St. Augustine, One of the Greatest Intellectuals in History; a Giant of Faith, Wisdom, and Holiness, for all Centuries Until the End of the World.

Newsdesk (11/06/2021, 00:10, Gaudium Press) After the death of his mother, Saint Augustine stayed in Rome for a few months and, together with Allipius and other friends, decided to return to Africa to lead a life of prayer, penance, and study.

Like Swords, His Sermons Penetrated Hearts

In his hometown of Tagaste, on a property that belonged to him, he founded a monastery where he and his companions settled into poverty as well as into intellectual and manual work.

At the same time, he founded a convent for women in Hippo, whose superior was his sister. He wrote a rule for them which was later perfected and became the famous Rule of St. Augustine.

He spent three years in the monastery of Tagaste where he lived a life of prayer, penance, and intellectual activity.

He traveled to Hippo one day, and as he entered the cathedral, the faithful acclaimed him and asked the bishop to ordain him a priest; a few days later he received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

In his homilies, he censured the bad customs existing in the city; the faithful wept with repentance and changed their lives. Commenting on the sermons of St. Augustine, Father Darras writes:

He “…did not stop at the outer layer, caressing the intelligence and causing in the soul a sterile effect of a pleasant melody, or a wise symphony. He penetrated, like the apostolic sword, to the centre and the marrow of the heart to introduce there the victorious action of grace, the seed of conversion and salvation.”

Debate with a Manichaean Bishop

A Manichaean bishop had arrived in Hippo and began to preach his impious heresy. The people then proposed that a debate be held between the heretic and St. Augustine.

The debate was held publicly with a great number of people in attendance. The Saint refuted the bishop with such brilliance that the latter, extremely confused, asked for time to consult his masters. The crowd dismissed him loudly and he departed Hippo, never to return.

On Christmas Eve of the year 395, Saint Augustine was ordained Bishop of Hippo, and the people who filled the cathedral applauded him enthusiastically. Shortly thereafter, his great friend and disciple, Alipius, became Bishop of Tagaste.

Alipius admired and imitated his master to the extent that he too became a Saint. The Roman Martyrology consecrates his memory, celebrated on 15 August.

He Fought Against the Donatists.

Saint Augustine loved the Church and for this very reason, he fought for it. Among other heretics, he fought also against the Donatists, who claimed that the prevaricating bishops and priests did not belong to the Church, along with all the faithful who remained in communion with them. The Donatists considered that only they were members of the true Church.

In 411 a Council was held in Carthage, attended by bishops divided into two parties: 286 true Catholics and 278 Donatists.  The situation was, therefore, extremely grave.

The genius of St. Augustine was marvelously manifested there. In the face of his irrefutable argumentation, the heretics were resoundingly defeated. Thus the Council established, among other things, that one does not leave the Church by sin, even mortal or public sin, but only by apostasy from the Faith.

The Holy Bishop of Hippo requested the help of Emperor Honorius, who issued an edict ordering that all the churches which the heretics had taken over should be taken away from them and that the penalty of death should be imposed on the recalcitrant.

… and the Pelagians

Pelagius, a monk born in what is now England, spread his errors in various regions of the world. He preached that man, by his own strength, can save himself; he denied Original Sin and the necessity of Divine Grace.

St. Augustine wrote several works against Pelagius, showing the necessity and the excellence of Divine Grace. Thus, the Pelagians did not succeed in “infecting the Church with the pestilence of their heresy”, and the Bishop of Hippo received the magnificent title of ‘Doctor of Grace’.

Amidst all of these battles, St Augustine wrote 113 treatises, 218 epistles, more than 500 sermons, dialogues, and biblical commentaries. He also wrote the immortal ‘Confessions’ in which he recounts his life.

Luminous Flight of his Thought

About this work, says Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:

“When we read the Confessions of St. Augustine, we can easily appreciate the depth of his soul and the uprightness of his converted spirit.
We can ‘hear’ in the lines the throbbing of his heart, repentant for the sins of his past life, and it is given to us to admire, sown by those immortal pages, the wonderful talent of a man called by God to enrich the Church with very high teachings and explications.”

In ‘Confessions’, the Doctor of Grace writes:

“Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient and ever new. Late have I loved Thee!”

Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira continues:

“As is known, St. Augustine was converted at a ripe old age, after having led a life of sin. Therefore, he addresses God saying, ‘Late have I loved Thee,’ and uses the first play on words: ‘O Beauty so ancient and ever new’.
The Creator is ancient, for, being eternal, He existed before all ages. But He is beauty ever renewed, for He is infinite, continually manifesting something new to our consideration. And man, adoring Him by such predicates, finds in God the fullness, the perfection expressed by the alluded play on words.
The beautiful and vigorous soaring of an eagle in the air, attracted by the glints of the sun, is nothing in comparison with the most luminous flight of the thought of St. Augustine.
He soars in the firmament of Catholic Doctrine with an impetus that one would say is almost unimaginable in a human soul.
For this was the great Bishop of Hippo, one of the greatest intellectuals who has existed in history; a giant of the faith, wisdom, and sanctity, for all the centuries until the end of the world.”

By Paul Francis Martos

(in Notions of Church History – 53)

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1-DARRAS, Joseph Epiphane. Histoire Génerale de l’Église. Paris: Louis Vivès. 1869, v. XI, p. 21-22.

2-Cf. CRISTIANI, Msgr. Prelate of the Holy See. A Brief History of Heresies. São Paulo: Flamboyant. 1962, p. 28-29.

Cf. LLORCA, Bernardino. Historia de la Iglesia Católica – Edad Antigua. 6. ed. Madrid: BAC, 1990, v. I, pp. 507-508.

4-ST. JOHN BOSCO. Historia Ecclesiástica. Sao Paulo: Salesiana, 1960, p. 106.

5- SAINT AUGUSTINE. Confessions. Book X, chap. 27.

6- CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Saint Augustine, beacon of wisdom and love of God. Moisés. In revista Dr. Plinio. São Paulo. Year VIII, n. 89 (August 2005), p. 30.

7-Idem. Self-portrait of his childhood. In Dr. Plinio Magazine. São Paulo. Year VI, n. 65 (August 2003), p. 2.

 

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