ST' Augustine of Hippo

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ST. Augustine of Hippo
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EVER ANCIENT, EVER NEW

• Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient,
  ever new, late have I loved you! You were within
  me, but I was outside, and it was there that I
  searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged
  into the lovely things which you created. You
  were with me, but I was not with you. Created
  things kept me from you yet if they had not been
  in you they would have not been at all. You
  called, you shouted, and you broke through my
  deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you
  dispelled my blindness. You breathed your
  fragrance on me I drew in breath and now I pant
  for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and
  thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for
  your peace.
• from The Confessions of Saint Augustine

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Facts about him

• Born in 354 A.D in Thagaste
• At 17 he left for Carthage to study rhetoric,
  then he left the church for Manichaeism
• lived a hedonistic life with many women
• In 383 he moved to Rome to teach rhetoric.
• However he was disappointed in the schools

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(More) Facts about him

• After he left he became a rhetoric professor in
  the imperial court of Milan
• He was doing quite well there but could not
  handle the pressure
• His friend, mother Saint Monica and the Milan
  bishop Ambrose helped him convert back to
  Catholic Christianity
• He then put his old life behind him for
  priesthood and wrote many Christian texts

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St. Augustine's 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.

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References

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo
• http//www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta02.htm
• http//www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p81
• http//blog-by-the-sea.typepad.com/blog_bythesea/2
  006/08/about_st_august.html
• http//www.crossroadsinitiative.com/pics/Saint_Aug
  ustine_Early_Church_Father_Biography_Writings.jpg