Saints

Bishop and doctor of the church, Augustine was born in Tagaste, Algeria, in 354. The son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, St Monica, he was brought up a Christian but not baptised. Augustine studied rhetoric at Carthage and became a lawyer, but he gave this up and took up teaching and further study. For nine years he was absorbed by philosophy and Manichaeism, completely rejecting Chris... Read More

Most information about Monica comes from the writings of her son, St Augustine. He was the eldest of the three children she had with her husband Patricius. The family lived in Tagaste, North Africa, and family life could not have been easy, because by all reports, Patricius was a violent and bad tempered man. He died in 371 when Monica was just 40 and Augustine was a difficult 18 year-old. Reje... Read More

Most information about John the Baptist comes from the Gospels. The Roman historian Josephus also mentions him. He was the son of Zachariah a Temple priest and Elizabeth, a quite old cousin of the Virgin Mary. An angel foretold his birth, adding that he would prepare people for the Lord. Scriptures tell us that when Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, came to visit Elizabeth, the infant John leapt ... Read More