful explanations of the Faith, as well as his Confessions, The City of God, and various treatises and sermons.
+ While bishop, Augustine imagined a way of life in which members of the clergy would live together in community, supporting one another in the common life of prayer and ministry. This prepared the way for a new religious order now known as the Augustinians.
+ Saint Augustine died in 430 and was honored as a saint immediately after his death.
For prayer and reflection
“It may be said that all the thought-currents of the past meet in his works and form the source which provides the whole doctrinal tradition of succeeding ages.”—Pope Saint Paul VI
Spiritual bonus
On this day, we also remember 10 De la Salle Christian Brothers and one layman who were martyred together in Griñon, Spain, on August 28, 1936, during the anti-Catholic violence of the Spanish Civil War. These martyrs were beatified in 2013.
Vocations
For men:
To learn about the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, visit: www.augustinian.org
To learn about the Augustinian Midwest Province, visit: www.midwestaugustinians.org
To learn about the Augustinian Province of St. Augustine, visit: www.osa-west.org
To learn about the priests and brothers of the Augustinians of the Assumption, visit: www.assumption.us
For women:
Augustinian Contemplative Nuns (New Lenox, IL), click here.
The Augustinian Recollect Sisters (Belvidere, NJ), click here.
St. John’s Convent (Augustinian Sisters, Brandenburg, KY), click here.
Prayer
Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord,
the spirit with which you endowed
your Bishop Saint Augustine
that, filled with the same spirit,
we may thirst for you,
the sole fount of true wisdom,
and seek you, the author of heavenly love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...