For so shall we be able to
pass the present life with happiness, and to attain to the kingdom of
heaven, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, together
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
AUGUSTINE
THE RECOVERY OF SIGHT BY THE BLIND
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Saint Augustine (Aurelius Augustinus), one of the greatest theological
fathers of the Church, was born at Tagaste, 354 A.D., and became devoted
to the study of Cicero. As a Manichean he occasioned great anxiety to
his mother Monica. Eventually embracing Christianity, he was baptized by
Ambrose of Milan (387), on which occasion, tradition says, the Te Deum
was composed by himself and his baptizer. Appointed to the See of Hippo
in 395, he threw himself into the conflict against heresy and schism,
his principal opponents being the Donatists and Pelagians. His sermons,
powerful as they are, disappoint the modern reader by their fantastic
and allegorical interpretation of Scripture, but his "Confessions," in
which he details the history of his early life and conversion, present a
wonderful picture of personal experience. He is styled by Harnack "the
first modern man.
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