St. Augustine of Hippo on Charity

Breathtaking Homilies on the First Epistle of John

Dear bookish friend,

I promised you would get an St. Augustine of Hippo post. And here it is.

Let’s begin with a quick background paragraph on Augustine, for those of you who have not had the very great pleasure of reading Confessions, his pseudo-autobiography.¹ Augustine was born in 354 in Thagaste, North Africa (modern-day Algeria). After a tumultuous youth wherein he pursued all sorts of pleasures and studies and religions, Augustine became a Christian. He served as Bishop of Carthage from 396-430. During his time as Bishop, he wrote many, many books and tracts and sermons, including one of the most lovely and profound works of literature of all time, Confessions, the powerful and influential City of God, and great works of doctrine like On the Trinity and On Christian Teaching. He also vigorously battled heresies of the day like Donatism and Pelagianism with his enormous intellect, prodigious writing capacity, and great love for the church. Augustine died in Hippo in 430 as Vandals besieged the city. Arguably, there is no man outside of St. Paul who has had more influence on the Western church (for good and for ill).

Just gorgeous. St. Augustine preaching, from an illuminated manuscript of City of God, 11-12th century, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence, Italy, Ms Plut. 12.17 f.3v