ST. AUGUSTINE Patron of Saint of Brewers, Printers and Theologians
This famous son of St. Monica was born in Africa and spent many years of his life in wicked living and in false beliefs. Though he was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived and though he had been brought up a Christian, his sins of impurity and his pride darkened his mind so much, that he could not see or understand the Divine Truth anymore. Through the prayers of his holy mother and the marvelous preaching of St. Ambrose, Augustine finally became convinced that Christianity was the one true religion. Yet he did not become a Christian then, because he thought he could never live a pure life. One day, however, he heard about two men who had suddenly been converted on reading the life of St. Antony, and he felt terrible ashamed of himself. "What are we doing?" he cried to his friend Alipius. "Unlearned people are taking Heaven by force, while we, with all our knowledge, are so cowardly that we keep rolling around in the mud of our sins!"
Full of bitter sorrow, Augustine flung himself out into the garden and cried out to God, "How long more, O Lord? Why does not this hour put an end to my sins?" Just then he heard a child singing, "Take up and read!" Thinking that God intended him to hear those words, he picked up the book of the Letters of St. Paul, and read the first passage his gaze fell on. It was just what Augustine needed, for in it, St. Paul says to put away all impurity and to live in imitation of Jesus. That did it! From then on, Augustine began a new life.
He was baptized, became a priest, a bishop, a famous Catholic writer, Founder of religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. He became very devout and charitable, too. On the wall of his room he had the following sentence written in large letters: "Here we do not speak evil of anyone." St. Augustine overcame strong heresies, practiced great poverty and supported the poor, preached very often and prayed with great fervor right up until his death. "Too late have I loved You!" he once cried to God, but with his holy life he certainly made up for the sins he committed before his conversion.
Source: Catholic Online
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.
Our Hearts are Restless
Everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being: You have made us for Yourself, and hearts are restless until they rest in You.
You are my Health
Great are You, O God, and greatly to be praised; great is Your power, and Your wisdom infinite. We who are but a particle of Your creation, praise You. You awaken us to delight in Your praise; for You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.
What are You then, my God? Most high, most good, most omnipo tent; most merciful, yet most just; most hidden, yet most present; most beautiful, yet most strong; stable, yet incomprehensible; unchangeable, yet all-changing; ever old, ever new; supporting, filling, and overspread ing; creating, flourishing, and maturing; seeking, yet having all things. You, O God, are my life, my joy, my health.
A Personal Prayer
O God, the Light of the heart that sees You,
The Life of the soul that loves You,
The Strength of the mind that seeks You:
May I ever continue to be steadfast in Your love.
Be the joy of my heart;
Take all of me to Yourself, and abide therein.
The house of my soul is, I confess, too narrow for You.
Enlarge it that You may enter.
It is ruinous, but do repair it.
It has within it what must offend Your eyes;
I confess and know it,
But whose help shall I seek in cleansing it but Yours alone?
To You, O God, I cry urgently.
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep me from false pride and sensuality
That they not get dominion over me.
A Personal Invocation
O Love of God, descend into my heart;
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling,
And scatter there Your cheerful beams.
Dwell in the soul that longs to be Your temple;
Water that barren soil overrun with weeds and briars
And lost for lack of cultivating.
Make it fruitful with Your dew.
Come, dear Refreshment of those who languish;
Come, Star and Guide of those who sail amidst tempests.
You are the Haven of the tossed and shipwrecked.
Come now, Glory and Crown of the living,
As well as the Safeguard of the dying.
Come, Sacred Spirit;
Come, and fit me to receive You.
On Easter
The passion of Jesus gives us confidence of glory and a lesson in endurance. Is there anything which the hearts of the faithful may not promise themselves from the grace of God? It was not enough that the only Son of God should be born as man from man for them - he even died for them at the hands of men, whom he had created.
What God promises us for the future is great, but what we recall as already done for us is much greater. When Christ died for the wicked, where were they or what were they? Who can doubt that he will give the saints his life, since he has already given them his death? Why is human weakness slow to believe that we will one day live with God?
A much more incredible thing has already happened; God died for us. He gives us life in himself, which we could not have for ourselves.
Self-Knowledge
I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! I have learnt to love you late! You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself. I searched for you outside myself and, disfigured as I was, I fell upon the lovely things of your creation. You were with me but I was not with you. The beautiful things of this world kept me from you and yet, if they had not been in you, they would have no being at all. You called me; You cried aloud to me; You broke the barrier of my deafness. I tasted you and now I hunger and thirst for you. You touched me and I am inflamed, inflamed with love of your peace.
Confessions X, 27
Gratitude
I thank you, O Lord, my joy and my glory, my hope and my God. I thank you for your gifts to me. Keep them unharmed for me; they will be the making of me and I shall be with you for your being is your life.
Confessions I, 20
Seeking Happiness
O God, my Father, I am seeking you, not making statements about you. Help me and guide me. But how do I seek you, O Lord? For when I seek you, my God, it is happiness that I seek. Therefore, let me seek you that my soul may live; as my body lives by my soul, my soul lives by you.
Confessions XI, 17
A Prayer for Peace
Lord our God, all that we have you have given us. Give us peace, the peace of tranquillity, the peace of your Sabbath rest, the peace without sunset. For this most beautiful order of things so excellent will complete its course and pass away; it will have its sunset as it had its dawn. But your Sabbath knows no evening or sunset because you have sanctified it to last forever. May we too share in your Sabbath rest of unending life.
Confessions XIII, 35
Thanks be to God
I thank you, O Lord,
my joy and my glory,
my hope and my God.
I thank you for your gifts to me.
Keep them unharmed for me:
they will be the making of me,
and I shall be with you
for my being is your gift.
Amen.
Confessions I, 20, 31
Quoting Augustine
Have we sinned? Let us correct ourselves! The way has not
yet ended; the day is not over. For human and tolerable sins,
God has established in the Church a time of mercy for
distributing a daily medicine. It occurs at Mass when we say:
"Forgive us our trespasses ..." By these words, therefore, with a
face washed clean we approach the table to receive Christ's
Body and Blood.
From a Christmas Sermon
The maker of man, he was made man, so that the director of the stars might be a babe at the breast, that bread may be hungry, and the fountain thirsty; that the light might sleep, and the way be weary from a journey; that the truth might be accused by false witnesses, and the judge of the living and the dead be judged by a mortal judge; that justice might be convicted by the unjust, and discipline be scourged with whips hung up on a tree; that strength might grow weak, eternal health be wounded, life die.
From a Christmas Sermon
Because Christ is truth and peace and justice, conceive him in faith, give birth to him in works, so that what Mary's womb did for the flesh of Jesus Christ, your hearts may do for Christ's law. How, I mean to say, can you have no part in Mary's child bearing, when you are members of Christ? Mary gave birth to your head, the Church to all of you, because she too is both mother and virgin; mother in her womb of charity, virgin in the integrity of her faith and piety. She gives birth to whole peoples, but they are members of one person, whose body and wife she is. In this respect too she resembles the virgin mother, because in all that multitude she is mother of unity.
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