Bishop and Doctor of the Church · Feast day August 28
St. Augustine of Hippo
The feast day of St. Augustine of Hippo is August 28, a memorial in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of theologians, brewers, and converts. Below: a short life and 14 sourced quotations in their own words.
| Feast day | August 28 |
|---|---|
| In the US calendar | Memorial |
| Title | Bishop and Doctor of the Church |
| Died | c. 430 |
| Patron of | theologians, brewers, converts |
| In their own words | 14 sourced quotations · 1 attributed saying (source unconfirmed) |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
Born at Thagaste in Roman North Africa, Augustine spent his youth chasing pleasure and philosophy, fathering a son and joining the Manichees while his mother Monica wept and prayed. In Milan the preaching of Ambrose and a child’s voice singing ‘take and read’ broke him open; he was baptized at thirty-two.
As bishop of Hippo for thirty-five years he preached daily, answered every heresy of the age, and wrote the Confessions and The City of God — books that have shaped the Western mind ever since. He died as the Vandals besieged his city.
Patron of
Tradition invokes St. Augustine of Hippo as patron of theologians, brewers, and converts.
Saints with the same patronage
- St. John the Apostletheologians · December 27
- St. Bonifacebrewers · June 5
- St. Teresa Benedicta of the Crossconverts · August 9
- St. Helenaconverts · August 18
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In their own words
Each quotation names the work it comes from. Bless quotes these in the comments beside the verses listed under In Scripture.
Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee.
Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new; late have I loved Thee.
Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.
He who created you without you will not save you without you.
Love, and do what thou wilt.
Understand so that you may believe; believe so that you may understand.
Take up and read; take up and read.
If you understand it, it is not God.
Be what you see; receive what you are.
Two loves have made two cities: love of self unto contempt of God, and love of God unto contempt of self.
Whoever thinks he understands the Scriptures but does not build up the twofold love of God and neighbor has not yet understood them.
Thou art great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised.
For you I am a bishop; with you I am a Christian.
Hope has for its object only what is good, only what is future, and only what affects the one who hopes.
Attributed, source unconfirmed
These sayings circulate under the saint’s name, but no source has been confirmed. Bless shows them with that label.
He who sings prays twice.
In Scripture
In Bless, St. Augustine of Hippo’s words appear in the comments beside these verses. This page’s labels say how each is linked: “on this verse” means the saint wrote about that very verse; “on this theme” means the quotation shares its theme. Scripture is quoted from the Catholic Public Domain Version.
On this verse
Let us walk honestly, as in the daylight, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and sexual immorality, not in contention and envy. Instead, be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in its desires.
Romans 13:13–14 · CPDV Beside their words: “Take up and read; take up and read.”
On this verse
Most beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 · CPDV Beside their words: “Love, and do what thou wilt.”
On this theme
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.
Psalm 26:4 · CPDV Beside their words: “Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new; late have I loved Thee.”
On this theme
A Canticle Psalm. To the sons of Korah, on the second Sabbath.
The Lord is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
Psalm 47:1–2 · CPDV Beside their words: “Thou art great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised.”
On this theme
A Psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Idumea.
O God, my God: to you, I keep vigil until first light. For you, my soul has thirsted, to you my body, in so many ways.
Psalm 62:1–2 · CPDV Beside their words: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee.”
On this theme
The Lord is great and exceedingly praiseworthy. And there is no end to his greatness.
Psalm 144:3 · CPDV Beside their words: “Thou art great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised.”
On this theme
For the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you will not continue.
Isaiah 7:9 · CPDV Beside their words: “Understand so that you may believe; believe so that you may understand.”
On this theme
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, says the Lord. For just as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so also are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8–9 · CPDV Beside their words: “If you understand it, it is not God.”
19 more verses
On this theme
No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will have hatred for the one, and love the other, or he will persevere with the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 6:24 · CPDV Beside their words: “Two loves have made two cities: love of self unto contempt of God, and love of God unto…”
On this theme
Come to me, all you who labor and have been burdened, and I will refresh you.
Matthew 11:28 · CPDV Beside their words: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee.”
On this theme
Jesus said to him: “‘You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. But the second is similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the entire law depends, and also the prophets.”
Matthew 22:37–40 · CPDV Beside their words: “Whoever thinks he understands the Scriptures but does not build up the twofold love of…”
On this theme
But you must not be called Master. For One is your Master, and you are all brothers.
Matthew 23:8 · CPDV Beside their words: “For you I am a bishop; with you I am a Christian.”
On this theme
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you are able to do nothing.
John 15:5 · CPDV Beside their words: “Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.”
On this theme
For we have been saved by hope. But a hope which is seen is not hope. For when a man sees something, why would he hope? But since we hope for what we do not see, we wait with patience.
Romans 8:24–25 · CPDV Beside their words: “Hope has for its object only what is good, only what is future, and only what affects…”
On this theme
Oh, the depths of the richness of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable are his ways!
Romans 11:33 · CPDV Beside their words: “If you understand it, it is not God.”
On this theme
The love of neighbor does no harm. Therefore, love is the plenitude of the law.
Romans 13:10 · CPDV Beside their words: “Love, and do what thou wilt.”
On this theme
Through the one bread, we, though many, are one body: all of us who are partakers of the one bread.
1 Corinthians 10:17 · CPDV Beside their words: “Be what you see; receive what you are.”
On this theme
Now you are the body of Christ, and parts like any part.
1 Corinthians 12:27 · CPDV Beside their words: “Be what you see; receive what you are.”
On this theme
And so, my most beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but even more so now in my absence: work toward your salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians 2:12 · CPDV Beside their words: “He who created you without you will not save you without you.”
On this theme
For it is God who works in you, both so as to choose, and so as to act, in accord with his good will.
Philippians 2:13 · CPDV Beside their words: “Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
Let the word of Christ live in you in abundance, with all wisdom, teaching and correcting one another, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing to God with the grace in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16 · CPDV Beside their words: “He who sings prays twice.”
On this theme
This we have as an anchor of the soul, safe and sound, which advances even to the interior of the veil,
Hebrews 6:19 · CPDV Beside their words: “Hope has for its object only what is good, only what is future, and only what affects…”
On this theme
Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not apparent.
Hebrews 11:1 · CPDV Beside their words: “Understand so that you may believe; believe so that you may understand.”
On this theme
not so as to dominate by means of the clerical state, but so as to be formed into a flock from the heart.
1 Peter 5:3 · CPDV Beside their words: “For you I am a bishop; with you I am a Christian.”
On this theme
Do not choose to love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15 · CPDV Beside their words: “Two loves have made two cities: love of self unto contempt of God, and love of God unto…”
On this theme
Therefore, let us love God, for God first loved us.
1 John 4:19 · CPDV Beside their words: “Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new; late have I loved Thee.”
On this theme
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone will hear my voice and will open the door to me, I will enter to him, and I will dine with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20 · CPDV Beside their words: “He who created you without you will not save you without you.”
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. Augustine of Hippo. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. St. Augustine of Hippo keeps August 28 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of August.
All the saints of August Born on August 28? A saint for every day
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