Journeying With The Saints

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to hear for the first time about St. Augustine's mistress. I think that's one of the things most people know about him is that he had one and she bore him a son.

I think it will be good to hear about what was going on in his mind. Let's read from Book Four, Chapter Two which starts on page 71.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to Book Four. In this book, St. Augustine will be back in Thagaste his birth place and he becomes a teacher of rhetoric. What is a teacher of rhetoric you may ask? Well, rhetoric is the art, study, and practice of effective, persuasive communication through writing, speech, or images. This is a very Greek practice and we know that there was high hopes for Augustine to become a great speech giver. His parents were hoping for an excellent Ted Talker.

So, we will be reading from Book Four, Chapter One and that is on page 71.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Congratulations on finishing Book Three today! We are making headway and learning a lot from the Doctor. So, let's jump in by opening to page 69 and reading from Book Three, Chapter Twelve.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Augustine is going to talk a lot about his momma, St. Monica. I know that many of you mothers out there have a deep devotion to her and I think you are going to enjoy hearing more about their relationship. We will be reading from Book Three, Chapter 11 on page 68.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. We have a short reading today that will make zero sense if you don't understand the teachings of Manichaeism. So, this is another one of those days where we are going to learn just a little bit before we read, so that you get what St. Augustine is saying.

Video:

https://youtu.be/IJJyuVn7nsw?si=20wKMPNKvQwCRZlr

Article:

https://www.monergism.com/manichaeism

Hello, my fellow Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are reading from Book Three, Chapter Nine. Let's go ahead and open to page 66 and begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I get a lot of messages from people that have finished other seasons and they thank me for helping them to get through whatever book it is that they just finished. Most often, they tell me that they had tried to read the book before, but they had just sat down with it and tried to devour it and then got frustrated.

I completely understand this. It's how I felt when I first picked up St. Faustina's Diary. I just tried to hurry through it and nothing was sticking. I've found that reading these Saint books is like appreciating a fine glass of wine. You can't chug it, you need to sip and sit with it, enjoy conversation, think, ponder, and relish the complexity.

As we get into the book, the readings are going to get heavier, denser, more deep. We can't let that scare us away. Just trust the process of a little at a time, with a short reflection, and time to think.

Let's get started today reading from Book Three, Chapter Eight on page 64.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have such a good reading today. It's longer and meatier, but so very relatable. I don't want to waste time on this side, so let's get started by turning to 62 to read from Book Three, Chapter Seven.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Book Three, Chapter Six. Today, we are going to do things a bit differently. I'm going to give my thoughts, or rather, a teaching, before the reading and not after.

The reason for this, is because St. Augustine is going to introduce us to his involvement with the Manichees and I think it's really important for us to understand who they were and what they were all about. If we don't understand Manichaeism this chapter isn't going to be vague and confusing.

Video on Manichaeism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJJyuVn7nsw

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today is a very short reading, but we hear about how St. Augustine picks up the Bible to see what it's all about. We will be reading from Book Three, Chapter Five, and that is found on page 60.