St. Augustine of Hippo

Who they were

Augustine is the most documented interior life of the ancient world because he documented it himself. The Confessions is the first great autobiography, and it is addressed to God as a prayer. North African, brilliant, ambitious, he ran through philosophies, a seventeen year relationship, and a career climb to the imperial court at Milan, pursued the entire way by his mother Monica's prayers.

In a Milan garden in 386, hearing a child's voice chant take and read, he opened Paul and stopped running. Late have I loved you, he wrote, the line every late arriver knows. He went home to Africa, was drafted into the priesthood by a congregation that grabbed him at Mass, and spent thirty five years as Bishop of Hippo, producing five million surviving words that shaped Western Christianity more than anyone since Paul. He died at seventy five with the Vandals besieging his city and the psalms posted on his wall.

Why people turn to St. Augustine of Hippo

The lead patron of everyone who came to faith late, left and returned, or is still circling. He is also the standing proof behind every praying mother, which is why his page and Monica's belong to one story.

How to ask their intercession

If you are the one circling, late have I loved you is a complete prayer, and he would tell you that late still counts. If you are the one praying for a wanderer, you are doing Monica's job. Ask them both.