St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer

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How can I pray better?
How do I know God hears my prayers?
How can I ‘pray always,’ as Jesus commands?
Why must I ask for things God already knows I need?

Such were the questions that perplexed a young North African man, Augustine Aurelius (354-430), whose intense yearning for God led him into a profound and lifelong encounter with Christ in prayer.

There Augustine found answers to these questions and to countless more — answers not grounded in his own brilliance, but in prayer itself.

In time, Augustine became a bishop and a Father of the Church, and has long been numbered among her saints. Yet of all the Church’s saints, not one expresses the longing for God more beautifully, or explores the nature of prayer more helpfully, than St. Augustine. His words speak to us today as freshly as they did to his contemporaries.

St. Augustine wrote many books, but never one devoted to prayer alone. Indeed, his teachings on prayer are scattered in many places. So from over 200 works, Fr. Cliff Ermatinger has gathered and translated Augustine’s teachings on prayer, and now presents them here in a simple question-and-answer format. What emerges is nothing less than a rich new “catechism on prayer” by one of the Church’s greatest saints.

Not just a catechism on prayer, but a book for meditation.

St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer is not an apologetics book.  It is also not merely a book for those seeking answers to questions such as “what is prayer?” or “how are we supposed to pray always?”  These questions are indeed answered by St. Augustine, but this paperback should be used for meditation.  The editor, Fr. Cliff Ermatinger, ED., has put the work together in such a way that as you work your way through the book, it draws deeper into a life of prayer.  You should not read this book straight through.  The read would be better served by selecting one question or even a chapter to use Full Review...

St. Augustine of Hippo

Feast Day: Roman Rite Calendar - 08/28 Tridentine Calendar - 08/28 Patron Of: Brewers, Eyes, Printers, Theologians Also Known As     Aurelius Augustinus     Doctor of Grace Memorial     28 August Profile     His father was a pagan who converted on his death bed; his mother was Saint Monica, a devout Christian. Trained in Christianity, he lost his faith in youth and led a wild life. Lived with a Carthaginian woman from the age of 15 through 30. Fathered a son whom he named Adeotadus, which means the gift of God. Taught rhetoric at Carthage and Milan. After investigating and experimenting with several philosophies, he became a Manichaean for several years; it taught of a great struggle between good and evil, and featured a lax moral code. A summation of his thinking at the time comes from his Confessions: "God, give me chastity and continence - but not just now."     Augustine finally broke with the Manichaeans and was converted by the prayers of his mother and the help of Saint Ambrose of Milan, who baptized him. On the death of his mother he returned to Africa, sold his property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and founded a monastery. Monk. Priest. Preacher. Bishop of Hippo in 396. Founded religious communities. Fought Manichaeism, Donatism, Pelagianism and other heresies. Oversaw his church and his see during the fall of the Roman Empire to the Vandals. Doctor of the Church. His later thinking can also be summed up in a line from his writings:         Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you. Born     13 November 354 at Tagaste, Numidia, North Africa (Souk-Ahras, Algeria) as Aurelius Augustinus Died     28 August 430 at Hippo Canonized     Pre-Congregation Patronage     brewers     Bridgeport, Connecticut, diocese of     Cagayan de Oro, Philippines     Ida, Philippines, diocese of     Isleta Indian Pueblo     Kalamazoo Michigan, diocese of     printers     Saint Augustine, Florida, city of     Saint Augustine, Florida, diocese of     sore eyes     Superior, Wisconsin, diocese of     theologians     Tucson, Arizona, diocese of     Valletta, Malta All information used with permission of the Patron Saint Index.

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