saint augustine of hippo |
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Augustine of Hippo (Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings influenced the development of Western philosophy and Western Christianity, and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period. His many important works include The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, and Confessions.
St Augustine
“ They, then, who are destined to die, need not be careful to inquire what death they are to die, but into what place death will usher them.
--St Augustine
“ They, then, who are destined to die, need not be careful to inquire what death they are to die, but into what place death will usher them.
--St Augustine
St Augustine Files
“Ye have not chosen me,” He says, “but I have chosen you.” Grace such as that is ineffable. For what were we so long as Christ had not yet chosen us, and we were therefore still destitute of love? For he who hath chosen Him, how can he love Him? Were we, think you, in that condition which is sung of in the psalm: “I had rather be an abject in the house of the Lord, than dwell in the tents of wickedness”? Certainly not. What were we then, but sinful and lost? We had not yet come to believe on Him, in order to lead to His choosing us; for if it were those who already believed that He chose, then was He chosen Himself, prior to His choosing. But how could He say, “Ye have not chosen me,” save only because His mercy anticipated us?
Here surely is at fault the vain reasoning of those who defend the foreknowledge of God in opposition to His grace, and with this view declare that we were chosen before the foundation of the world, because God foreknew that we should be good, but not that He Himself would make us good. So says not He, who declares, “Ye have not chosen me.” For had He chosen us on the ground that He foreknew that we should be good, then would He also have foreknown that we would not be the first to make choice of Him. For in no other way could we possibly be good: unless, forsooth, one could be called good who has never made good his choice. What was it then that He chose in those who were not good? For they were not chosen because of their goodness, inasmuch as they could not be good without being chosen. Otherwise grace is no more grace, if we maintain the priority of merit. Such, certainly, is the election of grace, whereof the apostle says: “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace.” To which he adds: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace.” Listen, thou ungrateful one, listen: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” Not that thou mayest say, I am chosen because I already believed. For if thou wert believing in Him, then hadst thou already chosen Him. But listen: “Ye have not chosen me.” Not that thou mayest say, Before I believed I was already doing good works, and therefore was I chosen. For what good work can be prior to faith, when the apostle says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin”? What, then, are we to say on hearing such words, “Ye have not chosen me,” but that we were evil, and were chosen in order that we might be good through the grace of Him who chose us? For it is not by grace, if merit preceded: but it is of grace: and therefore that grace did not find, but effected the merit. --St Augustine
Here surely is at fault the vain reasoning of those who defend the foreknowledge of God in opposition to His grace, and with this view declare that we were chosen before the foundation of the world, because God foreknew that we should be good, but not that He Himself would make us good. So says not He, who declares, “Ye have not chosen me.” For had He chosen us on the ground that He foreknew that we should be good, then would He also have foreknown that we would not be the first to make choice of Him. For in no other way could we possibly be good: unless, forsooth, one could be called good who has never made good his choice. What was it then that He chose in those who were not good? For they were not chosen because of their goodness, inasmuch as they could not be good without being chosen. Otherwise grace is no more grace, if we maintain the priority of merit. Such, certainly, is the election of grace, whereof the apostle says: “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace.” To which he adds: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace.” Listen, thou ungrateful one, listen: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” Not that thou mayest say, I am chosen because I already believed. For if thou wert believing in Him, then hadst thou already chosen Him. But listen: “Ye have not chosen me.” Not that thou mayest say, Before I believed I was already doing good works, and therefore was I chosen. For what good work can be prior to faith, when the apostle says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin”? What, then, are we to say on hearing such words, “Ye have not chosen me,” but that we were evil, and were chosen in order that we might be good through the grace of Him who chose us? For it is not by grace, if merit preceded: but it is of grace: and therefore that grace did not find, but effected the merit. --St Augustine
Jan 7, 2023: LMT Online: St. Augustine to celebrate 95th year of education
St. Augustine was allegedly founded by the Oblates and the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1927. It was named in honor of Aurelius Augustinus (also known as Augustine of Hippo or Saint Augustine): one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity.
St. Augustine was allegedly founded by the Oblates and the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1927. It was named in honor of Aurelius Augustinus (also known as Augustine of Hippo or Saint Augustine): one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity.
Feb 3, 2023: The Critic: The end of Christendom
St Augustine, his pupil, responded likewise to a Gothic invasion of Rome. In his City of God, he wrote that the Goths, many of whom had converted to Christianity, spared those who fled to the churches: “The reliquaries of the martyrs and the churches of the apostles bear witness to this; for in the sack of the city they were open sanctuary for all who fled to them, whether Christian or Pagan. To their very threshold the bloodthirsty enemy raged; there his murderous fury owned a limit.”
The sanctuary found there involved not only the sacral geography of the churches built upon relics, but in the spiritual community of Christendom. Even as pagan witnesses lamented the fall of the Roman Empire, Augustine could see the embryonic birth of something greater — a moral and fraternal empire built on shared belief and shared love.
St Augustine, his pupil, responded likewise to a Gothic invasion of Rome. In his City of God, he wrote that the Goths, many of whom had converted to Christianity, spared those who fled to the churches: “The reliquaries of the martyrs and the churches of the apostles bear witness to this; for in the sack of the city they were open sanctuary for all who fled to them, whether Christian or Pagan. To their very threshold the bloodthirsty enemy raged; there his murderous fury owned a limit.”
The sanctuary found there involved not only the sacral geography of the churches built upon relics, but in the spiritual community of Christendom. Even as pagan witnesses lamented the fall of the Roman Empire, Augustine could see the embryonic birth of something greater — a moral and fraternal empire built on shared belief and shared love.
Nov 7, 2020: The Catholic Thing: Augustine’s True Story
One of the handful of books every liberal education must have at its center is Saint Augustine’s Confessions. Augustine was a man of wide learning, of excellent and elaborate Latin style, whose life was itself one of the greatest adventure stories ever told. The Confessions is one of the first great Christian epics in prose. The professor who opens to its first books is bound to feel a little embarrassed, therefore, to see the scorn Augustine heaps upon his own education precisely because it was all just a bunch of stories.
One of the handful of books every liberal education must have at its center is Saint Augustine’s Confessions. Augustine was a man of wide learning, of excellent and elaborate Latin style, whose life was itself one of the greatest adventure stories ever told. The Confessions is one of the first great Christian epics in prose. The professor who opens to its first books is bound to feel a little embarrassed, therefore, to see the scorn Augustine heaps upon his own education precisely because it was all just a bunch of stories.