Category Archives: Patristiblogging

Formerly NAPLAM – For Patristibloggers – blog posts concerning the Fathers of the Church

PODCAzT 47: Augustine on how to pray; how to treat newcomers at the older Mass

Today St. Augustine (+430) talks to us about how to prayer, especially in light of the Our Father.  We take an excerpt from his letter 130 to an elderly Roman widow, Proba, who was refugee in North Africa after Alaric … Read More

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Where is St. Jerome’s body?

I posted this last year.  But I put so much work into it that it deserves recycling. Some time ago, there was a discussion on one of our splendid Catholic blogs making mention of the burial place of St. Jerome … Read More

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PODCAzT 45: Augustine on pastors; my Motu Proprio sermon in England; chapel veils

It has been almost a month since the last PODCAzT.  My travels and time restrictions have kept me busy.  But today we listen to St. Augustine of Hippo talk about shepherds in union with Christ. Also, I have provided a … Read More

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Jerome on fatigue in work

My state in life as a writer: Why, we yawn if we read for over an hour; we rub our foreheads and vainly try to suppress our languor. And then, after this great feat, we plunge for relief into worldly … Read More

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29 August: Beheading of St. John the Baptist… “decreased”… by the sword

Today is the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist. I consider this (also) my name day, and in a way it is even more appropriate than the Nativity of John in June! Here is the Roman Martyrology entry … Read More

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Augustine’s bones

Augustine died on 28 August 430. His friend and biographer Possidius describes his last days during the siege of Hippo by the Vandals. Sometime before the early 8th century, Augustine’s remains were translated from N. Africa to Sardinia for fear … Read More

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PODCAzT 44: St. Monica dies, Augustine weeps; Pope Benedict greets American seminarians

Today we hear from our frequent guest, St. Augustine of Hippo who speaks to us about the death of his mother, St. Monnica in 357 at Ostia, the port of Rome.  Augustine describes his mother’s life and death in Book … Read More

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St. Monica – avoided alcoholism

From Serge Lancel’s Augustine, the best biography I know of the great Bishop of Hippo (p. 8 ff – emphases mine): Before devoting himself entirely to Mother Church, as he approached the age of forty, Augustine had had a concubine … Read More

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27 August: St. Monica, widow – her tomb

This is the chapel in the church of St. Augustine in Rome (literally across the street from my back door) where the mortal remains of St. Monica (+387), the mother of Augustine of Hippo now rest.  To the right is … Read More

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Augustine on waiting for web pages to download

Have you ever felt like a webpage takes forever to download?? Did you know that St. Augustine reflected on waiting for web pages to download?  Well… sort of. Well… not really. He does, however, reflect on the concept of time … Read More

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