When was the last time a Church father made you cry? Or better yet—when did you feel like one of them understood your struggles?
Saint Augustine’s Confessions is considered a theological classic, but it's also a spiritual memoir, a cry of the heart. For the Catholic woman trying to balance real life with real faith, Confessions is not just an approachable text—it’s transformative.
Why This Book Still Speaks Volumes
The Confessions isn’t an outdated text meant only for priests or scholars, it’s for anyone on their personal journey trying to reach the heart of God. It's a book about a man who tried everything to fill the void in his heart and only found the rest he sought when he trusted in the Lord. In a world of curated spirituality, Augustine gives us something countercultural: relentless pursuit of the truth and total surrender.
His sins weren’t abstract, and neither was his conversion to Catholicism. He struggled with addiction and pride for much of his young life. But by the grace of God, and the persistent prayers of his mother Saint Monica, Augustine realized that God is not looking for perfection. God meets us in our brokenness.
For Catholic women today, navigating everything from ambitions for a career to motherhood, can be quite challenging without proper guidance. That is why Confessions is a voice worth hearing. Augustine’s honesty reaches through our own lives, and his encounter with God offers a clear alternative to the superficial messages of the modern world.
God’s Mercy Is Bigger Than Our Mess
We do not often associate Saints with addiction, sexual sin, or spiritual confusion. However, Augustine dealt with all of these for a long time, in a brutally honest way. Augustine’s adolescence was marked by rebellion. He fathered a child out of wedlock, dabbled with the Manicheans and their heresies, and scorned Christianity. Yet, his surrender proves that no sin is too great for the mercy of God. We all carry stones of regret. There are things we wish we had done differently, or things we did not do. Augustine’s story reminds us that redemption is always possible.
This is felt deeply in his famous words in the Confessions: “Too late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient, O Beauty so new” (source).
If you’ve ever felt that your past disqualifies you from a deeper relationship with the Lord, Augustine refutes this lie. His transformation wasn’t about erasing his previous errors; it was about offering his life to God to redeem. Salvation is not earned through perfecting oneself, but gifted to us and received through the Sacraments and an ongoing conversion of the heart.
For Catholic women facing pressures around identity, performance, and worth, Augustine’s journey serves as a powerful reminder that sanctification is often forged through challenges. It might be helpful to use a journal alongside your reading of the Confessions. Try to spot any parallels in your life. What are you clinging to that prevents you from fully surrendering to the Lord?
Interior Transformation Is a Lifetime Journey
Even after Augustine got baptized, he still battled with doubt and desire. He struggled with spiritual dryness, something that is still so common today. His writing reflects an ongoing conversion—a turning of the heart towards the only One Who satisfies our deepest desires. This notion of an ongoing transformation is critical in an age obsessed with quick solutions. The Confessions invite us to stop hiding our interior life from God, because He can see the parts of us that we have snuffed beneath the surface.
Augustine prays, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (source).
Put a halt to judging your prayer life by emotional highs or seasons of productivity. Instead, adopt a long-term view of how your life is slowly turning toward God.
Women Shape the Church—Starting at Home
Saint Monica, Augustine's mom, was not a scholar or preacher. She had no degree and did not write books. She prayed and waited for Augustine to come to the faith. This took more than a decade. However, it was these quiet acts that changed the course of Augustine's life and of Church history. Monica demonstrates that the hidden work of interceding for others has more impact than we realize: “For almost nine years past [. . .] yet no whit relaxing in her weeping and mourning, ceased not at all hours of her devotions to bewail my case unto Thee” (source).
For those praying for a spouse, a child, or a loved one, Monica is a model of hopeful perseverance. Her testimony affirms that intercessory prayer is not a passive act. There is power in interceding for others, no matter how lost they are.
Start Reading with Intention
The Confessions is not just a book about the life of a Saint, but rather—as is the case for all lives that imitate Christ’s—a mirror into our own lives. Through Augustine’s testimony, we see the longing, the wandering, and the grace that finally catches us.
If you’ve never read any writings of a Church father, this is your invitation to begin. The Confessions is an ideal book to read, but don’t rush it! Augustine’s writing style can be dense for some, and the themes are deep. Choose one chapter to read at a time, or take it to your prayer time for ten minutes at a time. Don’t feel pressured to finish the whole book quickly. It took me several weeks to finish it, and it might take you longer. Start slowly and read with intention. Augustine’s story becomes richer once you have reflected on the passages personally. Let him be your companion on your journey to God.
Victoria Cardona holds a bachelor's and master's degree in theology from Ave Maria University, with minors in education and catechetics. She is currently pursuing a master's in educational leadership at St. Thomas University. Victoria is a published writer, with her work primarily featured on Caeli, Magdala, and The Star of Bethlehem, where her reflections explore themes of faith, beauty, and discipleship. She draws strength in the lives of the Saints, the beauty of Adoration, and the quiet strength of our Lady, as she strives to live each day with gratitude, simplicity, and joy.
Walk with Us this Advent
Get Your Prayerful Planner
