Today August 28

Rejoice, rejoice, it is the great feast of St. Augustine, doctor and African, priest and bishop, first autobiographer, our father in faith, bright star, shining sun (354-430 AD). Can you tell that I like him? What can I say about this great doctor of the Church that hasn't already been said in other places much better than I could say here?

I mentioned he was first autobiographer (his "Confessions" is a masterful and profound work of autobiography and self-perception). And perhaps that is something great about him. "We might wonder along with St. Augustine, that men go abroad to marvel at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the circular motion of the stars and planets, and yet they pass by themselves without a second glance." - Saints. O philosopher, know thyself! And he truly did . . . though it took awhile.

Yes, after a life given over to sensuality, even fornication, and to heresy, even paganism (he was a follower of Manicheism, an early form of dualism and puritanism), he opened himself to the guiding of the Scripture, the Spirit, and the teaching of the Church. He was finally baptized at the Easter Vigil, 387, at the age of 33, by St. Ambrose of Milan, a gentle and scholarly bishop "whose sermons showed him how he could believe the scriptures interpreted according to the teaching of the Church without sacrificing his intelligence" - Angelus Book of Saints. Yes, finally after a life of teaching rhetoric; struggling with his relationship with his wonderfully Christian mother, St. Monica; gaining praise, yet failing to make a fortune in Rome; feeling the whole emptiness of a life lived for pleasure; feeling the equal emptiness of a spiritually bankrupt heresy (not unlike a cult called "The Way", in which things of the spirit were so elevated and things of matter -- the flesh, particularly -- so denigrated, that, rather than advocating and inspiring bodily purity, actually discourage it. They said, "It doesn't matter WHAT the body does." Heresy springs eternal.), he discovered and embraced Christ. First he embraced the concepts and intellectual beliefs, then the heart, in a sudden and dramatic conversion (described in the 8th chapter of the Confessions). He went on, having sent away his mistress (whom he never mentioned by name), taking care of his son, Adeodatus, giving up his position as teacher of rhetoric, retiring and giving himself over to writing. That would have been enough! But he felt called to the priesthood -- praise God -- and became not only priest, but bishop, first co-adjutor of Hippo (his hometown diocese in Africa), then bishop. He continued to write, however, and gave us at this time his unparalleled Confessions and the truly great "City of God." "His legacy of thought has been recognized by most western Christians as the richest left by any Christian teacher after St. Paul" - Angelus Book of Saints. His insightful, delightful, contentious, precise, glorious works -- on everything from his Rule for monks to his clarification of the nature of grace in his disputation with the heretical Pelagians -- continue to guide us today.

He was a loving and moderate priest and bishop: living very simply, but enjoying wine at every meal (good man), tolerating every man's contribution and opinion -- everything but gossip, heresy and scandal -- even if it came from his fellow bishops. I get the impression he would have made a thoroughly excellent dinner guest! He was a man of service, grace and hospitality. His heart was broken to see the brutal Vandal invasion of his beloved Africa in 429, but he weathered it with great equanimity, since his eyes were on the prize, on the everlasting homeland, the "city of God." His last words were: "Thy will be done. Come Lord Jesus!" Wow. That's what one should say, and all one needs to say. St. Augustine, pray for us.