ST. AUGUSTINE

cc photo from Wikimedia Commons

Date of Birth:  November 13, 354

Birthplace:  Thagaste, Numidia (now Souk Ahras, Algeria)

Parents:  Patricius, a pagan and St. Monica, a Christian

Died:  August 28, 430 

Feast Day:  August 28

One of the most celebrated sinners turned saint in the Catholic Church is St. Augustine, who's also known as the "son of so many tears."

St. Augustine had lived an immoral life.  In the year 373, he left the Christian church and joined the Manichaean religion, much to the sorrow of his mother St. Monica who influenced him to Christianity at an early age.  He had a son born out of wedlock from a woman with whom he had an affair for many years.  But in the year 386, he was converted to Christianity and decided to serve God through priesthood. In 387, Easter Vigil, he was baptized by St. Ambrose at Milan along with his son Adeodatus. He was ordained priest in 391 and in 395, he was made Bishop of Hippo.  He died on August 28, 430. He was canonized by popular acclaim and in 1298, he was declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII.

St. Augustine's conversion was the result of the consistent patient prayers of his mother St. Monica.  This only shows that nothing is impossible with consistent prayers, especially prayers for the conversion of sinners.

This is my all-time favorite quote from St. Augustine:

"Reckon up the priests from the days that Peter sat, and in their ancestral ranks, note who succeeded whom; for that is the rock over which the gates of hell shall never prevail." 

St. Augustine, pray for us!


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Reference:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo