Daily Prayers for August 28
Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)
One of the greatest influences on the theology of Western Christianity, Augustine wanted from a young age to understand the meaning of life and the nature of good and evil. As a teacher, he sought answers to these questions through the best philosophy of his day. Although his mother, Monica, had instructed him in the Christian faith, he was not originally drawn to the tradition, but later found a depth and wisdom in Christianity to explain the question of evil and good. The famous story of Augustine’s conversion involves an experience in a garden in Milan. Torn between living a life of chastity and remembering his former life of sin, he prayed for forgiveness and immediately heard the voice of a child singing from a neighboring house, “Take up and read!” He picked up a book of St. Paul’s epistles left nearby, and the words he found there changed him forever. After his baptism, Augustine moved to North Africa to pursue a monastic life, but he was urged by the church to become ordained and was later made bishop of Hippo, where he served for thirty-five years. Augustine has rightly been criticized for silencing some important voices in his own day and passing on a harmful view of the body. He was not perfect, but he himself insisted that grace is the heart of our faith.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “It Is Well with My Soul”
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new : late have I loved you!
Psalm 132:14 – 19
For the Lord has chosen Zion : he has desired her for his habitation:
“This shall be my resting place for ever : here will I dwell, for I delight in her.
I will surely bless her provisions : and satisfy her poor with bread.
I will clothe her priests with salvation : and her faithful -people will rejoice and sing.
There will I make the horn of David flourish : I have prepared a lamp for my Anointed.
As for his enemies, I will clothe them with shame : but as for him, his crown will shine.”
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new : late have I loved you!
2 Sam-uel 12:15 – 31 Romans 11:1 – 12
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new : late have I loved you!
Augustine of Hippo said, “Let us leave a little room for reflection in our lives, room too for silence. Let us look within ourselves and see whether there is some delightful hidden place inside where we can be free of noise and argument. Let us hear the Word of God in stillness and perhaps we will then come to understand it.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Teach us to listen, Lord. Quiet the noise of our lives so we can hear your voice. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
