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St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430). Early Church Father, bishop, and theologian born in Thagaste, Numidia (modern Algeria), to a pagan father, Patricius, and Christian mother, Monica. Educated in rhetoric at Carthage, he embraced Manichaeism and lived a hedonistic life, fathering a son, Adeodatus, with a concubine. Converted in 386 in Milan under Ambrose’s preaching, inspired by a child’s voice saying, “Take up and read,” he was baptized in 387. Ordained in 391, he became Bishop of Hippo Regius in 395, serving until his death. Augustine wrote over 100 works, including Confessions (397), a spiritual autobiography, and City of God (426), defending Christianity against pagan critics, shaping Western theology. His sermons, numbering over 8,000, addressed grace, original sin, and predestination, influencing Catholic and Protestant doctrine. Unmarried after conversion, he lived ascetically, founding a monastic community. His debates with Pelagians and Donatists refined church teaching. Augustine’s words, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You,” reflect his spiritual depth. His writings, translated globally, remain foundational to Christian thought, blending philosophy and faith.
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St. Augustine preaches about the universal praise of the Lord, calling on all nations to worship Him. He emphasizes the significance of God's merciful kindness and enduring truth, urging listeners to remember and internalize these qualities. Augustine highlights how God's kindness continues to increase towards His people, leading even hostile nations to acknowledge His Name. He concludes by affirming the eternal nature of God's truth, whether in His promises to the righteous or His warnings to the ungodly.
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Exposition on Psalm 117
1. O praise the Lord, all you heathen: praise Him, all you nations Psalm 116:1. These are the courts of the Lord's house, this all His people, this the true Jerusalem. Let those rather listen who have refused to be the children of this city, since they have cut themselves off from the communion of all nations. For His merciful kindness is ever more and more towards us: and the truth of the Lord endures for ever Psalm 116:2. These are those two things, loving-kindness and truth, which in the CXVth Psalm I admonished you should be committed to memory. But the merciful kindness of the Lord is ever more and more towards us, since the furious tongues of hostile nations have yielded to His Name, through which we have been freed: and the truth of the Lord endures for ever, whether in those things which He promised to the righteous, or in those which He has threatened to the ungodly.
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Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430). Early Church Father, bishop, and theologian born in Thagaste, Numidia (modern Algeria), to a pagan father, Patricius, and Christian mother, Monica. Educated in rhetoric at Carthage, he embraced Manichaeism and lived a hedonistic life, fathering a son, Adeodatus, with a concubine. Converted in 386 in Milan under Ambrose’s preaching, inspired by a child’s voice saying, “Take up and read,” he was baptized in 387. Ordained in 391, he became Bishop of Hippo Regius in 395, serving until his death. Augustine wrote over 100 works, including Confessions (397), a spiritual autobiography, and City of God (426), defending Christianity against pagan critics, shaping Western theology. His sermons, numbering over 8,000, addressed grace, original sin, and predestination, influencing Catholic and Protestant doctrine. Unmarried after conversion, he lived ascetically, founding a monastic community. His debates with Pelagians and Donatists refined church teaching. Augustine’s words, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You,” reflect his spiritual depth. His writings, translated globally, remain foundational to Christian thought, blending philosophy and faith.