The Drive into the Desert
Christ’s “no” to Satan shows us how to face our temptations, choose God, and achieve lasting joy over worldly allure.
Augustine the Saint
Clearly, after God, it is to Monica his mother that Augustine owes everything. And he heaps upon every memory he has of her, of the great goodness of her life and example, all possible praise.
Sublime Sisterhood
The redemptive reach of Jesus Christ is far wider than we know, reaching across all barriers of time and space.
Confessions of a Sinner
There can be little doubt that of the nine books set down to describe Augustine’s life, Book VIII is everyone’s favorite. It is the centerpiece of the story, the necessary hinge on which all the action turns.
A Modest Proposal for Lent
What exactly is the price that we are expected to pay in order to follow Christ? Love one another or die!
Setting St. Augustine on Fire
It was never mere proof of God’s existence that set Augustine on fire; it was, rather, the grace to remain steadfast in following the Lord, indeed, in falling in love with the Lord.
Owing Death
Not even the cleverest or wealthiest among us will escape the long arm of death. We all owe God a death.
Eloquence and Truth
In hearing St. Ambrose, St. Augustine began to distinguish between mere eloquence and the real truth.
The Tears of St. Monica
Not only does the example of St. Monica illustrate the power of prayer but it reaches into the very meaning of motherhood as well.
How Many Genders Have We Got?
Thank you, President Trump, for returning the question of gender and sex to the Book of Genesis where it rightly belongs.
The Allure of Manichaeism
What was it about the temptation to Manichaeism, the allure it offered a young man like Augustine, that proved so powerful, so seductive that it nearly did him in?
Telling Lies and Getting Away With It
Scholars like Elaine Pagels have been lying for years about Christianity, but in spite of that fact (or perhaps because of it), they are lionized by the media as experts.
Cicero and Augustine
What will God, whose chief instrument is often irony, choose as His weapon to pull Augustine back from the brink? A book by Cicero.
Infant Baptism: Do We Really Need It?
The grace of God does not bypass nature, any more than God’s divinity shows the least disdain for our humanity by becoming one of us.
Struggling with Sin
Augustine, of course, was not the first to chart the cycle of lust, as anyone for whom the body/soul connection remains a work in progress well knows.
The House Where It All Began
The Holy House of Loreto is precisely the place where it all began—namely, the Incarnation of God Himself.
What Children Do
Christ’s admonition to become like little children is not an invitation for the adults in the room to set about infantilizing themselves, but to open their eyes as the children do.
From Sinner to Saint
Like Mr. Chesterton, it would never have occurred to St. Augustine to assign blame for the world’s problems to anyone other than himself.
Does God Hope?
If prayer is the language of hope, the very ground and grammar of holy desire, and if the Our Father represents the greatest possible expression of that hope, why would Christ need to give voice to it himself?
Between Luther and Pelagius
When it comes to our role in salvation, St. Augustine sits squarely between the heretical extremes of Luther and Pelagius.