September 2025 Reading on St. Augustine
St. Augustine’s sermons were delivered to a different kind of congregation than we normally see in Catholic churches in the US today. In his sermons, he often thanks his congregation for their applause or asks them to calm down. Although most of his congregation would have been illiterate wage laborers, he frequently addresses them using noble Roman forms of address. This is retained in monarchies where we address the king as “your Highness” and in the Catholic Church where we address the Holy Father as “your Holiness” or Archbishop Hebda as “your Excellency” in formal settings. Augustine insists on giving his simple congregation the formal address of “caritas vestra” (“your charity”).
As Matthew 11:25 was read for the Gospel for Mass one Sunday, Augustine noted that the congregation had beat their breasts when they heard “confiteor.” The text reads, “At that time, Jesus said ‘I praise (confiteor) you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.’” “Confiteor” is a Latin word with two meanings, and it comes into play in Augustine’s autobiography, Confessions (Libri XIII Confessionum). We come across one meaning in “Confiteor Deo omnipotenti” (“I confess to almighty God”) in the beginning of Mass. In this case, “confiteor” means to “confess” or “declare.” But Augustine’s autobiography plays on this and the other meaning of “confiteor,” which means to “praise.” In his Confessions, Augustine is both confessing his sins and praising God.
We see in this opening of Sermon 67 Augustine the teacher at work, responding to the needs of his students and adjusting his lesson plan accordingly:
When the holy Gospel was read, we heard how the Lord Jesus exulted in the Spirit and said: “I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden things from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them to the little ones” (Matthew 11:25). To begin with, let’s consider the Lord’s words, taking them with great seriousness, with real care, and, above all, with great piety. And at the outset, we find that whenever we read the word “confession” in the Scripture, we ought not always to understand it as the voice of sinners. Now this especially needs to be said, to alert your Charitableness from now on about this. Because no sooner did this word come rolling out of the reader’s mouth, than there followed the sound of the beating of your breasts, naturally, because you heard what the Lord said: “I confess to you, Father.” The moment the word “I confess” (Confiteor) rang out, you all beat breasts. To beat one’s breast: What is it other than accusing what lies hidden within the breast and punishing it by thumping the hidden sin out into the open? Why did you do this? Because you heard: “I confess to you, Father.” You did hear “I confess,” but you didn’t pay attention to the One who was doing the confessing. Now, come and get turned around the right way on this. If Christ says, “I confess”- Christ, from whom every sin is far, far removed- then confessing is not only for sinners but is sometimes also for praisers. We, therefore, confess either by praising or by accusing ourselves. Both confessions are good piety, either when you, who are not without sin, blame yourself or when you praise the One who can have no sin.
