Augustine: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Augustine was born in 354 at Thagaste in North Africa. His father Patricius was a pagan, while his mother, St Monica, was a devout Christian who prayed for her son day and night with many tears. A gifted student at Carthage, he became a teacher of rhetoric, but for years he lived carelessly, followed the Manichaeans and then fell into doubt. In Milan he heard the sermons of St Ambrose and began to study the Holy Scriptures. One day in a garden he heard a voice saying “Take up and read”; he opened the Epistle to the Romans, read of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and his heart was changed. St Ambrose baptized him at Pascha together with his son Adeodatus, and St Monica died soon after, having seen her prayers answered. Augustine gave his wealth to the poor and took up the monastic life. In 391 he was ordained priest at Hippo, and from 395 he served the Church there as bishop for some thirty-five years, preaching, caring for his people and writing against the heresies of his day. Of his many works the best known are The Confessions, where he tells how God sought him and brought him home, and The City of God. He reposed on 28 August 430. The Orthodox Church keeps his memory on 15 June (28 June on the Old Calendar). The faithful remember how far he wandered and how patiently God waited for him, and they ask his prayers for all who are still searching.

What the faithful pray for

• those who are searching for God and the truth
• the return of those who have wandered from the faith
• true repentance and a changed heart
• a love for the Holy Scriptures
• God’s mercy on our souls