St. Augustine

"Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace."

The Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop

This quote is from St. Augustine who's feast is celebrated on 28 Aug. He was Bishop of Hippo at the beginning of the 5th Century AD. He is also considered a Doctor of the Church. However, anyone who knew him when he was about 20 yrs old would have said that none of this was ever going to happy. At that time he had a mistress & an illegitimate son named Adeodatus. Actually, there was 1 person who would have believed it if she had been told it would happen. That was his mother, St. Monica. She had been married to a Roman official named Patritius who had a violent temper & led a dissolute life. He did become a Christian shortly before he died. However, things didn't go so smoothly as fas as Augustine went. But, she kept praying for him year after year. At 1 point Augustine became a Manichean, a heretical sect that was very popular at the time. Eventually Augustine ended up in Milan. St. Monica followed him. There she meet the bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose.

At Milan, Augustine began to listenning to the preaching of St. Ambrose. He went through 3 more yrs of struggles as he attempted to sort out what he believed in. Easter 387 saw him along with his son Adeodatus & his close friend Alypius were baptised by St. Ambrose. Alypius went on to be a bishop himself & was canonized in 1584 by Pope Gregory XIII. Shortly after his baptism as they were heading back to Africa St. Monica died. The next yr Adeodatus also died. St. Augustine became bishop of Hippo in 396 & died in 430 AD.

St. Augustine spent his time fighting the various heresies rampant at the time including the 1 he had previously embraced, Manicheanism. He also founded many religious communities & wrote prolificly. His 2 greated works are his Confessions & The City of God.

The quote I opened this blog with is 1 of my favorite quotes from St. Augustine. It summarizes his life in a way that is both simple & profound. It reminds me of the poem The Hound of Heaven by by Francis Thompson. (http://www.bartleby.com/236/239.html)

"Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you."

This is another quote from St. Augustine that states the truth about the human heart. St. Augustine spent about 30 yrs of his life searching. He went from pleasure to pleasure. He sought answers in philosophy & in false religions as well. But, until he surrendered to Jesus & made Him Lord of his life he was heading towards doom & disaster. This is how many people are today. They totally cut out God. They go from pleasure to pleasure. Or they chase after every new religious fad there is. Some try to pervert the teachings of Jesus as found in the Bible & the teachings of the Catholic Church. They want to deny the reality of sin, they want to turn Jesus into a good man, but not the Son of God. They deny the miracles of Jesus as mere stories that never really happenned. They try to remake God in man's image. Yet, in th end without Jesus as Lord, their lives are just as empty, just as much on the path to eternal death. The are literally on the "highway to hell". Yet, like St. Augustine, & Francis Thompson, God hasn't given up on anyone. St. Augustine is a sign that no one is too far gone into sin that God can't set him or her free. Jesus' death on the Christ was to bring salvation & redemption to all.

As for those who have a family member or friend who is running from God, St. Monica's life shows that we shouldn't give up. She prayed for 30 yrs. She cried out to God shedding many tears of sorrow for what he son was doing. She was tempted to give up. At 1 point a bishop comforted her with these words: "the child of those tears shall never perish." She remained faithful in her prayers. The whole Church has been blessed as a result.

She is also a sign of encouragement for those of us who are sorrowing over those who are trying to pervert the Church. Though they try from within to destroy what God is doing, in the end, they will fail. God will see that His message is preserved & proclaimed. God will restore & renew His Church in answer to our prayers for reformation & revivial. Our job, keep on praying. But also, speak out & call people to return to Jesus. Proclaim the truth as taught by the Magisterium of the Church. Learn from Ss. Augustine & Monica. They are an example for all.