Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church. He is best known for his tumultuous life, his saintly mother Monica, and his powerful conversion to a life of service to the Church as a great philosopher and bishop of the 400s.
His books and words of wisdom have deeply touched human hearts throughout the centuries.
“Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.”
“Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence.”
“I held my heart back from positively accepting anything, since I was afraid of another fall, and in this condition of suspense I was being all the more killed.”
“The mind commands the body and is instantly obeyed. The mind commands itself and meets resistance.”
“Give me Yourself, O my God, give Yourself back to me. Lo, I love You, but if my love is too mean, let me love more passionately. I cannot gauge my love, nor know how far it fails, how much more love I need for my life to set its course straight into Your arms, never swerving until hidden in the covert of Your face. This alone I know, that without You all to me is misery, woe outside myself and woe within, and all wealth but penury, if it is not my God.”
“Too late came I to love You, O Beauty both so ancient and so new! Too late came I to love You, and behold, You were with me all the time.”
“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.”
St. Augustine — patron saint of theologians, brewers and printers — pray for us!
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