{"id":3337,"date":"2008-08-28T08:51:51","date_gmt":"2008-08-28T08:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2008\/08\/i-went-astray-and-still-i-remembered-thee\/"},"modified":"2023-03-27T19:26:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T18:26:34","slug":"i-went-astray-and-still-i-remembered-thee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2008\/08\/i-went-astray-and-still-i-remembered-thee\/","title":{"rendered":"I went astray and still I remembered Thee"},"content":{"rendered":"

For my first entry from the little “provisional” Cenacle of the Eucharistic Face of Jesus<\/em> in Tulsa, Oklahoma: a piece from the archives for the feast of Saint Augustine. Details on the move and on my new life here to follow!
\nThis is a most unusual depiction of Saint Augustine washing the feet of Christ. A Capuchin friar named Strozzi painted it in 1629. Augustine, wearing an apron over his black monastic habit, is assisted by an angel. A tonsured monk looks on from a distance. With his right hand Augustine clasps the foot of Our Lord. His gaze is wholly turned towards the Face of Christ,<\/em> who appears to be instructing him on what he is doing.<\/em>
\n\"augustin-1.jpg\"<\/a>
\n1 John 4:7-16
\nPsalm 118: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
\nMatthew 23; 8-12<\/em>
\nThe Doctor of Charity<\/strong>
\nThe words of Saint John in today’s First Lesson are the perfect expression of Saint Augustine’s own experience. Augustine is called the “Doctor of Charity,” and with good reason. Saint John speaks of the discovery of charity that grounds every Christian life:
\n“Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity. By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:7-10).
\nHe Hath First Loved Me<\/strong>
\nFor Saint Augustine, however, the words of the Beloved Disciple became intensely personal: “By this hath the charity of God appeared towards me, Augustine, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that I may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though I had loved God, but because He hath first loved me, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for my sins.”
\nThe discovery of the love of God came late in Augustine’s life. It is always late. One cannot discover the love of God too soon. And so, the Doctor of Charity laments his tardy discovery of the One Thing Necessary:
\nLate have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new!
\nToo late have I loved Thee.
\nAnd lo, Thou wert inside me and I outside,
\nand I sought for Thee there, and in all my unsightliness
\nI flung myself on those beautiful things which Thou hast made.
\nThou wert with me and I was not with Thee.
\nThose beauties kept me away from Thee,
\nthough if they had not been in Thee, they would not have been at all.
\nThou didst call and cry to me and break down my deafness.
\nThou didst flash and shine on me and put my blindness to flight.
\nThou didst blow fragrance upon me and I drew breath,
\nand now I pant after Thee.
\nI tasted of Thee and now I hunger and thirst for Thee.
\nThou didst touch me and I am aflame for Thy peace….<\/em>
\n(Confessions<\/u>, Book X:38)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For my first entry from the little “provisional” Cenacle of the Eucharistic Face of Jesus in Tulsa, Oklahoma: a piece from the archives for the feast of Saint Augustine. Details on the move and on my new life here to follow! This is a most unusual depiction of Saint Augustine washing the feet of Christ. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-RP","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24967,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3337\/revisions\/24967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}