Saint Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church, was born at Tagaste in northern Africa. His early life was spent in wicked ways. But thanks to the prayers of his holy mother, Saint Monica, at the age of thirty-three Saint Augustine was baptized a Catholic, in Milan, by Saint Ambrose. He returned to Africa and was made Bishop of Hippo. He died at the age of seventy-six. His two great works, the Confessions and The City of God, are among the most notable writings of all Catholic teachers. The body of Saint Augustine now rests at Pavia, in Italy. Any one of the sayings of Saint Augustine lets us know the golden quality of his brilliant mind. He says that “the heavenly ladder by which God came into the world was the humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Saint Augustine composed, along with Saint Ambrose, the beautiful hymn known as the Te Deum, which has twenty-nine verses, and which is often sung in Catholic choirs.
See also: Sermon by St. Augustine for Easter
Saint Augustine, by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674) source
