Then Simplicianus tells him the moving
story of Victorinus (a more famous scholar than Augustine ever
hoped to be), who finally came to the baptismal font in Milan as
humbly as any other catechumen. Then, from Ponticianus he hears
the story of Antony and about the increasing influence of the
monastic calling. The story that stirs him most, perhaps, relates
the dramatic conversion of the two "special agents of the imperial
police" in the garden at Treves -- two unlikely prospects snatched
abruptly from their worldly ways to the monastic life.
He makes it plain that these examples forced his own feelings
to an intolerable tension. His intellectual perplexities had
become resolved; the virtue of continence had been consciously
preferred; there was a strong desire for the storms of his breast
to be calmed; he longed to imitate these men who had done what he
could not and who were enjoying the peace he longed for.
But the old habits were still strong and he could not muster
a full act of the whole will to strike them down. Then comes the
scene in the Milanese garden which is an interesting parallel to
Ponticianus' story about the garden at Treves.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25