28 August 2011: St Augustine, bishop and Doctor of the Church

Initially, he followed his mother’s example but later fell into a licentious way of life. He wrote, “My sins increase like a rolling snow ball” (“Confessions”). His mother constantly prayed for his conversion. In Milan at the age of thirty-three, he was finally baptized by the Bishop, St Ambrose. As Bishop of Hippo, Africa St Augustine undertook intensive preaching and writing in defense of the Faith. (Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1625)

St Augustine, Doctor of the Church
St Augustine! He, who had been elevated so high in contemplation of divine truth and had also gone so deeply into the abysses of the mysteries of God and man, understood the absolute necessity for humble and totally trusting prayer. For, however acute man’s intelligence may appear to be, the mystery always infinitely surpasses that intelligence and prayer becomes a need of the soul: ‘in prayer the heart alters and in this conversion the inner eye becomes pure’. Pray in hope, pray with faith and love. Prayer is as necessary as the grace it obtains for us. (cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, p305)

Life should be a continual conversion
St Augustine lived a tumultuous youth far removed from true doctrine. But consequent to his mother’s solicitude he kept in mind the memory of Christ, whose name, he says, “he drank from his mother’s breast”. (St Augustine, “Confessions”, 3, 4, 8)
On returning to the Catholic faith, he affirmed his return “to the religion imbued in him from childhood, that penetrated the very marrow of my being”. (St Augustine, “Against the Academics”, 2, 2, 5) In countless cases, primary education was the foundation for many to return to after alienation from God.
Love for the truth, ever present in the soul of St Augustine, is especially obvious in some of his classic works. (St Augustine, “Confessions”, 3, 4, 7) Yet despite this love, Augustine, early on, fell into serious doctrinal errors.
Scholars cite three reasons: “First, a mistaken account of the relationship between reason and faith, so one need choose between the two; second, in the supposed contrast between Christ and the Church, with consequent conviction it is necessary to abandon the Church in order to adhere more fully to Christ; and third, the desire to free oneself from consciousness of sin, not by means of its remission through working of grace, but by means of denial of involvement of human responsibility in the sin itself.” (John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, “Agustinum hipponensem”, 28 August 1986)
After years of vainly seeking the truth, through the grace his mother constantly implored, he realized that only in the Catholic Church will he find the truth and peace for his soul. He acknowledged that faith and reason are mutually destined to help lead man to the knowledge of the truth. For faith to be sure, he concluded that the divine authority of Christ found in Sacred Scripture and guaranteed by the Church was required. (St Augustine, “Confessions”, 6, 5, 7)
We, too receive many graces in our intelligence, to see clearly and to learn revealed doctrine in depth. We have abundant assistance for our will also. “For a son of God, every day should be an occasion for renewal, knowing for sure that with the help of grace we will reach the end of the road, which is Love.
“That is why if you begin and begin again, you are doing well. If you have the will to win, if you struggle, then with God’s help you will conquer. There will be no difficulty that you cannot overcome.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 344)
If we ever have the misfortune to seriously separating ourselves from him, he will await our return, as did the father of the prodigal son; and as Our Lord awaited for so many years St Augustine’s return.
St Augustine saw the truth clearly, but he sought excuses to avoid taking the final step. For him, this would involve a radical surrender to God, the abjuring, through the predilection of Christ, of a human love. (St Augustine, “Confessions”, 6, 15, 25)
Our life as Christians entails frequent conversions. Years later as a bishop St Augustine would recall his conversion. He would preach: “‘I acknowledge my guilt; my sin is always before me.’ The one who prays in this manner examines his own conscience rather than that of other people. And he does so in a profound way. Because he does not forgive himself, he can humbly ask for forgiveness.” (St Augustine, “Sermon 19”)
“‘Search for the Lord and your soul shall live.’ May we go out to meet him, and may we continue to seek him after finding him. So that we may search him, he withdraws ... that we may keep on looking, even after finding him. He is immeasurably bountiful. He satisfies our desires according to our own capacity to seek him.” (St Augustine, “Commentary on St John’s Gospel”, 61, 1)
We should frequently ask Our Mother Mary for the grace to give importance even to what seems trivial, but separates us from God. Conversion always begins with faith. Moved by grace, the Christian looks on the infinite mercy of God and recognizes his fault or lack of correspondence with what God expects from him.
May we not forget that “to Jesus we always go, and to him we always return, through Mary” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 495). “Turn to Our Lady and ask her, as a token of her love, for the gift of contrition. Ask that you may be sorry, with a sorrow of Love, for all your sins, and for the sins of all men and women throughout the ages.
“And with the same disposition be bold enough to add: ‘Mother, my life, my hope, lead me by the hand. If there is anything in me displeasing to my Father God, grant that I may see it, so that between the two of us we may uproot it.’ Do not be afraid to continue saying: ‘O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for me, that by fulfilling the most lovable Will of your Son, I may be worthy to obtain and enjoy what Our Lord Jesus has promised’.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 161)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 7:121-6

• Our Lady of Kiow, the metropolitan church of Russia, in Poland, where there is a large image in alabaster which spoke to St Hyacinth in the year 1241; and told him not to abandon it to the enemy who was besieging the city, but to carry it off with him, which he did without any difficulty, the image having lost its weight. — Life of St. Hyacinth. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar (www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Kiova (Poland). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Kiova. Kiev, Russia. 1240. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Kiev. Ukraine. 1240. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Constantinople (Ischia Isle, Italy). Moveable feast -- Last Sunday of August. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• “Festas da Senhora da Agonia” (Feast of Our Lady of Suffering). Also known as “Viana Festa”. Major festival in “Viana do Castelo”, Portugal -- a joyous celebration where the Virgin is carried over carpets of flowers laid out in intricate designs in a procession from her chapel to the docks. Floats bearing the region's produce are paraded. Another procession of girls wearing national costume and kilos of gold jewelry in which their families invest their savings. Bishop leads the procession of fishermen down to sea for blessing of the fishing fleet. Festivities continue for three days and nights, culminating with the city's only bullfight and a display of fireworks exploding into coloured patterns over the river and town. Moveable feast -- Friday and Sunday nearest August 29. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)