Saint Monica and Saint Augustine

Long before he was Pope Leo XIV, Fr. Bob Prevost was an ‘Augustinian’ priest and his election to the papacy sparked considerable interest in this religious order. Who was Saint Augustine of Hippo and what did he contribute to the life of the Catholic Church? To answer these questions and learn more about this great saint the St. Bart’s Spiritual Discussion Group created a short programme exploring the life of Augustine and his mother Monica.
 
Beginning on 28 August (the Feast Day of St. Augustine) more than twenty parishioners gathered at the church for an hour every Thursday evening over five weeks. Their discussion followed a simple format: a quotation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church relevant to that week’s theme, followed by a short extract from the biography of these two saints and a group discussion. Each session ended with a reflection from Holy Scripture and a closing prayer.
 
The first question for some was, “Why study the life of his mother Monica?” In fact, Monica’s prayers for her son were absolutely critical to Augustine’s Christian life and present a model of perseverance and the power of intercessory prayer. Here was an ordinary woman from north Africa who in her youth struggled with alcohol misuse, who was forced to a marry a man with a violent temper and to live with a mother-in-law who treated her with criticism and cruelty. Monica’s exemplary Christian response to her situation not only led to the conversion of her husband and his mother but also left a deep impression on her young son.
 
Sadly, that impression was not enough to keep Augustine on the straight and narrow. Consistent with Roman law at that time – if not the law of God – Augustine set up home with a concubine and became a father outside marriage. He embraced a belief system known as Manichaeism which taught that the universe was created by two opposing forces of good and evil, equal in power.
 
Despite his heresy, Monica never gave up on her son. Indeed, as one bishop told her, “It is impossible that a son of so many tears should be lost.” It took him many years (and the guidance of another saint, Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan) but Augustine finally found his way to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Baptised at the age of 32, Augustine wrote:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved you.
You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.
In my unloveliness, I plunged into the lovely things which you created.
You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you.
Yet if they had not been in you, they would not have been at all.
You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.
You breathed your fragrance on me. I drew in breath, and now I pant for you.
I tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.
You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

Augustine went on to become a priest, a bishop and a Doctor of the Church. A relentless pursuer of truth, he engaged in rigorous dialogue with ancient thinkers and laid the foundations for a distinctly Christian philosophy. His work continues to inform the Church’s teachings today, including our understanding of the Holy Trinity. After 40 years of teaching, preaching and serving the Church, Augustine’s final days were spent praying the penitential psalms while the city outside was being sacked by vandal invaders. Finally united to Christ, Augustine commended himself to the Father and died peacefully in 430 AD.
 
Please contact Richard Harries if you would like to know more about the St. Bart’s Spiritual Discussion Group.
 
The next discussion, on the Book of Revelation, will be led by Richard Bush and an announcement will be made on this page and in the Parish Newsletter.