From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
May 12, 2025
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We have a Pope! Leo XIV. And we quickly learned that he was born in Chicago, served many years as a missionary in Peru, and was an Augustinian friar. In fact, he was at one time the prior general (international superior) of that community of religious men.
While Tar Heel Catholics might have never encountered an Augustinian priest, they number nearly 2,000, serving throughout the world and might be best known in this country as the community which founded and still serves Villanova University in Pennsylvania. The Order of Saint Augustine, as they are formally known, was founded in the middle of the thirteenth century, though the inspiration for their way of life is traced to the life and writings of the great bishop and doctor of the Church, St. Augustine, who lived in the late fourth and early fifth century. |
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Augustine has long since been considered one of the greatest of the “Fathers of the Church,” and his extant writings are well worth careful attention. If you were looking to begin to understand why Augustine has been so lauded over the centuries, and why a community of men, including the current pope, would look to him for their own spiritual and theological formation, you might turn to one his most famous texts, Confessions. It a book worth having, savoring, and if you have read it previously, returning to.
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It was written between 397 and 400 A.D., when the great saint was in his early forties, and after he had been ordained a bishop. It is often acclaimed as the first autobiography in Western literature. Augustine is open and honest about his early life, including his history of lust, fornication, stealing, and lying. But it is not a prurient read. It is the story of God’s love and grace, active in Augustine’s conversion.
The work is divided into thirteen chapters (called books), of which the first nine are autobiographical in nature, and the remaining four are more philosophical. Some readers may not find the second part as engaging. But this book is always worth reading for spiritual guidance and assistance in our own struggles to live the Gospel in its fullness. It might also help us to more deeply understand and appreciate Pope Leo!
The spiritual depth and the passion of Augustine is breathtakingly seen in this famous quote from the Confessions:
“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my un-loveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.”
