July 31, 2024
Rooted and Stretched in Time (Conf. Book 11)
In June I had to struggle to get over jet lag since returning from a pilgrimage to Augustinian sties in Italy. During my trip, particularly on the traveling days, it was difficult to keep track of…
July 3, 2024
What Does Augustinian Spirituality Look Like for Women?
This past May, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a pilgrimage to Augustinian sites in Italy. Villanova University’s Office for Mission and Ministry has for decades sponsored…
March 12, 2024
Confession as an Act of Truth (Conf. Book 10)
If the Confessions were a straightforward autobiography, it would not need a book 10 – or the three subsequent books on the meaning of Genesis 1. Augustine could have chosen to end the work at the…
October 3, 2023
Augustine Loudly Quits (Conf. Book 9)
At the age of 31, in the summer of 386, Augustine converted to Christianity. And then, at the start of the Vintage holidays (August 22-October 15), he quit his job. Augustine tells us in Book 9 of…
July 13, 2023
Questioning the Veracity of Augustine’s Conversion (Conf. Book 8)
In Book 8 of the Confessions, our patience in dealing with Augustine’s doubts, errors, and procrastination is finally rewarded, and we learn about his conversion to Christianity. Augustine’s…
May 17, 2023
Augustine’s Rejection of Astrology (Conf. Book 7)
In Book VII of the Confessions, Augustine recalls wrestling with deep philosophical and theological questions in his early thirties. Not quite able to shake off his Manichean sensibilities, he…
April 3, 2023
Augustine and Marriage (Conf. Book 6)
As other essays in this series have expounded, Augustine offers many details about his relationships with his mentor Ambrose and friends Alypius and Nebridius in Book 6 of the Confessions. These…
January 30, 2023
Augustine on Belief Before Understanding (Conf. Book 5)
“[E]cce pietas est sapientia” (Conf. 5.5.8). In Book 5 of his Confessions, Augustine describes his ongoing struggle for understanding. As he leaves behind his twenties, he is plagued by questions and…
December 6, 2022
Augustine’s Pattern of Reticence (Conf. Book 4)
One of the most poignant passages in Book 4 of the Confessions, if not the entire work itself, is Augustine’s description of his grief upon the death of his friend. “Black grief closed over my…
October 7, 2022
Augustine on Justice and the Priority of God’s Law (Conf. Book 3)
The middle of book 3 of Augustine’s Confessions contains a somewhat unexpected tangent. Augustine disrupts his narrative of his time at Carthage – his obsession with attending tragic theatrical…