Augustine

Augustine the Sinner. Aurelius Augustus—known to us as Augustine—was born in 354 in North Africa, in a town called Tagaste, in the Roman province of Numidia. His father, Patricius, was a wealthy pagan.[1] At age forty he married Monica, a devoutly Christian seventeen-year-old girl. Augustine was the eldest of their three children. The marriage was not happy, nor was Augustine’s childhood. Patricius was carefree in his morals and abusive to his wife. Monica clung fiercely to her religion, which further estranged her from her husband.

Augustine grew up with pagan morals, which valued cleverness and success above all—and he was very clever. As he matured, his parents realized that he needed a greater challenge than Tagaste could offer. So at about age twelve, they sent him to the city of Madauros, thirty miles away, to further his education. There he read a great deal, and learned a great deal more—including the pursuit of pleasure in its many forms, free from the restraints of family and friends.[2] When he returned home, Patricius was delighted—and Monica was dismayed—to see Augustine’s lack of scruples.[3] For the rest of her life, Monica would devote herself to reclaiming her son for God through her prayers, her example, and her love. . . .

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[1]. Patricius converted to Christianity shortly before he died. Augustine was about 16 when his father died.

[2]. In his Confessions, Augustine admits that he was often a reluctant student, preferring games over learning—for which he was beaten by his teachers. He enjoyed Latin literature, but detested mathematics and Greek. Yet he also found that he was able to quickly comprehend topics that others found difficult.

[3]. In Confessions, Augustine describes how at age 16 he and some companions stole “a huge load of pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting some of them ourselves. . . . I stole them simply that I might steal, for, having stolen them, I threw them away.”