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SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
Augustine (354–430), a Latin Church father, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. When the Western Roman Empire was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the church as a spiritual City of God, after which he authored a book by the same name. In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and preeminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order. His memorial is celebrated August 28, the day of his death. Among the Orthodox, he is called “Blessed Augustine,” or “Saint Augustine the Blessed.” His spiritual challenges are familiar to many men.
Holy prayer is the column of all virtues; a ladder to God; the support of widows, the foundation of faith; the crown of religious; the sweetness of the married life.
Prayer is the protection of holy souls; a consolation for the guardian angel; an insupportable torment to the devil; a most acceptable homage to God; the best and most perfect praise for penitents and religious; the greatest honor and glory; the preserver of spiritual health.
What can be more excellent than prayer; what is more profitable to our life; what sweeter to our souls; what more sublime, in the course of our whole life, than the practice of prayer!
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He whose attitude towards Christ is correct does indeed ask “in his name” and receives what he asks for, if it is something which does not stand in the way of his salvation. He gets it, however, only when he ought to receive it, for certain things are not refused us, but their granting is delayed to a fitting time.