St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Aurelius Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia (today’s, Souk-Ahras, Algeria), Africa, on November 13, 354. His mother was St. Monica (see August 27), and his father was Patricius, a pagan. Augustine was enrolled among the catechumens as a child, and though his baptism was put off, he, nevertheless, had a Christian upbringing. He studied (372–75) rhetoric at Carthage (in modern Tunis), and while there he got into the habit of a disordered and dissolute life. For many years, he lived with a companion who was not his wife; their son Adeodatus (“Given by God”) was born in 372. Augustine subsequently opened a school of rhetoric (376–83) in Carthage; but being attracted by the Manichaeans, he joined them and followed their teachings for nine years. When Manichaeism was unable to answer all his questions, he separated from them. In 383, he went to Rome, where he taught rhetoric for a year, and then he moved (384) on to Milan, because he had won, through a competition, that city’s chair of rhetoric. Professional curiosity led him to attend the sermons of Bishop Ambrose (see December 7); he not only found them eloquent but also his heart soon was touched by what Ambrose said. He subsequently dismissed his companion, who returned to Africa, but kept his son with him. With his mother’s arrival in Milan, Augustine retired (386) to Cassiacum, near Milan, together with his son, who died shortly thereafter, and his brother Navigius. Augustine there devoted his time to penance and prayer, preparing himself for his new life. He was baptized by Ambrose during the Easter Vigil liturgy of April 24–25, 387.