“Give me chastity and continency, only not yet.”
Today, August 28, is the Roman Catholic feast day of St.
Augustine, commemorated on the day of his death in 430 AD.
Augustine was born in the Roman city of Thagaste, (Souk
Ahras, Algeria) and died in Hippo, now known as Annaba, Algeria. Annaba is on the Mediterranean Sea
about 350 miles east of Algiers, and Souk Ahras is about 50 miles south of
Annaba.
Augustine was both educated and taught school in his
hometown area, before going to Carthage for further education. Carthage was also on the Mediterranean,
about 175 miles east of Souk Ahras.
In Augustine’s era, eastern Algeria and northern Tunisia were part of
the Roman client-kingdom of Numidia, with its capital at Constantine, Algeria,
formerly known as Cirta. It was
renamed for the Emperor Constantine and still retains the name.
Augustine eventually left Carthage to study in Rome. He was offered a position in Milan, and
while in Milan he converted to Christianity and returned to his native Annaba,
where in mid-life he became bishop.
(He died at 75)
I had to read the “Confessions of St. Augustine” when I was
in college, most of which I forget.
But I’ve always remembered the part I’ve quoted at the top. He seems to have led an interesting
life in Carthage. In the
“Confessions” Augustine recounts events of his youth, like being urged to
engage promiscuously in sexual adventures and bragging about them with his
buddies. He had an
illegitimate son. The more expanded
quote: “Give me chastity and
continency, only not yet. For I
feared lest Thou shouldest hear me soon, and soon cure me of the disease of
concupiscence, which I wished to have satisfied, rather than extinguished.”
So Happy Feastday, St. Augustine.
