St. Augustine, Chastity, and Clarity

Today, August 28, is the feast day of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. The 1962 Roman Missal summarizes the life of St. Augustine as follows:

“Augustine, born at Tagaste (Africa) in 354, was the son of St. Monica and of a pagan father, Patricius. His mind was ensnared by errors and his soul and body corrupted by debauchery and impurity. Converted by the prayers of his mother, he became one of the most famous Doctors of the West and a Father of the Church. He died after an episcopate of 36 years at Hippo (Africa) in 430.”

Augustine is well known for his Confessions, in which he tells of his sinful past life, his conversion, and his deep love for God. In Book II, Chapter 1, he relates:

“I want to call back to mind my past impurities and the carnal corruptions of my soul, not because I love them; but so that I may love you, my God. It is for the love of your love that I do it, going back over those most wicked ways of mine in the bitterness of my recollection so that the bitterness may be replaced by the sweetness of you, O unfailing sweetness, happy sweetness and secure! And gathering myself together from the scattered fragments into which I was broken and dissipated during all that time when, being turned away from you, the One, I lost myself in the distractions of the Many.”

What St. Augustine is saying in the quoted passage, simply put, is that impurity fragments a person, damaging his intellect, will, and ability to govern himself. Chastity, on the other hand, re-integrates the individual who has been broken into “scattered fragments” by sexual sin. It is impossible to overstate the significance of these words of St. Augustine for our time, when many -- young and old alike -- are so damaged by the wantonness that pervades 21st century life and so deluded by the media that they are unable to think clearly enough to recognize their condition, much less its cause. Reflection on the life of St. Augustine brings consolation, since chastity and God’s grace produced in Augustine such intellectual clarity that he became one of the greatest Doctors of the Church.

Image: Martini’s “Augustine” (1325), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

St. Louis IX, King of France, and the Fleur-de-lis

August 25 is the feast day of St. Louis IX, king of France.  This brings to mind the fleur-de-lis, a stylized image of a lily,* which has come to represent France and especially French monarchs

The French phrase fleur de lis means literally “flower of the lily”. The lily is associated with the Virgin Mary and her purity, and with the Archangel Gabriel, the angel of the Annunciation. The three petals can be seen as standing for the Holy Trinity. During the reign of King Louis IX they also came to represent faith, wisdom, and chivalry. This is not surprising since King Louis (1215-1270) was a monarch endowed with those virtues.

King Louis spent long hours in prayer, singing the Divine Office daily as if he were a monk. He fasted and fed beggars at his table. He did penance and cared for lepers. King Louis led Crusades from 1248-1249 and in 1270. He died near Tunis during the 1270 crusade. At Tradition in Action, Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira discusses the attribute of wisdom found in St. Louis IX:

“Our Lady was the Seat of Wisdom and was always seeking to increase her knowledge, love and service of God. “This virtue is demanded of kings, governors, and anyone who exercises some form of power. A king without wisdom loses his people. When he has wisdom, he saves his people, and is the glory of his people. For a man without wisdom, power becomes an instrument of his perdition.

“Hence, we can understand the magnificent eulogy Scriptures made of the wise king. He leads peoples and things to their last end, which is God. This is the ultimate meaning of his kingship.

“What we admire in St. Louis, King of France, is the model of a wise man placed on the throne to govern his kingdom.”

In 1297, less than thirty years after King Louis’ death, Pope Boniface VIII raised him to the altar as a Catholic saint, and we celebrate his feast day today, August 25. 

 Image: Toison D’or le Roi de France [Golden Fleece King of France] from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain. 

 *There is some controversy over whether the fleur-de-lis represents a lily or a yellow flag iris. Given the importance of the lily in religious iconography, however, the better view is that it represents the lily.

St. Bartholomew and His Star

August 24 is the feast day of St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles and a martyr. According to the flower calendar in the Collectanea of V.S. Lean, the sunflower becomes a star for the feast of St. Bartholomew: 

"And yet anon the full Sun-flower blew,* And became a star for Bartholomew" 

 

It is not entirely clear whether this metaphor for reaching full bloom (or detaching and becoming airborne) is a Roman Catholic or an Anglican tradition. Some sources claim it was already an existing tradition in 15th or 16th century, which would likely place its origin at a time prior to Anglicanism. On the other hand, many sources say the sunflower was not brought to Europe until the 16th century, after Pizarro discovered it in Peru, so there could hardly have been an existing tradition before that time. In any event, Ward and Lovejoy relate:

"The Old English church recommended decorating with the sunflower on St. Bartholomew's day, 24 August, because it represented constancy and devotion [.]"

And Forster says:

"The sunflower is called in the Floral Directory, St. Bartholomew's Star".

See also Gemma's post Summer Yet Solemn for some beautiful sunflower arrangements.

Sources: Forster, Circle of the Seasons (T. Hookham, London, 1828), p. 237. Ward and Lovejoy, A Contemplation Upon Flowers (Timber Press, 1999), p. 347.

 Image: A sunflower in Germany, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved. ---------------------- 

*Some sources substitute "below" and others substitute "flew"