Thought and Prayer of the Day

Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Theologian

This month sees the celebration of the life of St. Augustine of Hippo and his mother Monica who was the great inspiration for her son to become first a Christian and then Bishop and Theologian, and whose influence on the development of European thought cannot be overestimated. A huge body of his sermons and writings has been preserved, through all of which runs the theme of the sovereignty of the grace of God. His output was prolific and he is considered to be one of the most influential theologians in Church history.

Both Monica and Augustine led interesting lives, firstly in Hippo in North Africa and then Milan in Italy. She was born the daughter of Christian parents in 332 and was married to a pagan named Patricius whom she converted to Christianity. They had three children of whom the most famous was her eldest child, the future Augustine. Indeed Augustine ascribed his conversion to the example and devotion of his mother. “She never let me out of her prayers that you, O God, might say to the widow’s son, ‘Young man, I say to you rise’.”

Monica’s husband died when she was forty. Her desire had been to be buried alongside him, but that was not to be. She died in Italy at Ostia in 387 on her way home to North Africa with her two sons.

Augustine was born in North Africa in 354. His career was highly influenced by his mother and he became well known as an orator and rhetorician. This reputation led him from Carthage to Rome and from there to Milan. By temperament he was passionate and sensual but as a young man he rejected Christianity. Gradually, however, under the influence first of Monica and then of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, he began to look afresh at the Scriptures. He
was baptized by Ambrose at the Easter Vigil in 387. Not long after returning to North Africa he was ordained priest and then became Bishop of Hippo. He died in the year 430.

Prayer
Merciful Lord, who turned Augustine from his sins to be a faithful bishop and teacher, grant that we may follow him in penitence and discipline till our restless hearts find their way to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord who is alive and and reigns with you. Amen.