13
November 354 A.D. St. Augustine Born
“The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.”
Summary
Augustine of Hippo (Latin: Aurelius Augustinus
Hipponensis; November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St.
Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the
Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius. He was a Latin philosopher and theologian
from Roman Africa. His writings were very influential in the development of
Western Christianity. According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine
"established anew the ancient Faith.
November 13, 354,
Tagaste, Algeria
Tagaste, Algeria
August 28, 430,
Hippo Regius, Numidia
Hippo Regius, Numidia
Apologetics,
Biography, Christian saints, Criticism (interpretation), Early works
Biography
Source: Wikipedia
Accepted
by most scholars to be the most important figure in the ancient Western church,
St. Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia in North Africa. His mother was a
Christian, but his father remained a pagan until late in life. After a rather
unremarkable childhood, marred only by a case of stealing pears, Augustine
drifted through several philosophical systems before converting to Christianity
at the age of thirty-one. At the age of nineteen, Augustine read Cicero's Hortensius,
an experience that led him into the fascination with philosophical questions
and methods that would remain with him throughout his life. After a few years
as a Manichean, he became attracted to the more skeptical positions of the
Academic philosophers. Although tempted in the direction of Christianity upon
his arrival at Milan in 383, he turned first to neoplatonism, During this time,
Augustine fathered a child by a mistress. This period of exploration, including
its youthful excesses (perhaps somewhat exaggerated) are recorded in Augustine's
most widely read work, the Confessions.
During his youth,
Augustine had studied rhetoric at Carthage, a discipline that he used to gain
employment teaching in Carthage and then in Rome and Milan, where he met
Ambrose who is credited with effecting Augustine's conversion and who baptized
Augustine in 387. Returning to his homeland soon after his conversion, he was
ordained a presbyter in 391, taking the position as bishop of Hippo in 396, a
position which he held until his death.
Besides the Confessions,
Augustine's most celebrated work is his De Civitate Dei
(On the City of God), a study of the relationship between
Christianity and secular society, which was inspired by the fall of Rome to the
Visigoths in 410. Among his other works, many are polemical attacks on various
heresies: Against Faustus, the Manichean; On Baptism; Against the
Donatists; and many attacks on Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. Other
works include treatises On the Trinity; On
Faith, Hope, and Love; On Christian Doctrine;
and some early dialogues.
St. Augustine stands as
a powerful advocate for orthodoxy and of the episcopacy as the sole means for
the dispensing of saving grace. In the light of later scholarship, Augustine
can be seen to serve as a bridge between the ancient and medieval worlds. A
review of his life and work, however, shows him as an active mind engaging the
practical concerns of the churches he served.
Quotes
by St. Augustine
“The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.”
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