Yesterday was the Feast Day of St. Augustine, observed on the anniversary of his death in 430 AD. Although separated by nearly 1600 years, Augustine of Hippo surely lives on a familiar figure to most Christians, especially students of theology and philosophy. His most famous works, namely his Confessions and City of God, remain enduring sources of spiritual wisdom even centuries after he authored them. In addition, his sermons and many other writings also continue to serve clergy, lay leaders, and church members alike.
Born in North African in 354 AD, Augustine rebelled against his mother’s Christian faith as a young man. Christianity Today related how “the adolescent Augustine was less interested in religion and learning than in sex and high living” in a short biography of his life.
“The evil in me was foul, but I loved it,” Augustine later admitted.
But God intervened dramatically in Augustine’s life. The Holy Spirit transformed his confused and searching soul through an encounter with Scripture one afternoon.
The conversion was indeed dramatic. Augustine ministered as a monk, a priest, and finally bishop of Hippo. He became a thought leader in his own day as he battled against early Church heresies. But his legacy endures. His insights into theology and the human heart still inform and inspire Christians today.
So in honor of the Feast of St. Augustine, here are ten memorable quotes from him. May they kindle your faith and warm your heart:
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
“Don’t hold yourselves cheap, seeing that the creator of all things and of you estimates your value so high, so dear, that he pours out for you every day the most precious blood of his only-begotten Son.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Sermons 216.3.1
“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” ― Augustine of Hippo, City of God
“This reward is the supreme reward—that we may thoroughly enjoy God and that all of us who enjoy Him may enjoy one another in Him.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Christian Teaching
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
“God does not give heed to the ambitiousness of our prayers, because he is always ready to give to us his light, not a visible light but an intellectual and spiritual one: but we are not always read to receive it when we turn aside and down to other things out of a desire for temporal things.” ― Augustine of Hippo, On the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.3.14
“What grace is meant to do is to help good people, not to escape their sufferings, but to bear them with a stout heart, with a fortitude that finds its strength in faith.” ― Augustine of Hippo, City of God
“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Sermons 4.1.1
Comment by Asking Questions on August 30, 2016 at 5:09 pm
Thanks for the post.
Comment by Wesbury on September 9, 2016 at 8:12 am
Thank you. Deeply inspiring and encouraging.
Comment by Benjamin Nesan on December 3, 2017 at 9:20 pm
And one of his greatest, could have easily made top 10, though it makes it difficult which one to leave out here: He loves thee too little, O God, Who loves anything together with thee, that he loves not for thy own sake.”