St. Austin. _Lat._ Sanctus Augustinus. _Ital._ Sant’ Agostino. _Fr._
St. Augustin. (Aug. 28, A.D. 430.)
St. Augustine, the third of the Doctors of the Church, was born
at Tagaste, in Numidia, in 354. His father was a heathen; his
mother, Monica, a Christian. Endowed with splendid talents, a vivid
imagination, and strong passions, Augustine passed his restless youth
in dissipated pleasures, in desultory studies, changing from one faith
to another, dissatisfied with himself and unsettled in mind. His
mother, Monica, wept and prayed for him, and, in the extremity of her
anguish, repaired to the bishop of Carthage. After listening to her
sorrows, he dismissed her with these words: ‘Go in peace; the son of so
many tears will not perish!’ Augustine soon afterwards went to Rome,
where he gained fame and riches by his eloquence at the bar; but he
was still unhappy and restless, nowhere finding peace either in labour
or in pleasure. From Rome he went to Milan; there, after listening for
some time to the preaching of Ambrose, he was, after many struggles,
converted to the faith, and was baptized by the bishop of Milan, in
presence of his mother, Monica. On this occasion was composed the
hymn called the ‘Te Deum,’ still in use in our Church; St. Ambrose
and St. Augustine reciting the verses alternately as they advanced to
the altar. Augustine, after some time spent in study, was ordained
priest, and then bishop of Hippo, a small town and territory not far
from Carthage. Once installed in his bishopric, he ever afterwards
refused to leave the flock intrusted to his care, or to accept of
any higher dignity. His life was passed in the practice of every
virtue: all that he possessed was spent in hospitality and charity,
and his time was devoted to the instruction of his flock, either by
preaching or writing. In 430, after he had presided over his diocese
for thirty-five years, the city of Hippo was besieged by the Vandals;
in the midst of the horrors that ensued, Augustine refused to leave
his people, and died during the siege, being then in his seventy-sixth
year. It is said that his remains were afterwards removed from Africa
to Pavia, by Luitprand, king of the Lombards. His writings in defence
of Christianity are numerous and celebrated; and he is regarded as the
patron saint of theologians and learned men.
Of his glorious tomb, in the Cathedral of Pavia, I can only say that
its beauty as a work of art astonished me. I had not been prepared for
anything so rich, so elegant in taste, and so elaborate in invention.
It is of the finest florid Gothic, worked in white marble, scarcely
discoloured by time. Augustine lies upon a bier, and angels of
exquisite grace are folding his shroud around him. The basso-relievos
represent the events of his life; the statues of the evangelists,
apostles, and other saints connected with the history of the Church,
are full of dignity and character. It comprises in all 290 figures.
This magnificent shrine is attributed by Cicognara to the Jacobelli
of Venice, and by Vasari to the two brothers Agostino and Agnolo of
Siena; but he does not speak with certainty, and the date 1362 seems to
justify the supposition of Cicognara, the Sienese brothers being then
eighty or ninety years old.
Single figures of St. Augustine are not common; and when grouped
with others in devotional pictures, it is not easy to distinguish
him from other bishops; for his proper attribute, the heart flaming
or transpierced, to express the ardour of his piety or the poignancy
of his repentance, is very seldom introduced: but when a bishop
is standing with a book in his hand, or a pen, accompanied by St.
Jerome, and with no particular attribute, we may suppose it to be
St. Augustine; and when the title of one of his famous writings is
inscribed on the book, it of course fixes the identity beyond a doubt.
1. B. Vivarini. St. Augustine seated on a throne, as patron saint,
mitred and robed; alone, stern, and majestic.[272]
2. Dosso Dossi. St. Augustine throned as patron, attended by two
angels; he looks like a jovial patriarch.[273]
3. F. Filippo Lippi. St. Augustine writing in his chamber; no emblem,
no mitre; yet the _personalité_ so marked, that one could not mistake
him either for Ambrose or Jerome.[274]
4. Andrea del Sarto. St. Augustine as doctor; before him stand St.
Dominic and St. Peter Martyr; beside him St. Laurence, listening; in
front kneel St. Sebastian and Mary Magdalen.[275]
5. V. Carpaccio. St. Augustine standing; a fine, stern, majestic
figure; he holds his book and scourge.[276]
6. Paris Bordone. The Virgin and Child enthroned; the Virgin places
on the head of St. Augustine, who kneels before her, the jewelled
mitre.[277]
7. Florigerio. St. Augustine, as bishop, and St. Monica, veiled, stand
on each side of the Madonna.[278]
* * * * *
As a _series_ of subjects, the history of St. Augustine is not
commonly met with; yet certain events in his life are of very frequent
occurrence.