34. Of God's clemency in moderating the ruin of the city.

And that you are yet alive is due to God, who spares you that you may be admonished to repent and reform your lives. It is He who has permitted you, ungrateful as you are, to escape the sword of the enemy, by calling yourselves His servants, or by finding asylum in the sacred places of the martyrs.

It is said that Romulus and Remus, in order to increase the population of the city they founded, opened a sanctuary in which every man might find asylum and absolution of all crime,—a remarkable foreshadowing of what has recently occurred in honour of Christ. The destroyers of Rome followed the example of its founders. But it was not greatly to their credit that the latter, for the sake of increasing the number of their citizens, did that which the former have done, lest the number of their enemies should be diminished.

SAINT OF THE DAY (August 28)

Today, August 28, the Church honors St. Augustine.

St. Augustine was born at the town of Thagaste (now Souk-Ahras in modern day Algeria) on 13 November 354.

He became one the most significant and influential thinkers in the history of the Catholic Church. His teachings were the foundation of Christian doctrine for a millennium.

The story of his life, up until his conversion, is written in the autobiographical Confessions, the most intimate and well-known glimpse into an individual's soul ever written, as well as a fascinating philosophical, theological, mystical, poetic, and literary work.

Augustine, though being brought up in early childhood as a Christian, lived a dissolute life of revelry and sin.

He soon drifted away from the Church — thinking that he wasn't necessarily leaving Christ, of whose name he acknowledges:

"I kept it in the recesses of my heart; and all that presented itself to me without that Divine name, though it might be elegant, well written, and even replete with truth, did not altogether carry me away" (Confessions, I, iv).

He went to study in Carthage and became well-known in the city for his brilliant mind and rhetorical skills. He sought a career as an orator or lawyer.

However, he also discovered and fell in love with philosophy at the age of 19, a love he pursued with great vehemence.

He was attracted to Manichaeanism at this time, after its devotees had promised him that they had scientific answers to the mystery of nature, could disprove the Scriptures, and could explain the problem of evil.

Augustine became a follower for nine years, learning all there was to learn in it before rejecting it as incoherent and fraudulent.

He went to Rome and then Milan in 386 where he met Saint Ambrose, the bishop and Doctor of the Church, whose sermons inspired him to look for the truth he had always sought in the faith he had rejected.

He received baptism and soon after, his mother, Saint Monica, died with the knowledge that all she had hoped for in this world had been fulfilled.

He returned to Africa, to his hometown of Tagaste, "having now cast off from himself the cares of the world, he lived for God with those who accompanied him, in fasting, prayers, and good works, meditating on the law of the Lord by day and by night."

On a visit to Hippo, he was proclaimed priest and then bishop against his will.

He later accepted it as the will of God and spent the rest of his life as the pastor of the North African town, where he spent much time refuting the writings of heretics.

Augustine also wrote 'The City of God' against the pagans who charged that the fall of the Roman empire, which was taking place at the hands of the Vandals, was due to the spread of Christianity.

On 28 August 430, as Hippo was under siege by the Vandals, Augustine died at the age of 76.

His legacy continues to deeply shape the face of the Church to this day.

A man after God's own heart

Psalm 87

He has founded his city on the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God: “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”

Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”

Psalms 87:1‭-‬7 NIV

Good words scarcely find any listeners.

from The City of God by Saint Augustine

sometimes I randomly think about the time a girl posted in this girls only Facebook group I’m in telling everyone how she broke up with her boyfriend and he lied saying that he lost the spare key she gave him, only to then break into her apartment when she wasn’t home and steal the cat they’d adopted while they were together, but then he denied having done this and she didn’t really have proof that he took the cat since he wouldn’t let her come into his place and look for it. And then another girl saw this post and knew her ex-boyfriend, and she was like “girl. I used to hook up with your mans back in xxxx and I still have his number. If you want, I’ll hit him up and get him to invite me back to his place and see if your cat’s there.” And the OP was like “bet.”

So this woman hit up homie dog, asked him out for drinks, went home with him, slept with him, and then woke up in the middle of the night and TOOK THE CAT. Like she had only said that she would confirm if the cat was there but then she took it upon herself to steal this woman’s cat back. Like she full on Trojan horsed this man and then hit up homegirl like “I got the goods. Where you wanna meet.” And then the two of them posted a photo of them together with the cat to the group.

And I just think women supporting women is so beautiful.

it’s so crazy that i grew up in a town with like 300 people and now i live in a city with over 66,000. anything can happen

“[…] pero la paz es un bien incierto, porque desconocemos los corazones de aquellos con quienes queremos tenerla y aunque los conozcamos hoy, no sabemos qué será mañana.”

San Agustín, La Ciudad de Dios, Cap. 7 Las limitaciones de la vida social, p.218

Not enough signs about how much I'd like to stick my hands between the moving parts of a machine, so I did it myself

36. What subjects are to be handled in the following discourse.

But I have still some things to say in confutation of those who refer the disasters of the Roman republic to our religion, because it prohibits the offering of sacrifices to the gods. For this end I must recount all, or as many as may seem sufficient, of the disasters which befell that city and its subject provinces, before these sacrifices were prohibited; for all these disasters they would doubtless have attributed to us, if at that time our religion had shed its light upon them, and had prohibited their sacrifices. I must then go on to show what social well-being the true God, in whose hand are all kingdoms, vouchsafed to grant to them that their empire might increase. I must show why He did so, and how their false gods, instead of at all aiding them, greatly injured them by guile and deceit. And, lastly, I must meet those who, when on this point convinced and confuted by irrefragable proofs, endeavour to maintain that they worship the gods, not hoping for the present advantages of this life, but for those which are to be enjoyed after death. And this, if I am not mistaken, will be the most difficult part of my task, and will be worthy of the loftiest argument; for we must then enter the lists with the philosophers, not the mere common herd of philosophers, but the most renowned, who in many points agree with ourselves, as regarding the immortality of the soul, and that the true God created the world, and by His providence rules all He has created. But as they differ from us on other points, we must not shrink from the task of exposing their errors, that, having refuted the gainsaying of the wicked with such ability as God may vouchsafe, we may assert the city of God, and true piety, and the worship of God, to which alone the promise of true and everlasting felicity is attached. Here, then, let us conclude, that we may enter on these subjects in a fresh book.

Early Christians had a complete Bible by the 4th century.

But that’s not the only thing they were reading to deepen their faith.

In the early Church, there were a lot of great books being passed around.🧵

The Didache, Anonymous, 1st century

The Didache is a brief discourse that contains moral and ritualistic teachings — a handbook for a Christian life.

It’s speculated the apostles wrote it, and contains the formulas for baptism and eucharist that are still used today.

The Shepherd of Hermas, Hermas, 2nd century

St. Iranaeus considered it to be canonical scripture.

Though it missed the cut, it’s a fascinating work that centers around the life of a former slave who is given mystical visions and parables informing him how to live a faithful life.

Church History, Eusebius, 4th century

Eusebius had access to one of the largest sources of knowledge in the ancient world: Library of Caesarea.

This allowed him to piece together this contentious history of the church through letters, martyrdom accounts, and lists of bishops.

On the Incarnation, Athanasius, 4th century

C.S. Lewis said of it:

“When I first opened On the Incarnation, I soon discovered…that I was reading a masterpiece.“

Here, Athanasius presents the incarnation as a solution to man's fallen nature, or what he calls the “divine dilemma."

Confessions, Augustine, 5th century

Augustine's masterpiece is an autobiography where he ponders his troubled youth and eventual conversion to Christianity as he traversed the Roman empire.

It’s a story of the struggle against sin and the metanoia of a future saint.

The City of God, Augustine, 5th century

An intellectual tour de force, The City of God depicts the ultimate struggle of the human condition — a war where all must make a choice between the “earthly city” and the “city of God.”

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, various authors, 5th century

Ancient wisdom from desert hermits.

It’s a collection of wisdom stories and maxims from the desert fathers, who were some of the earliest hermits and ascetics.

Early monks looked to these stories for spiritual guidance.

they have an exam in two days but they keep making out about it

My Career

I Augustine have spent a lot of time throughout my career focusing on the nature and interpretation of scriptural texts. I spent a lot of time trying to explain to people that human communication was inferior to God's perfect word. It was important to me that people understood that divine speech like our God himself, only exists beyond the confines of time, because there is no time in the realm of the spirit, God’s realm.  

We humans communicate syllables and languages, God's communication it is not contained within syllables, he is also not limited to a single language. For me, the humble nature of humanity parallels the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, and within those structural confines is where we will find what we seek. (Zeigler, n.d.) 

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