Strange but true. St Augustine used to celebrate his birthday, which falls on November 13, with others and used to have sweets.

He used to celebrate it with his mother Monica, his son Adeodatus, his brother, Navigius, his very close friend, Alipius, cousins Rusticus and Lastidianus, disciples Licentius and Trigensius and others. This results from his book De vita beata (on the happy life).

The celebration used to be held at his house in the rustic Roman villa in Cassiciaco, today known as Cassago Brianza.

Perhaps Manlio, to whom De vita beata was dedicated, used to be there too. Manlio was a very important person in Milan. He was an imperial consul, a friend of St Ambrose and a well-known philosopher.

Augustine’s birthday celebration was quite lively. The day started with a discussion which developed for three days. The theme would be ‘Search for blessed life’,that is searchfor happiness. Augustine and his guests realised there was a spiritual feast that nourished the soul.

There was food too, to nourish the body, the cake having been prepared either by Augustine’s mother or somebody else. It was made of honey, spelt flour and almonds.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.