22nd Sunday of the Year (C): Luke 14:1, 7-14

St. Augustine of Hippo: His life, writings and spirituality

St. Augustine of Hippo, bishop and doctor

St. Augustine of Hippo, c. 354-430: considered to be the greatest of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church

Biographical sketch

St. Augustine was born on November 13, 354, in Tagaste, Numidia, North Africa. He was the eldest son of St. Monica and Patricius (a pagan Roman official). At sixteen, St. Augustine studied at the University of Carthage (in what is now modern Tunisia) to be a lawyer. However, he instead devoted himself to literary pursuits. It was these pursuits that led him to abandon the Christian faith. He got involved with a heresy called Manichaeanism. Manichaeans believed that evil was caused by an outside force - relieving the guilt of people for their sins. It was at this time that Augustine also lived with a mistress who bore him a son (whom he ironically named Adeodatus - meaning, "gift of God"). Straying from Christianity, the faith of his mother, Augustine studied and taught rhetoric at Tagaste, Carthage, Rome and Milan.

At Milan, a turning point came to his life when he attended the mass celebrated by St. Ambrose. The sermon of St. Ambrose impressed St. Augustine. This experience, together with the incessant and sacrificing prayers of St. Monica, brought Augustine back to Christianity. He was baptized, together with his son, in the Easter Vigil of year 387.

St. Augustine set out for Tagaste with St. Monica and his son. On the way, his mother died. That was November 387. Two years later, his son also died. After these events, he was ordained a priest at Hippo. Then after three years, he was consecrated as its bishop. He was 41 years old when he became the bishop of Hippo. Though he was responsible for Hippo, St. Augustine preferred the monastic life. He had to forego this desire because the need of the Church at the time was for him to be a dominant figure in the affairs of the North African Church.

St. Augustine was bishop of Hippo for almost 35 years. He established a monastic community for clergy who all live frugally and simplicity. He also founded a community of religious women with his sister Perpetua as the abbess. His rule for community life became the basis for the rules of many religious orders, most especially, the Augustinian Canons, Augustinian Friars, the Dominicans, and the Ursulines. These religious orders followed a rule of poverty, obedience, celibacy, and a strict monastic life.

In 426 A.D., St. Augustine went into semi-retirement to concentrate on his writings. On August 28, 430 A.D., after being ill since the summer, St. Augustine died peacefully in the grace of the Lord at the age of 85 years.

Teaching and spirituality

St. Augustine wrote a lot of written material. Attributed to him are 200+ treatises, 300+ letters, and 400+ sermons. Important in his writings is his knowledge of theology and philosophy. St. Augustine's teaching and spirituality is important because much of the quotes in the present edition of the Catholic Catechism, are sourced from his writings. Of the two great teachers in the Catholic Catechism, St. Augustine and St. Thomas of Aquinas are the most often quoted. St. Augustine is quoted 85 times, while St. Thomas quoted is 58 times.

Three writings which bear much of his teaching and spirituality are "The Confessions of St. Augustine", "The City of God", and "On the Trinity". His "Confessions" has subject matter that has psychological complexity. It is an autobiography made by St. Augustine himself. The "City of God" on the other hand is very rich in political insights. The third writing, "On the Trinity" is a theologically deep treatise.

Two texts in scripture are good sources of St. Augustine's spirituality: the "eyes of your heart being enlightened" (Eph 1:18) and "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mt 5:8). From these two scriptural texts St. Augustine helps us see the heart to be the inner person, the soul. To see God, the eyes of the heart, i.e., the soul, need to be healed and receive the light of God's grace. At first, Augustine thought that this vision of God comes only after death. But he realized that even on earth, God can be seen by one who has been unified by a single longing for God. This single longing for God and the healing of the soul by faith is not, according to St. Augustine, enough to see God. There is need of light to see God by also loving our neighbor.

Excerpts from writings

St. Augustine wrote many tracts of teaching based on his spirituality - his way of life, prayer and work.


Listed below are excerpts from his writings. We can learn about St. Augustine's spirituality through what he wrote especially about the vision of God.

Not our merits but God's mercy purifies the heart that it may see God (Homilies on St. John's Gospel, 2.16)


Look for the source of your love of your neighbor - there you will see God (Homilies on St. John's Gospel, 17.8)


Return to your heart...see there what...you can perceive of God, for in it is the image of God...recognize its Author (Homilies on St. John's Gospel, 18.10)

St. Clare of Assisi, Virgin

Born of a noble family

St. Clare was born at Assisi, Italy, on July 11, to Faverone Offreduccio and Ortolanadi Fiumi. Her parents raised her and her sisters in a strict, almost cloistered environment until they were of marriageable age.

Inspired by St. Francis' Lenten sermon

When Clare was eighteen (or about nineteen), St. Francis of Assisi preached a Lenten sermon at the church where her family went to Mass. The sermon of Francis had such a profound effect on Clare that she sought the saint and asked him how she could live in the manner of the gospels. St. Francis spoke about leaving a worldly lifestyle and growing in greater love of God.

Decision to follow the way of St. Francis

On Palm Sunday night of 1212 A.D., Clare ran away from home and went to the town of Portiuncula where St. Francis and his community lived. It was here that she decided to consecrate herself to the Lord. So, at the chapel of Our Lady, St. Francis led Clare to the altar, where he cut off her hair. St. Clare then exchanged her rich clothes for a penitential habit. It was at this very moment that the Order of Poor Clares, of which St. Clare would be the foundress, was conceived.

A sister also joining St. Clare

Since St. Francis did not yet have a convent for women, he placed St. Clare in the Benedictine convent of St. Paul near Bastia. When St. Clare's family came to take her back home, she expressed her determination and her absolute devotion to Christ. St. Francis then moved St. Clare to the convent of Sant' Angelo di Panzo, where she was also joined by her sister Agnes, who was fifteen, and who also received the habit from St. Francis. Faverone, the two sisters' father, sent armed men to bring Agnes back, but St. Clare's prayers prevented them, and so Agnes remained.

Many more members joined the community

Eventually, St. Francis established a convent next to the church of San Damiano where he made St. Clare the superior (and the leader of the convent for forty years). The Poor clares were finally founded, and St. Clare was soon joined by her mother, another sister, Beatrice, three members of the famous Ubaldini family of Florence, and many others.

The Poor Clares life similar to their brothers

The community practised a life of extreme poverty and austerities, similar to their Franciscan brothers. According to St. Clare's wishes, they were not to own property, either in common or individually, and were to rely only from the daily almsgiving for their sustenance. The Poor Clares prayed constantly, and kept a cloister-like existence. It has been said that St. Clare never left the walls of San Damiano.

Noted to have been spiritually gifted

St. Clare was given many gifts by God. She performed many miracles. Even when she became an invalid for the last third of her life, stories of miraculous cures were still attributed to her prayers. In 1241 A.D., her prayers were said to save Assisi from the besieging soldiers of Emperor Frederick II. Their convent and Assisi itself was spared because of St. Clare's miraculous intercession. Her prayers lifted the siege and the soldiers left without doing any damage.

The influence of St. Clare and her community

The Poor Clares fluorished and spread to other parts of Italy, and also to France and Germany. St. Clare's spiritual influence became such that she was consulted by popes, cardinals, and bishops. Next to St. Francis, she was most responsible for the growth and spread of Franciscan spirituality. She died at Assisi on August 11, and was canonized two years later in 1255 A.D. She was made the patroness of television. The Church celebrates her feast on August 11.

• A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press Inc.
• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• Saints for Our Times, by Ed Ransom