Blessed Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo

Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354–430), was one of the greatest Latin Church Fathers, a theologian, philosopher, and Teacher of the Church. Born in Tagaste, North Africa, to a pagan father, Patricius, and a devout Christian mother, St. Monica, he lived a dissolute youth and was drawn to Manichaeism before being baptized in Milan in 387 under the influence of St. Ambrose's preaching and his mother's prayers.

Ordained a priest in 391 and consecrated Bishop of Hippo in 395, he served as bishop for 35 years, tirelessly combating the Donatist, Manichaean, and Pelagian heresies while defending the doctrine of divine grace. He left an immense literary legacy — over 1,000 works — the most celebrated being his autobiographical "Confessions" and "The City of God."

His writings decisively shaped the entire subsequent course of Western Christian theology. In Orthodox tradition he is venerated with the title "Blessed" (unlike the Western tradition, which calls him a hierarch/bishop-saint); his commemoration falls on June 15/28.