St. Augustine was one of the greatest saints and theologians of the Catholic Church. The intensity and depth of his knowledge are unsurpassed. He towers above all the other writers and saints of Christianity with a greatness that is unique. The hearts and minds that are tormented by the stresses and tensions of modern life will find a congenial companion in him. Who can forget lines like, “Late I have I learned to love you, Beauty, at once so ancient and new” and “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you” that have become words of great comfort and joy in the hearts of so many down through the centuries?
St. Augustine was born in 354 at Thagaste in North Africa. His parents were Patricius and Monica. His father was not a Christian but he converted to the Christian faith through the efforts and prayers of Monica. Augustine began his studies in rhetoric at Carthage in 370. His father died in 371. It was in 372 that a son was born to him through his relations with a woman that he took as his common law wife without marrying her. He left for Rome in 383 and established a school of rhetoric there. Later, he moved to Milan where he got a job as a Master of Rhetoric. It was there that he came into contact with St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. In Milan he lived in the company of his friend Alypius and began reading the works of Plato and Plotinus.
One day as he was walking in his garden, tormented by the conflicting feelings of chastity and the memories of his past sinful life, he heard a child’s voice telling him: “ Tolle et Lege, Tolle et lege” meaning “ take up and read.” He returned to his room where he found Alipius reading the epistles of Paul and there he found a passage that riveted his attention: “ Not in rioting and drunkenness; not in chambering and impurities; not in contention and envy; but put ye on the Lord, Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in its concupiscences.” This happened in 386 and he resolved then and there to resign his job and retire to a house along with his mother, brother, Navigius, son ,Adeodatus, and his friend, Alypius. St.Augustine was baptized by St.Ambrose in 387.He planned to return to Africa after his baptism. On the way, his mother passed away in Ostia.
His writing and teachings defended the faith against Manicheism, Donatism and Pelagianism. “The Confessions” was written in 397 and The City of God in 413. He passed away in 430 in his 76th year. It is said that he was reciting constantly the seven penitential psalms in the last days of his life and was crying inconsolably.
Major Phases in his life:
The first religious crisis in his life happened in 373 under the influence of one of the writings of Cicero, Hortensius(45 B.C.) which is a call to people to renounce vices and devote themselves to the quest for truth.
Augustine,later, became attracted to a heretical Christian sect known as Manichaeism founded by one Mani of Persia which teaches the existence of two cosmic principles of good and evil in the world. His attraction to the sect was based more on the renunciation of sex practiced by some of the adherents of the sect. Later, his acquaintance with neo-Platonism after his arrival in Milan cured him from his attachment to Manichaean dualism. According to Neo-Platonism, evil has no power in itself—it is the absence of good.
His final break with Manichaeism happened when he decided to receive baptism in 387.
A semi-monastic community was established in his home town, Thagaste. During one of his visits to Hippo, he was forced to accept ordination to priesthood with the intention of making him the Bishop of Hippo.In 396, after the death of the then bishop, he was appointed the bishop of Hippo and from that time onwards his attention was turned fully to the pastoral care of his people and to the defense of the doctrines of the faith.
“ The Confessions” which was written when he was the bishop of Hippo is much more than an autobiography. He saw in his own story a model case of how God humbles and recovers the lost sheep.
“The City of God” was written to refute the allegation of the pagans that Rome was attacked and pillaged by the vandals in 410 because of the prohibition of cults to the pagan gods who were protecting Rome. In this work Augustine refutes this argument of the pagans and discusses the nature of Christian’s attitude towards state and society. It contrasts the history and destiny of the city of God and the earthly society.(The two cities—created by two kinds of love; the earthly city, created by self-love and heavenly city, by the love of God).He very clearly noted the difference between the two cities by the following statement: “The distinction between the two cities is a distinction not between two organizations but between two states of mind….The earthly city is simply mankind in rebellion against God.”
Freedom and Grace:
In his fight against Pelagianism, he emphasized the dominant role played by the grace of God in our lives. Pelagius and his followers denied that the fall of Adam had radically altered the human condition. They denied the doctrine of original sin.
According to Augustine, Adam and Eve before the Fall enjoyed privileges beyond human understanding. But the fallen man, although free, chooses evil. We need the gift of God (Grace) to achieve our salvation as we cannot achieve it by our own efforts.
Original Sin:
Against the Manichaean arguments, Augustine insisted that human beings were not helpless playthings of warring powers and that evil had no real existence. In the fallen man, the potential for good is weakened. But divine grace is able to bring this potential to realization. As Richard Price notes: “Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is built on the works of his predecessors, notably Tertullian of Carthage (A.D.200) who had introduced the idea that sinfulness of Adam is passed onto his descendants by the act of procreation. It was through his influence that a strong doctrine of original sin became part of the common inheritance of Western Christendom.”(Augustine,p.57)
Marriage:
Augustine took a strong stand against the Manichaean teachings on marriage which discouraged people from marrying. As Elizabeth Clark observes, “The anti- reproductive stance of the Manichaeanism was one that Augustine came to combat strongly to the end of his days. Indeed for Augustine, the major purpose of sexual relations in marriage was the procreation of children”( Augustine on Sex and Marriage,p.5)
CONFESSIONS:
The word “Confession” is used in two meanings in this book: confession of guilt as well as the confession of faith. According to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, The Confessions which was written twelve years after Augustine’s baptism “represents the studied non-emotional reflections on his early life with only one goal in life: to thank God for His grace.. ….it was not a confession of sins…but rather a confession of praise.”(The Confessions of St.Augustine, p.10)
Sheen adds again that for the first time in history, we find in this work “the analysis of the well-springs of anxieties and frustrations of the modern soul.” St. Augustine, according to Sheen, “ became the great Doctor of Divine Grace, for he knew grace experimentally, bearing witness to the way that it illumined and cleansed the leper. … We don’t get the impression of reading the life of another man, but rather the story of one’s soul.”(P.11)
Here below are excerpts from the thirteen books from The Confessions where St. Augustine opens his heart to God acknowledging his guilt as well as confessing his love and praise for God, the creator and sustainer of his soul. In this work, we also get to know about his deep love for his mother and the immense agony that he endured at her passing away.
Book 1
“Great art Thou , Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and thy wisdom infinite….Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it reposes in Thee.
“Lord cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare Thy servant from the power of the enemy.”
Then, he speaks about his transgressions—disobeying parents—deferred baptism—of his dislike of the Greek classics etc.
“ Hear Lord, my prayer; let not my soul faint under Thy discipline, nor let me faint in confessing unto Thee all thy mercies.
Book 2
He discusses the ills of idleness and the evils of an ill society.
“I will call to mind my past foulness, and the carnal corruptions of my soul; not because I love them, but because I may love Thee….I couldn’t discern the clear brightness of love from the fog of lustfulness.
“Thou heldest Thy peace, and I wandered farther and farther from Thee.
But, I poor wretch, foamed like a troubled sea, following the rushing of my own tide, forsaking Thee and exceeded all Thy limits… Lord, who teachest by sorrow, and woundest us, to heal..
“For what is nearer to Thine ears than a confessing heart, and a life of faith…I knew it not; and ran headlong with such blindness..”
“Foul soul, falling from Thy firmament to utter destruction…. But Thee I long for, O Righteousness and Innocence, beautiful and comely to all pure eyes…With Thee is rest entire…Whoso enters into Thee, enters into the joy of his Lord…I wandered, O my God, too much astray from Thee in these days of my youth, and I became to myself a barren land.”
Book 3
His residence at Carthage from his 17th to 19th year is being described in this section.
“To Carthage I came, where there sang all around me in my ears a cauldron of unholy lives”
“I defiled the spring of friendship with the filth of concupiscence…I fell headlong then into the love wherein I longed to be ensnared.
Augustine mentions how much he was affected by plays and how emotionally he would become caught up with what was shown on the stage.
“And thy faithful mercy hovered over me afar…I dared …to desire, and to compass a business deserving death for its fruits.
Augustine here mentions his reading of Cicero’s Hortensius which helped him turn to God.
“How did I burn then, my God, how did I burn to remount from earthly things to Thee, nor knew I what Thou would do with me.
“I resolved to bend my mind to the Holy Scriptures, that I might see what they were…but they seemed to me unworthy to be compared to the stateliness of Tully.
O Truth, Truth…how inwardly did even the marrow of my soul pant after Thee….The philosophers served up the Sun and Moon, beautiful works of Thine, but yet thy works, not Thyself.
But Thou wert more inward to me, than my most inward part; higher than my highest. I knew not that evil was nothing but a privation of good.
“And thou sentest Thine hand from above, and drewest my soul out of that profound darkness, my mother, Thy faithful one, weeping to Thee for me…
He mentions how his mother wept and cried for his conversion.. “Thou heardest her, and despised not her tears.
Book 4
Augustine’s acceptance of Manichaeism is discussed here.
“Wretched I was; and wretched is every soul bound by the friendship of perishable things…
“Turn us O God of Hosts, show us Thy countenance, and we shall be whole. For whithersoever the soul of man turns itself, unless toward thee, it is riveted upon sorrows.”
“Be not foolish, O my soul, nor become deaf in the ear of thine heart with the tumult of thy folly.
“See there he is, where truth is loved. He is within the very heart…Go back into your heart…and cleave fast to Him that made you..
“For Thou shalt light my candle, O Lord my God, Thou shalt enlighten my darkness…
“O Lord our God, under the shadow of thy wings let us hope; protect us, and carry us.
Book 5.
His rejection of Manichaeism and the decision to become a catechumen are mentioned in this book.
“ For thy hands, O my God,…didn’t forsake my soul; and out of my mother’s heart’s blood, was a sacrifice offered for me unto Thee.”
Augustine decided to leave for Rome .His mother was against that decision. She was weeping and waiting for him….His tender feelings for his mother are described here...Unknown to his mother, this decision turned out to be an answer to her prayer: his conversion.
Augustine started to teach rhetoric in Rome and later went to Milan as a public official. He became a Rhetoric reader for the cit. “ To Milan I came, to Ambrose the Bishop…whose eloquent discourse did then plentifully dispense into thy people the flour of thy wheat, the gladness of thy oil, and the sober inebriation of thy wine…I hung on his words attentively.”
Book 6
Monica’s arrival in Milan and her admiration for St. Ambrose are described here.
“I panted after honours, gains, marriage; and thou deridest me… In these desires, I underwent most bitter crosses….What glory, Lord? That which is not in Thee.”
He also describes here the mental tensions he has experienced in sending away his mistress.
Book 7
Augustine describes the nature of God’s presence in the Universe.
“And I sought whence is evil” and sought in an evil way; and saw not the evil in my very search.
O Truth who art Eternity! And Love who art Truth! Eternity who art Love!
It is good then for me to hold fast unto God; for if I remain not in Him, I cannot in myself…
And I looked back on other things; and I saw that they owed their being to Thee; and were all bounded in thee..
And I enquired what iniquity was, and found it to be no substance, but the perversion of the will, turned aside from Thee , O God..”
Book 8
In his 32nd year he consults his friends. Simplicianus hears about the conversion of Victorinus…He hears a voice from heaven and opens the Scripture and is converted.
“For in comparison of Thy sweetness, and the beauty of thy house which I loved, those things delighted me no longer. But still I was enthralled with the love of woman.
(Simplicianus later becomes the successor of St.Ambrose, a father figure to Aug.) He mentions the conversion of Victorinus, the rhetoric professor of Rome. Augustine, although was inspired by the conversion of Victorinus, waited still to make the final leap. The desire to become a Christian now became very intense. He became deeply contrite and wanted to be freed from his attachments: ‘How long? How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? Remember not our former iniquities….I heard from a neighboring house a voice, as of boy or girl, chanting…”Take up and read; Take up and read.”
He interpreted it as a command from God to read the first chapter he should find: “The volume of the apostle—I seized and opened…all the darkness of doubt vanished away.”
Book 9
He decided to devote his life to God and to receive baptism for him, his son, and his friend Alipius. Monica’s death is described here very poignantly. “Yes, let all my bones say, O Lord, who is like unto Thee?
Speaks about his son: “For, I had no part in that boy, but the sin…for that we brought him up in Thy discipline…and all were baptized, and anxiety for our past life vanished from us. How did I weep, in thy hymns and canticles…The voices flowed into mine ears, and the Truth distilled into my heart.
Augustine decided to leave for Africa and on the way at Ostia, his mother passed away. Augustine’s mourning for his mother is heard here: “ Not her gifts, but Thine in her, would I speak of.”
Mother’s words : “One thing there was for which I desire to linger for a while in this life, that I might see thee a Catholic Christian before I died…You’d remember me at the Lord’s altar, wherever you be.(She was 56—he was 33).
‘Inspire , O Lord my God…Thy servants….who shall read these confessions, may at thy altar remember Monica thy handmaid.
Book X
“ To Thee O Lord, I open whatever I am ; and with what fruit I confess unto Thee, I have said…My good deeds are Thine appointments, and thy gifts; my evil ones are my offences, and Thy judgments.
He speaks of his love For God. When he loves God, “he loves a kind of light, and melody… of my inner man…
Reflects on the nature of true happiness: “ For there is a joy which is not given to the ungodly…but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake whose joy thou thyself art.
“ Too late Have I loved Thee, O Thou Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late have I loved Thee…Thou art the Physician, I the sick; Thou merciful, I miserable…
Asks for the healing of his memories(of his past sins)
“Art Thou not mighty, God Almighty, so as to heal all the diseases of my soul…
“Strengthen me, that I can. Give what thou enjoinest, and enjoin what Thou wilt.”
“ Our only hope, only confidence, only assured promise is Thy mercy..
“ But, we O Lord, behold we are Thy little folk; possess us as Thine, stretch thy wings over us, and let us fly under them. Be thou our glory.
Book XI
“ O Lord my God, give ear into my prayer, and let Thy mercy hearken unto my desire…I would sacrifice to Thee the service of my thought and tongue…Let Thy Scriptures be my pure delights…Behold, thy voice is my joy…
And our knowledge , compared with Thy knowledge , is ignorance.
What is time? If no one asks me , I know: If I wish to explain to one that asketh, I know not.
This is my hope, for this do I live, that I may contemplate the delights of the Lord.
Oh, how high art Thou, and yet the humble in heart are Thy dwelling place.”
Book 12
“O let the Light, the Truth, the Light of my heart, not mine own darkness, speak unto me. I went astray, and remembered Thee. I heard Thy voice behind me, calling me to return…and now, behold, I return in distress and panting after Thy fountain.
Book XIII
“Which of us comprehendeth Almighty Trinity?…Why art thou sad my soul and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in the Lord: His word is a lantern to thy feet…Hope thou in the Lord; in the morning I shall stand in Thy presence, and contemplate Thee: I shall for ever confess unto Thee…..Let us break our bread to the hungry, and bring the houseless poor to our house. Let us clothe the naked, and despise not those of our flesh.”
Conclusion:
Literary critics have often referred to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as a parable of the modern man In fact, St. Augustine’s “ Confessions” is more than anything else a fine parable of the modern soul which is caught in so much of conflict and confusion , searching for an anchor that will give it peace beyond human understanding.
It is refreshing and inspiring to immerse oneself in the meditations and reflections of Augustine’s “Confessions” to escape the daily stresses and strains of life. The words that St.Augustine heard while walking in the garden should be ringing in our ears too: “Take up and Read” as we confront the challenges and struggles of our daily existence. Reading the Sacred Scriptures and the works of great spiritual writers of our faith like those of St.Augustine will prepare us to face the challenges coming from the secular culture in which we live and move.
(G.M.)
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