The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430), better known as Saint Augustine, was born to poor parents in a small town in North Africa. Despite his mother’s pious influence, Augustine embarked on several years of wild living at the University of Carthage and adopted the Manichean faith, a sect whose followers professed to have received from their founder a higher truth than that from Jesus Christ. After years of seeking and eventual disillusionment, Augustine acknowledged Jesus as Lord during a dramatic garden conversion. He became an ascetic—studying the foundations of faith, writing, and conversing with disciples. During a visit to Hippo near his hometown, he entered the priesthood, and, in 395, he became Bishop of Hippo, an office he held until his death. He is known for his literary accomplishments, chiefly The Confessions of St. Augustine and The City of God, as well as for his patient pastoral leadership in the Catholic Church.