The long struggle
is recapitulated in a brief moment; his will struggles against and
within itself. The trivial distraction of a child's voice,
chanting, "Tolle, lege," precipitates the resolution of the
conflict. There is a radical shift in mood and will, he turns
eagerly to the chance text in Rom. 13:13 -- and a new spirit rises
in his heart.
After this radical change, there was only one more past event
that had to be relived before his personal history could be seen
in its right perspective. This was the death of his mother and
the severance of his strongest earthly tie. Book IX tells us this
story. The climactic moment in it is, of course, the vision at
Ostia where mother and son are uplifted in an ecstasy that
parallels -- but also differs significantly from -- the Plotinian
vision of Book VII. After this, the mother dies and the son who
had loved her almost too much goes on alone, now upheld and led by
a greater and a wiser love.
We can observe two separate stages in Augustine's
"conversion." The first was the dramatic striking off of the
slavery of incontinence and pride which had so long held him from
decisive commitment to the Christian faith.
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