Restless heart
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Confessions, 1, 1The search for God as the driving force of every life.
Saint Augustine · 354–430
To understand Leo XIV, you need to know his spiritual father
Who he was
He was born in Thagaste, in North Africa, in the year 354. For years he searched for the truth in philosophy and in different schools of thought until, in Milan, he encountered Christ. He was baptized by Saint Ambrose in 387.
As bishop of Hippo, he wrote the Confessions, The City of God and a Rule for living in community that the Augustinian orders still follow today. From it comes the family to which Leo XIV belongs.
His life, in six stages
Dare you step into the story of a restless heart that turned every doubt and every twist in the road into an adventure towards the Truth?
354 · Thagaste
A heart born to seek
Augustine was born on 13 November 354 in Thagaste, a small town in North Africa, into a home divided between two outlooks: a pagan father, Patricius, and a Christian mother, Monica, whose faith would shape his destiny for ever.
He was not baptised as a child, but thanks to Monica he took his first steps in the faith. A brilliant student with a remarkable memory and a passion for poetry and the classics, he was searching for something he could not yet name.
370 · Carthage
The beginnings of a restless heart
At sixteen he had to break off his studies for lack of money. That “lost year” became a whirlwind of intense friendships, first passions and impulsive decisions: at times he walked towards God; at others, he turned his back on him.
Thanks to a patron he was able to go to Carthage, where he lived through a period marked by love, fatherhood and an insatiable thirst to understand the mystery of life. Monica, who never gave up, was his silent companion on the way: “the son of my tears”, he would call himself.
373 · Carthage
A book that changed everything
Cicero’s Hortensius fell into his hands, and with it came a question that would never fade: where is the truth? His first encounter with the Bible, on the other hand, was a disappointment: he could not grasp its style or its depth.
He tried everything: philosophies, schools, doctrines. He spent almost a decade with the Manichaeans, until meeting Faustus, their great teacher, showed him more emptiness than light. Disillusioned, he came close to scepticism. He was a tireless seeker.
386 · Milan
Milan: the search finds its answer
In Rome he taught rhetoric, but it was in Milan that the great turn of his life began. There he met Bishop Ambrose, whose intelligence and serenity won his mind and his heart, and he heard the witness of simple people who lived their faith radically.
In 386 he read words of Saint Paul that pierced his soul: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14). At last, the inner night opened to the light. Ambrose baptised him at Easter 387.
391 · Hippo
From seeker to teacher
Back in Africa, he wanted to live in community in the manner of the first Christians, devoted to prayer, study and service. But in 391 the people of Hippo asked for him as their priest, and in 395 he was consecrated bishop.
He preached tirelessly, wrote monumental works such as the Confessions and The City of God, stood by the poor and always sought the unity of the Church. His words became a compass for whole generations.
430 · Hippo
The end of a luminous journey
When the Vandals besieged Hippo in 430, Augustine fell ill. Looking back over his life, he thanked God for every step of the way.
On 28 August 430, after 75 years of questions, struggles, discoveries and light, Augustine —son of Monica and Patricius, teacher of seekers, companion of the restless— “fell asleep in the peace of the Lord”.
Three keys
Interiority
“Do not go outside yourself; return into yourself: truth dwells in the inner self.”
On True Religion, 39, 72Returning to the heart to find God and others there.
Communion
“One mind and one heart intent upon God.”
Rule, 1, 2Shared life as a path: no one is saved alone.
Augustine in the Pope’s words
“I am a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian.”First greeting from the loggia, May 8, 2025
“With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop.”Sermon 340, 1
In illo uno unum — “In the One, we are one.”Motto of the pontificate
“Although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”Exposition on Psalm 127, 3