Helen Ann Brown | Snippets from the life of St Augustine

YOU MAY have heard of Saint Augustine. Let’s drop the title saint and call him Augustine.

Before his conversion to Christianity, Augustine’s full name was Aurelius Augustinus. He was born in Tagaste, Numidia (present-day Algeria) in 354 AD. His father, Patricius, was a Roman official who converted to Christianity on his deathbed in 372, while his mother, Monica, was a devout Christian much earlier.

Augustine lived wildly before his conversion. He met a young woman with whom he started a relationship and fathered a child. The name of his son was Adeodatus which means ‘gift from God’. He lived in a common-law union with the mother of his child for many years. This all took place while he was studying in Carthage. Remember, his mother, Monica was a devout Christian. His lifestyle caused her much pain. Augustine loved his mother very much and was very close to her.

GREATER PAIN

He caused his mother even greater pain when he began to follow Manichaeism. He did this for about nine years. When he returned home and advised his mother of his religious choice, she told him he had to leave her home. However, shortly after, God spoke to her in a dream so she invited him to come back home to live.

Puzzled by his mother’s decision, Augustine asked why she invited him back home. His mother explained that the Lord had given her a dream and in the dream He told her that where she was, Augustine would be also.

Augustine was successful in his studies and became a public orator. He admired the great scholars. His favourite poet was Virgil. In the vicinity of his 30th year he became jaded by Manichaeism. He was an astute scholar and noticed that many of the beliefs were flawed. He toyed with Platoism as a belief system for a while, but soon began to drift to his childhood faith – common Christianity.

While Augustine’s transformation to Christianity was gradual, there were certain episodes that caused him to turn to Christianity. One of the episodes that spoke to him came from an experience his good friend who had been exploring Manichaeism with him had. His friend had fallen ill with a fever and was close to death. While unconscious, his friend’s mother called for the priest to baptise him. Augustine mocked and jeered and wondered if a “wet forehead” could send anybody to heaven.

Much to Augustine’s surprise, after the baptism, his friend recovered. When Augustine began to mock his experience, his friend chided him, noting that he had a real experience. This made Augustine think. However, his friend relapsed days later and died.

PRAYING EARNESTLY

Another experience Augustine had was with the preaching of Bishop Ambrose. He had gone to a meeting to admire and learn from Bishop Ambrose’s oratory excellence. The words he heard captured him. Eventually he converted, along with his friend Alypius and his own son Adeodatus. All this time his mother Monia was praying earnestly for her son.

While Augustine was living with his unnamed lover and the mother of his son, his career had flatlined. He needed a level of funding benefactors. In that period of time, upwardly mobile young men married into family that could elevate them socially, financially and in their careers. Augustine’s family were Roman citizens, but they were not from the wealthiest class. Both his mother and father encouraged him to marry upwards. They realised that this would open new and elevated positions for him.

For reasons that may be explained by these very factors of needing a bride with position, he did not marry the mother of his son. His mother found a wealthy family with a young lady that he could marry. The young lady was just a little younger than his own son. In fact, Augustine had to wait until she was of age to marry. It was heart-rending for him to send his child’s mother away. His son’s mother loved Augustine and vowed she would never marry; she would love him until death.

However, before he could marry the bride chosen by his mother, he converted to Christ and abandoned all women – his prospective bride, his common-law wife and his illustrious career. He pledged to celibacy.

It was as if his mother Monica lived to give birth to Augustine. After he gave his life to Christ, he told his mother and she told him that she has no more reason to live. Five days after his conversion, she died.

Augustine eventually became Saint Augustine of Hippo. The ‘of Hippo’ refers to the North African city of Hippo Regius, where he served as bishop for many years. He became an outstanding Christian whose influence extends to this very day.

LESSONS FROM THIS LOOK AT A PART OF AUGUSTINE’S LIFE

1. It reminds us that issues such as common-law and children born out of wedlock have been common through the ages.

2. His common-law wife’s name was never mentioned in history. It shows how often women compromise themselves to become wall flowers in some man’s success story.

3. It shows us how thorough transformation is. It’s not that God wants everyone to become celibate, but what it shows us is what a total surrender to God Augustine’s conversion was. He gave up marriage, he gave up wealth and career to serve the Lord

4. Monica, Augustine’s mom, showed a model of a mother dedicated to Christ and praying for her son. She was persistent in praying for her son until he came to Christ.

Pastor Helen Ann Brown is a mother, senior pastor of Kairos Network of Churches and a published author. Her books are available for purchase on Amazon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com