Category Archives: Patristiblogging

My state in life as a writer: Why, we yawn if we read for over an hour; we rub our foreheads and vainly try to suppress our languor. And then, after this great feat, we plunge for relief into worldly … Read More →

Today is the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist. I consider this (also) my name day, and in a way it is even more appropriate than the Nativity of John in June! Here is the Roman Martyrology entry … Read More →

Augustine died on 28 August 430. His friend and biographer Possidius describes his last days during the siege of Hippo by the Vandals. Sometime before the early 8th century, Augustine’s remains were translated from N. Africa to Sardinia for fear … Read More →

From Serge Lancel’s Augustine, the best biography I know of the great Bishop of Hippo (p. 8 ff – emphases mine): Before devoting himself entirely to Mother Church, as he approached the age of forty, Augustine had had a concubine … Read More →

This is the chapel in the church of St. Augustine in Rome (literally across the street from my back door) where the mortal remains of St. Monica (+387), the mother of Augustine of Hippo now rest.  To the right is … Read More →

Have you ever felt like a webpage takes forever to download?? Did you know that St. Augustine reflected on waiting for web pages to download?  Well… sort of. Well… not really. He does, however, reflect on the concept of time … Read More →