Constant Prayer of St. Augustine
Fr. Jan of St. Bruno, OCD
Several years ago, I attempted to bring closer a small part of the wealth hidden in the tradition of Eastern Christianity with an article May they meditate on the law of the Lord day and night and watch in prayer.1 My intention at that time was to point out one possible understanding of constant prayer. The contribution now presented,2 aims to contribute to the same topic, this time from the perspective of the Western tradition, specifically from the viewpoint of one of its most prominent representatives - St. Augustine. I believe that even those of us who draw inspiration primarily from Carmelite spirituality can benefit from a deeper acquaintance with the spiritual heritage of the Church Fathers, whose legacy is the wealth of the entire Church, regardless of the various later spiritual currents and schools.
The first part of the article will present the development of Augustine's life of prayer, while the second and third will reflect on his theological insights on the topic of prayer.
St. Augustine – a spiritual author?
We most often associate the name of St. Augustine with his profound philosophical and theological insights. While for centuries he significantly influenced the theology and spiritual life of the Christian West, today he is often received with great caution and sometimes even rejected for his overly pessimistic view of humanity, which, as it may seem, does not correspond to today's feelings. In this contribution, we would like to try to present Augustine primarily as a man and teacher of prayer. Although he did not write many works that we would perceive today as purely "spiritual reading," he remains one of the greatest figures of Western spirituality. Prayer and spiritual life permeated his thinking, in which we can often see the reflection of his inner struggles. I therefore believe that a deeper acquaintance with Augustine as a man of prayer can help us better understand some elements of his theology. Before we reach the period of Augustine's maturity and attempt to reconstruct his vision of "constant prayer," let us briefly recall how the prayer and faith life of this saint looked, both in the period before his definitive conversion and after it, especially during his years of priestly and episcopal service.
Prayer in the period before definitive conversion
Augustine's first teacher of prayer was undoubtedly his mother Monica.3 Augustine recalls in his Confessions his childhood prayers: “Thus I, a child, began to pray to you, my helper and my refuge. You loosened my tongue, and thus I cried out to you, though small, yet not with a small desire, to be spared the teacher's blows.”4 However, Monica's direct influence did not last very long. Already after completing basic studies in his native Tagaste, he went to study grammar in Madaura, twenty-five kilometers away, from which he returned in 370 at the age of sixteen. A year later, he went to Carthage for the first time to continue studying rhetoric there. The influence of pagan culture, which was the content of his studies, and the charm of sensuality, to which he succumbed at that time, never completely erased the memory of God or a certain awareness of His closeness from his heart, as he later recalls: “Sometimes I believed more vividly, sometimes less, but I always believed that you are and that you care for us, even though I did not rightly know your essence, nor the way that leads us back to you.”5 His heart was however divided between God and the desire for pleasure, which was reflected in the content of his prayers, of which he again testifies himself: “I, a wretched youth, had already asked you at the beginning of my youth for purity, saying: 'Give me purity and chastity, but not yet.' For I was afraid that you would not hear me too quickly and immediately heal me from the disease of my lust, which I wished to satisfy rather than subdue.”6
Augustine could not fully free himself from lust until his definitive conversion in the year 386. However, from the age of nineteen, it was no longer lust that dictated the direction of his life. He experienced during these years the first and perhaps most important turning point in his life, a kind of philosophical conversion that led him on a path of searching for truth. The event was provoked by reading Cicero's Hortensius, which he encountered according to the usual study schedule: “That book changed my affection, turned my prayers to you, Lord, gave an entirely different direction to my wishes and longings. All vain hopes suddenly disgusted me, and with an incredible zeal of heart, I burned for immortal wisdom, so that I began to rise up to return to you.”7 The subsequent years of adherence to the Manichaean sect were part of this search for wisdom, as Augustine was convinced at that time that the Catholic Church did not offer answers to the questions that troubled him and that instead imposed fideism on believers.8 For our theme, it is important that Augustine seemingly sought in the Manichaeans a deeper spiritual dimension and a kind of human closeness, which he apparently found difficult to find in the Carthaginian Church, weakened by the Donatist schism.
However, as the years passed, he realized that even Manichaeanism did not provide answers to his uncertainties, but rather he was sinking into contradictions, Augustine fell into another crisis, which, however, helped him to reveal one of the key elements for his vision of Christian prayer, namely his own inner self. He describes the bitterness and pain that the search for truth in external things caused him before: “I feverishly sought the origin of evil. What suffering for what arose in my heart, what cries, my God! Yet you were there to hear them; I just did not know it. When I sought in silence, the loud cries of my heart rose before you, ascending to your mercy. You knew my suffering, but no one among men did. I revealed only a small part of my anguish to my closest friends. But could they hear the cry of my spirit when neither time nor words were sufficient to express it? Yet all the groans of my heart reached your hearing. Before you was all my desire, but the light of my eyes was not with me. It was within me, but I was outside. It was not in space while I only observed the things that were contained in space. Yet I found no place to rest.”9 However, God did not leave Augustine's sincere desire for truth unanswered, and just as at nineteen, he now illuminated him through a means related to the young man's life, namely through the writings of the Neoplatonists, especially Plotinus and Porphyry: “Admonished by these books, I entered into my innermost self. I could do this because you became my helper. I entered and saw with the eye of my soul and above my reason the unchangeable light.”10 It was no longer the light contained in the books themselves that touched Augustine. The books were merely a means, but the light was God himself, who dwells “above” man yet is recognized by man within himself. Augustine was thus pointed out the way to a truth that is personal and allows one to rest in one's own self. In the following years, he gradually realized that this one truth could fulfill man's life: “You have created us, God, for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”11
Neoplatonism and ancient philosophy in general played the role of a kind of “Old Testament” in Augustine's life. However, a decisive step still needed to be made, a step toward Christ. Augustine was aware of many similarities, but also differences between philosophy and the gospel. The most important difference was the presence or absence of "the foolishness of the cross": “(In the books of the Platonists) I read, even though not in the very words (...): In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). (...) Yet it does not say that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). (...) Nor that he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7).12 The effect that reading produced in Augustine's soul was also different. While the writings of the Neoplatonists led him to pride, the words of Scripture brought him to humility: “I spoke as an expert, but if I had been in Christ, our Redeemer, looking for the way to you, I would have perished in that knowledge.”13 (...) “I also found that what I read that was true in the books of the Platonists is here (in the New Testament), thanks to your grace, expressed in such a way that no one who sees should boast as if he has not received” (1 Corinthians 4:7).14
Conversion and baptism
The moments of definitive decision to follow Christ are depicted in the Confessions in the eighth book. Just as in the previous turning points of Augustine's life, it was again a book that prompted the subsequent process, this time it was the Life of St. Anthony of Egypt by St. Athanasius.15 This book was introduced to Augustine and his friend Alypius by Pontician, an African by origin, who served in the imperial palace.16 I believe that the entire passage concerning the conversion is essentially a prayer. It is a dialogue with God, who first speaks through the biography of St. Anthony and later through a sign,17 which refers Augustine to Sacred Scripture. Augustine himself responds with profound examination of conscience and subsequent decision for the truth that has now been clearly revealed to him.
“The day came when I stood naked before myself, and my conscience told me: Where is your eloquence? You said that you refuse to forsake all vanity for uncertainty about the truth. (...) What have I not reproached myself? With what blows have I not scourged my soul to follow me in my effort to walk in your footsteps! (...) All objections were refuted. Nothing remained but silent anguish. My soul feared as death that it would be torn from the flow of the evil habit, which had been withering away to death.”18 However, at this moment, it was as if abstinence itself spoke to Augustine, revealing its secret: “I had the impression that she was smiling at me, with a smile that was both mocking and encouraging, saying: Could you not also do what these men and women do? Do they have strength in themselves or in the Lord, their God? The Lord, their God, gives me to them. Why do you rely on yourself when you cannot rely on yourself? Throw yourself in full trust into God. He will not withdraw so that you fall.”19 The moment that definitively inspired Augustine with the courage to embark on the path of Christ was the event following the aforementioned "take and read" prompt: “From a neighboring house, I heard a voice like a boy or girl singing and repeating: Take, read! Take, read!”20 He therefore read a page from Scripture that he randomly opened: “Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy, but rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:13). From then on, he did not need to read further: “There was no need. For as soon as I read this sentence, the light of certainty pierced my heart and all the darkness of doubt dispersed.”21
If we set aside his childhood, we have followed Augustine thus far, who prayed rather implicitly, not yet fully consciously and with commitment.22 Now begins an epoch that will last for the rest of his life, where he will consciously dedicate a part of the day to prayer, where prayer will become an integral part of his intellectual life and quest for wisdom and where he will also theologically reflect on questions related to prayer. The first “stop” on this life journey was his stay at the estate of Cassiciacum, where he prepared for baptism and at the same time, together with friends, mother, and son, engaged in philosophy and prayer. Here the day began and ended with prayer, Augustin himself usually dedicated half the night to contemplation.23 A rich source that nourished his spiritual life during this time was the psalms, which directed his life toward God and provided him comfort: “With what cries I turned to you, my God, when I read the psalms of David, these songs of faith, a voice of piety, so different from the proud way of thinking. (...) In the innermost chamber of my heart (...), after I had confided in you, I began to meditate on my renewal. And here you made me taste your sweetness for the first time and you placed joy in my heart. I burst into exultation when I understood the truths I read within. I no longer wanted to accumulate earthly goods, to gulp them down and be consumed by them, while I found in your eternal simplicity other grain, wine, and oil.”24 Life at Cassiciacum also definitively united Augustine with his mother, St. Monica, whose wisdom, borne from many years of practicing the Christian life, complemented and confirmed what Augustine and his companions pondered in philosophical discussions.
After a period of spiritual preparation at Cassiciacum, Augustine returned to Milan, where on the Easter vigil from April 24 to 25, 387, he was baptized by St. Ambrose.25 Thus, he definitively parted from his life of sin and again experienced the touches of grace: “We were baptized, and all the restlessness caused by our past life disappeared. In those days, I could not get enough of contemplating the greatness and depth of the plans of salvation you have for humanity. I shed many tears when I listened to the hymns and songs that resounded in your house! (...) Their words penetrated my ears, bringing truth into my heart and creating a fervent zeal of piety.”26
The group that formed around Augustine sought to continue their communal life. The best realizable plan seemed to be in Africa, so they decided to leave Milan and settle in Augustine's native Tagaste. Before this, specifically while waiting for a ship in Ostia near Rome, two important events for Augustine occurred. One was his ecstatic experience in the company of St. Monica. It took place during a shared conversation between the two saints about eternal happiness, and they were given a brief taste of what they were discussing together.27 The second important event was Monica's death a few days after this ecstasy, which profoundly affected Augustine.28 Since the mentioned ecstasy has great significance for the saint's teaching on prayer, we will return to it in connection with reflections on constant prayer.29
In the years of priestly and episcopal service
Augustine's community initially settled in Tagaste. Possidius30 describes the main purpose of this way of life with the words vivere Deo, meaning a life lived fully for God and in God, while Augustine himself expresses it with the term deificari in otio, which could be loosely translated as the effort for union with God in the calm of contemplative life. This did not completely exclude apostolic activity, yet as Augustine’s reputation spread to the point that this life began to seem burdensome, he sought refuge for the community in Hippo (his future episcopal see). Here, however, he was essentially ordained as a priest by compulsion, in a way that today seems hard to believe.31 Even after his priestly and subsequent episcopal ordination, however, he did not intend to give up monastic life. The old bishop Valerius, Augustine's ordainer, even gave him land to continue his community life project. In Hippo, a distinct form of monastic life gradually took shape: a monastery of clerics who sought to unite the life of prayer with apostolic and pastoral activity.32 We can infer the way of life in prayer during this period indirectly, especially based on Augustine's reflection on the topic. The rule, which surely draws from the life lived in this house, is brief but does refer to the necessity of both community and personal prayer: “Unceasingly strive for prayer at the appointed times. The oratory should serve only the purpose for which it was built and which gave it its name.33 For if someone wished to pray during free time, beyond the appointed hours, let him not be prevented by anyone who would wish to employ the oratory for other purposes.”34
Possidius rather extensively describes the last months of Augustine's life, to which he dedicates almost a third of his biography. Apart from the portrayal of dramatic events associated with the invasion of the barbarians who besieged the city where the saint was dying, his prayer and penance is also described, to which he devoted all his time in the last ten days: “During his last illness (...) he had penitential psalms of David written for him, and while lying in bed, he looked at these sheets placed on the opposite wall, read them, and wept bitterly (...) Ten days before his death, he asked us present not to allow anyone to enter his room outside the hours when doctors came to visit him or when food was brought to him. His will was respected, and he devoted this entire time to prayer.”35
