Flora Cantábrica

BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

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BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

Saint Augustine was born in North Africa in 354, the son of Patrick and Saint Monica. He had a brother and a sister, all of whom received a Christian education. His sister became the abbess of a convent, and shortly after her death, Saint Augustine wrote a letter to her successor, including advice on the future direction of the congregation. This letter later became the basis for the «Rule of Saint Augustine,» of which Saint Augustine is considered one of the great founders of religious life.

Patrick, Saint Augustine’s father, was a pagan until shortly before his death, which was a response to the fervent prayers of his wife, Saint Monica, for his conversion. She also prayed much for the conversion of her then wayward son, Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine left school when he was sixteen, and while there, he immersed himself in pagan ideas, the theater, his own pride, and various sins of impurity. When he was seventeen, he began a relationship with a young woman with whom he lived out of wedlock for approximately fourteen years. Although they were not married, they remained faithful to each other. A son named Adeodatus was born from their union, who died when he was nearly twenty. Saint Augustine taught grammar and rhetoric at this time, and was much admired and successful. From the ages of nineteen to twenty-eight, to his mother’s deep regret, Saint Augustine belonged to the heretical sect of the Manicheans. Among other things, they believed in a God of good and a God of evil, and that only the spirit of man was good, not the body, nor anything from the material world.

The Conversion of Saint Augustine

Through the powerful intercession of his mother, Saint Monica, grace triumphed in the life of Saint Augustine. He began to attend and be deeply impacted by the sermons of Saint Ambrose on Christianity. He also read the story of the conversion of a great pagan orator, in addition to reading the epistles of Saint Paul, which had a profound effect on directing his heart toward the truth of the Catholic faith. For a long time, Saint Augustine longed to be pure, but he himself said to God, “Make me pure… but not yet” (Confessions, Chapter 8). One day when Saint Augustine was in the garden praying to God for help with purity, he heard a child’s voice singing to him: “Take and read; take and read” (Confessions, Chapter 8). He was inspired to open his Bible at random and read the first thing that came to his sight. Saint Augustine read the words from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, chapter 13:13-14: “No gluttony and drunkenness, no lust and debauchery… but clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about the flesh, how it should gratify its desires.” This event marked his life, and from that moment on, he was firm in his resolve and was able to remain chaste for the rest of his life. This happened in the year 386. The following year, 387, Saint Augustine was baptized into the Catholic faith. Shortly after his baptism, his mother fell very ill and died shortly after her 56th birthday, when Saint Augustine was 33. She told her son not to worry about where she would be buried, but only to remember her whenever he came to the altar of God. These were precious words evoked from the heart of a mother of deep faith and conviction.

Bishop of Hippo