St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Today is the feast of the great St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He was born in modern-day Algeria in 354. He was a brilliant student, rapidly advancing in his studies of rhetoric and the Latin classics, but Augustine himself confessed that he was filled with pride, lust, and sin during those early years. Instead of seeking pleasure, beauty, and truth in the Creator, young Augustine vainly attempted to find them in creatures.

He relates the story of his conversion in his Confessions. In the year 386, Augustine went into the garden attached to his house and had a fierce struggle with his own sinfulness. Lamenting that he was held back by the desires of the flesh, he broke out in tears, crying out: “How long shall I go on saying ‘Tomorrow, tomorrow’? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?” Augustine then heard a child's voice repeating the refrain, “Take it and read, take it and read.” Opening the book containing St. Paul’s epistles, Augustine read the first passage he saw: “Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:13-14). At that moment, all the darkness of doubt was dispelled, and a light of confidence flooded into his heart.

Augustine was baptized the following year. After several years of writing various philosophical and theological works, he was ordained a priest and later consecrated as the bishop of Hippo. He served as bishop for the final 35 years of his life.

St. Augustine’s many writings became the foundation for much of Catholic orthodoxy. He also wrote the Rule for the Servants of God (also called the Rule of St. Augustine), which St. Dominic adopted as the rule for the Order of Preachers. In the Rule, St. Augustine gave guidelines for living in community according to the way the Apostles lived. Even today, the Dominican Order strives to follow the Rule of St. Augustine.

Although sin abounded in Augustine’s early life, grace abounded even more. In the opening lines of his Confessions, he declares that the desire of every human being is to praise God. Although man can forget or reject God, He never ceases to call man to seek Him, so as to find life and happiness. “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”