Quotes by St. Augustine on his Feast Day

Let truth, the light of my heart, speak to me in the dark, and not my own darkness! I fell away and I was in the dark, but even from there, even from there I loved you. I went astray and I remembered you. I heard your voice behind me, calling me back, and I could scarcely hear it for all the noise made by those without your peace. And now, look, I return thirsty and panting to your fountain.

For when I seek you, my God, I am seeking the happy life.

And this is the happy life - to rejoice in you and to you and because of you. This is the happy life, there is no other.

. . . for my thoughts are on the price of my redemption; I eat it and drink it and give it to others to eat and drink. . .

Come, Lord, act upon us and rouse us up and call us back! Fire us, clutch us, let your sweet fragrance grow upon us! Let us love, let us run!

Quotes by St. Augustine on his Feast Day

Feast of St. Monica Slips Away - Feast of St. Augustine Takes Its Place

(From Confessions by St. Augustine)

The day was now approaching when my mother Monica would depart from this life; you know that day, Lord, though we did not. She and I happened to be standing by ourselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house. At the time we were in Ostia on the Tiber. And so the two of us, all alone, were enjoying a very pleasant conversation, "forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead.." We were asking one another in the presence of the Truth - for you are the Truth - what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man." We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life. That was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words.

But you know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and its pleasures lost all their attraction for us. My mother said, "Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant."

*Just days after this conversation with her son, St. Monica passed into eternity.

Feast of St. Monica Slips Away - Feast of St. Augustine Takes Its Place