St. Augustine of Hippo Doctor of the Church Feast Day: August 28 Born: November 13, 354 Died: August 28, 430 Patron: Theologians, printers, brewers

St. Augustine was born in North Africa (now Algeria), the oldest of 3 children. His father Patricius was a pagan, had a violent temper and was very ambitious. His mother Monica was much younger than his father, was raised Christian by her nurse and grieved that her children were not baptized. Augustine behaved badly when he was young. He considered it a talent to steal and cheat. At age 15, his parents sent to him to study in Madaura, a city of much decadence. Augustine fell further into reckless living. He loved the act of vice and admits, “I had no motive for my wickedness…It was foul, and I loved it.” His father was proud of him and saw his worldly ways as ambition. His mother was hurt and prayed fervently for her wayward husband and son. At age 17, Augustine went to university in Carthage. He learned that his father passed away and converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Augustine was restless to learn the purpose of life but continued the path of licentious living. At age 19 he lived with a woman outside the Sacrament of Marriage and had a son Adeodatus whose name means “Gift of God”. Monica persisted in prayer for his conversion. Augustine began to read the Bible but spent more time searching for meaning outside of Christianity. He became a Manichean for nine years. The religion taught similar ideas to Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism. Then he accepted a teaching position in Italy. There became attracted to Platonism which deals with 2 realities: visible and invisible; body and mind. He started to move away from Manichean ideas and read Christian literature at the urging of his mother. One day he heard a childlike voice saying “Take and read”. He randomly opened a Bible to Romans 13:13 “Let us conduct ourselves becomingly not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” The words spoke directly to him and he was disgusted at his own behavior. He made the realization, “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” He sought out Christian philosophers and became a student of Ambrose (also a saint and doctor of the church). At about age 33, he and his son were baptized by St. Ambrose. His mother finally witnessed his conversion before her death. He was ordained a priest in 391. He worked hard in church administration and tended to the poor. At age 42, he became Bishop of Hippo. He helped shape Christian theology and combated errors in the early church. Augustine wrote extremely influential books including Confessions, which detailed his reckless youth; The Trinity and The City of God. His writings teach that worldly attachments are addictive, give no real pleasure and kill the soul while the path of Christ is freedom and love. He taught that the Old Testament commandments were kept out of fear of God but in the New Testament, atoning grace from the Cross helps us keep the commandments out of love. St. Augustine realized that love of life is slavery and a life of love is freedom. “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”