GOOD MORNING P.O.U.! We hope you’re enjoying your weekend!
We conclude our series on Black Saints and Popes with…
SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
The Father of the Church
Augustine of Hippo (/ɔːˈɡʌstɨn/[1][2] or /ˈɔːɡəstɪn/;[2] Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis;[3] 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine or Saint Austin,[4] was an early Christian theologian and philosopher[5] whose writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria) located in the Roman province of Africa. Writing during the Patristic Era, he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in the West. Among his most important works are City of God and Confessions, which continue to be read widely today.
According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine “established anew the ancient Faith.”[6] In his early years, he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus.[7] After his conversion to Christianity and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives.[8] Believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped to formulate the doctrine of original sin and made seminal contributions to the development of just war theory.
When the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Catholic Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City.[9] His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine’s City of God was closely identified with the segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople.[10]
In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint, a pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinians. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.[11] Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and divine grace.
In the East, many of his teachings are not accepted. The most important doctrinal controversy surrounding his name is the filioque.[12] Other doctrines that are sometimes unacceptable are his view of original sin, the doctrine of grace, and predestination.[13] Nonetheless, though considered to be mistaken on some points, he is still considered a saint, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June.[14] He carries the additional title of Blessed among the Orthodox, either as “Blessed Augustine” or “St. Augustine the Blessed.”[15]
Childhood and education
Augustine was born in 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in Roman Africa.[16][17] His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian; his father Patricius was a Pagan who converted to Christianity on his deathbed.[18] Scholars believe that Augustine’s ancestors included Berbers, Latins, and Phoenicians.[19] He considered himself to be Punic.[20] Augustine’s family name, Aurelius, suggests that his father’s ancestors were freedmen of the gens Aurelia given full Roman citizenship by the Edict of Caracalla in 212. Augustine’s family had been Roman, from a legal standpoint, for at least a century when he was born.[21] It is assumed that his mother, Monica, was of Berber origin, on the basis of her name,[19][22] but as his family were honestiores, an upper class of citizens known as honorable men, Augustine’s first language is likely to have been Latin.[19] At the age of 11, he was sent to school at Madaurus (now M’Daourouch), a small Numidian city about 19 miles south of Thagaste. There he became familiar with Latin literature, as well as pagan beliefs and practices.[23] His first insight into the nature of sin occurred when he and a number of friends stole fruit they did not even want from a neighborhood garden. While at home in 369 and 370, he read Cicero’s dialogue Hortensius (now lost), which he described as leaving a lasting impression on him and sparking his interest in philosophy.[24]
At the age of 17, through the generosity of his fellow citizen Romanianus,[24] Augustine went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric. Although raised as a Christian, Augustine left the church to follow the Manichaean religion, much to the despair of his mother.[25] As a youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associating with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits with women and men. They urged the inexperienced boys, like Augustine, to seek experience or to make up stories about their experiences in order to gain acceptance.[26] It was during this period that he uttered his famous prayer, “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.”[27]
At about the age of 19, Augustine began an affair with a young woman in Carthage. Possibly because his mother wanted him to marry a person of his class, the woman remained his lover[28] for over thirteen years and gave birth to his son Adeodatus,[29] who was viewed as extremely intelligent by his contemporaries.[30] In 385, Augustine abandoned his lover in order to prepare himself to marry an heiress.[31]
Teaching rhetoric
During the years 373 and 374, Augustine taught grammar at Thagaste. The following year he moved to Carthage to conduct a school of rhetoric, and would remain there for the next nine years.[24] Disturbed by the unruly behavior of the students in Carthage, in 383 he moved to establish a school in Rome, where he believed the best and brightest rhetoricians practiced. However, Augustine was disappointed with the Roman schools, where he was met with apathy. Once the time came for his students to pay their fees, they simply fled. Manichaean friends introduced him to the prefect of the City of Rome, Symmachus, who had been asked to provide a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court at Milan.[32]
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We hope you have enjoyed our series on Black Saints and Popes. According to Dr. Camille Brown, there are over 700 Black saints in the Catholic Church, so we have barely scratched the surface. For a list of Black saints, check out the Catholic Online website.