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St. Augustine Windows

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Augustine gives his rule for religious wife to communities of men and women

In this window, St. Augustine is giving his famous Rule.  This is a short document that lays out the principles for religious life.  He created one version for men and a slightly different version for women, and in the picture a man and a woman kneel before him, perhaps signifying the two versions. To some observers, the scene also looks like a wedding. Augustine wrote a book on marriage called de bono coniugali (The Excellence of Marriage).  He felt that marriage was important, of course, for the procreation of children but he thought it was more than that as well. He valued its emphasis on the mutual fidelity of the husband and wife. He also thought that marriage was a sacred symbol of the world to come, where "out of many souls there will arise a city of people with a single soul and single heart turned to God. This perfection of our unity will come about after this pilgrimage, when no longer will anyone's thoughts be hidden from another, and no longer will anyone be in conflict with anyone about anything." He felt that "the sacrament of monogamous marriage of our time is a symbol that in the future we shall all be united and subject to God in the one heavenly city” (18, 21).* Many couples (including quite a few Villanova graduates) have been married in the St. Thomas of Villanova Church, and perhaps this window suggests that the spirit of St. Augustine is watching over their marriages.      

*The Excellence of Marriage. Trans. Ray Kearney, in The Works of St. Augustine, taken from the PastMasters Database. 25 May, 2008 <http://pastmasters2000.nlx.com.ps2.villanova.edu/display.cfm?view=document&record=doccurrent>.