Later this week the Church celebrates the feast of one of its most popular and influential Saints outside of the Bible, St. Augustine of Hippo (August 28). His sanctity, understanding of the Christian faith, and sensitivity to the struggles of the Christian life has been recognized for over 1500 years. While most Catholics have heard of St. Augustine and likely read many of his quotes online (maybe even some fake ones), here are three things you may not yet know about this towering figure in Church history.
(1) Augustine is the most quoted, extra-biblical, author in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
There is a joke in theological circles that if you don’t know who said something, just attribute it to Augustine and you will likely be right. This is because Augustine wrote so much on so many topics surrounding the Christian faith. His writings have been around so long and influenced so many, which means that you will find many of his writings everywhere. One of the places you will find Augustine quoted heavily is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In it, Augustine is quoted 88 times in the entire Catechism, making him the most-quoted non-biblical author. This Catechism is primarily a teaching document, so it makes sense that it would heavily feature Augustine, who took his role as teacher, of which a Bishop is the principal teacher in a diocese, very seriously.
(2) Because Augustine was a bishop, he actually served as a judge in his community
Modern people take for granted the concept of the separation of Church and State. This relatively new idea is the exception in human civilization. It was common in ancient cultures for the religious leader to also serve as judge in local disputes. This was because the religious leader was often the most educated member of a community, as well as an intercessor between the people and God/the gods, so they represented wisdom to the people. We see this in the Old Testament with Moses in Exodus 18:13. As the Roman Empire’s population of Christians grew, and Christianity was legalized in 313 by the Edict of Milan, this trend continued with Christian leaders, bishops. Augustine would settle disputes among his flock in Hippo, caring for them all the way to his death in 430.Â
(3) Augustine is still writing (kind of)
Recently, a diocesan library in Poland discovered some texts it did not immediately recognize, but the librarian knew they were old. They contacted independent researchers in the fields of history, philology (history of language), and Latin to help gain more information about them. Two of these texts, which the researchers knew to be sermons, had not yet been identified anywhere in history. After two years of research, they concluded that these were written around the 1100s by a scribe, but that the original author of the words themselves match with other sermons ascribed to St. Augustine of Hippo. This means that even though he died nearly 1600 years ago, the works of Augustine are still being found for Christians to grow in their understanding and love of the Bible, the Catholic Faith, and Jesus Christ!
Many Christians feel close to St. Augustine because of his personal and emotional autobiography, Confessions. Even this is just a snapshot of his life leading up to becoming a Christian. He lived many years, wrote many things, and, most importantly, served many people after he became a Christian. These were the ways he showed his love for God. Fortunately, he provided, and is still providing, new ways to live, serve, and love God and others for all of us to imitate. Let’s use the feast of St. Augustine on August 28 to celebrate this hero of our Church and follow his example of serving Christ in others!Â