O great Augustine, our father and teacher, who knows the shining paths of God and also the crooked paths of men, we admire the marvels that divine Grace has worked in you, making you a passionate witness to truth and goodness at the service of your neighbour. At the start of a new millennium marked by the Cross of Christ, teach us to read history in the light of divine Providence, which guides events to the final encounter with the Father. Guide us towards goals of peace, kindling in our hearts your own desire for the values upon which we, with the strength that comes from God, can build the city of Man. May the profound teaching that you drew, with loving and patient study, from the ever-living sources of Scripture enlighten all who are tempted today by alienating mirages. May you obtain for them the courage to set out on the way towards that inner man in whom the One, who alone can restore peace to our restless hearts, awaits. Lastly, O St Augustine, communicate to us too a spark of that burning love for the Church, the Catholic mother of the Saints, which sustained and gave life to the efforts of your own long ministry. Amen.
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
— Philippians 4:13