St. Prosper of Aquitaine
“What do you possess that you have not received?”
St. Prosper defended St. Augustine's teaching on grace and helped transmit it to the Church of the following generations.
The story
Prosper was born around 390 in Aquitaine, a region of Roman Gaul. Little is securely known about his early life. He received a strong education in Latin literature and theology and remained a layman. By the 420s he was associated with Christian ascetic circles in southern Gaul, where controversy had arisen over St. Augustine's teaching on grace, predestination, and perseverance.
Some monks near Marseille feared that Augustine's language left too little room for human freedom and moral effort. Prosper believed that their position placed too much emphasis on the beginning of faith as a human achievement. With another layman named Hilary, who should not be confused with St. Hilary of Arles, Prosper wrote to Augustine about the dispute. Augustine responded with two of his final works, On the Predestination of the Saints and The Gift of Perseverance. Prosper then composed several defenses of Augustine, including The Answers to the Objections of the Gauls, The Answers to the Objections of Vincent, and a poem known as On the Ungrateful.
Prosper traveled to Rome around 431. Pope Celestine I supported Augustine's reputation and admonished the bishops of Gaul to protect his memory, although the complex debate continued. Prosper gradually expressed Augustine's thought in a more conciliatory form. He insisted that salvation begins and is sustained by God's undeserved grace, while also affirming that grace heals and enables the human will rather than abolishing it.
Prosper later settled in Rome and probably served in the papal chancery during the pontificate of St. Leo the Great. The exact nature of his office and his part in drafting papal documents remain uncertain. He also continued a major historical chronicle based on the work of St. Jerome, providing valuable information about the fifth-century Western Church. A theological work called The Call of All Nations has traditionally been linked to Prosper, but its authorship is disputed. He died around 455. Prosper was honored as a saint through longstanding ecclesial veneration rather than through a modern canonization process, and his memorial is listed in the Roman Martyrology on June 25.
What Prosper teaches
Prosper teaches that grace is not a reward for self-sufficiency but God's merciful initiative within every good response. Human freedom becomes most fully itself when healed and strengthened by grace. The Church affirms that preparation for receiving grace is already a work of grace (CCC 2001).
Patronage
theologians of grace, lay Catholic scholars, Christian writers.
Prayer
Merciful God, you gave St. Prosper wisdom to defend the primacy of your grace. Free us from pride and teach us to cooperate faithfully with every gift you provide. Through his intercession, guide Catholic scholars and writers in truth and charity. Amen.