Born/died - 13 November 354 – 28 August 430

St Augustine is the patron saint of brewers. When he was a young man he loved wild parties. His mother became a saint, St Monica and his father was a roman leader in North Africa in the 400's AD.

At 16 he went to University in Carthage and was a gifted student but he had far too much fun for the next ten years.

Then one day he heard Bishop (St) Ambrose speak about Jesus. He and his best friend Alipius were changed by St Ambrose's words and later St Augustine had a revelation from God and converted to Christianity fully in 387.

Augustine was baptised, became a priest, a bishop, a famous Catholic writer, a founder of religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. He became very devout and charitable, too. On the wall of his room he had the following sentence written in large letters:

"Here we do not speak evil of anyone."

Interesting facts:

St Augustine was the Bishop of Hippo when the Visigoth barbarians attacked and sacked Rome in 410. Many people believed that civilisation was about to come to an end but Augustine’s writings helped to stabilise things.

In 439AD the Vandal barbarians invaded North Africa and seiged the city of Hippo where Augustine lived. He locked himself in his room with all his writings and prayed until he died. 1 year later the Vandals overran the city.

Today St Augustine is known as one of the Doctors of the Church and one of the greatest writers in history.

Lord

This is our school.

Help us to make it a friendly place.

Let the rooms be full of happiness

let love be here

love for God

love for one another

and love for being alive.

Help us always to remember

that by working together

we can build a school of which we can all be proud.

Amen