St augustine philosopher quotes on humanity

CNA Staff, Aug 28, 2024 / 04:00 am

The Catholic Church honors St. Augustine of Hippo, an early Church father, doctor of the Church, and foundational theologian, on Aug.

28.

Augustine was brought up as a Christian in his early childhood but drifted from the Church, fathering a child out of wedlock and falling into the heresy of Manichaeism. His mother, Monica, a woman of deep faith who was later canonized herself, never stopped praying for his return to the Church.

Of the more than 5 million words that St.

Augustine wrote during his lifetime (354–430 A.D.), his “Confessions” have had a particularly lasting influence as a philosophical, theological, mystical, and literary work. Written in about 400 A.D., “Confessions” details how God worked in Augustine’s life and reads not just as a story but as a prayer.

Here are five powerful quotes from St.

Augustine’s “Confessions”:  

1. “Thou hast made us for thyself