Confessions

CHAPTER I. O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to Thee Thy mercies toward me. Let my bones be bathed in Thy love, and let them say, Lord, who is like unto Thee? Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder, and I will offer unto Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. And how Thou didst break them, I will declare, and all who worship Thee shall say, when they hear these things, Blessed be the Lord in heaven and earth, great and wonderful is His name. Thy words had stuck fast in my breast, and I was hedged round about by Thee on every side. Of Thy eternal life I was now certain, although I had seen it through a glass, darkly. And I had been relieved of all doubt that there is an incorruptible substance, and that it is the source of every other substance. Nor did I any longer crave greater certainty about Thee, but rather greater steadfastness in Thee. But as for my temporal life, everything was uncertain, and my heart had to be purged of the old leaven. The way, the Saviour Himself, pleased me well, but as yet I was reluctant to pass through the straight gate. And Thou didst put it into my mind, and it seemed good in my own sight, to go to Simplicianus, who appeared to me a faithful servant of Thine, and Thy grace shone forth in him. I had also been told that from his youth up he had lived in entire devotion to Thee. He was already an old man, and because of his great age, which he had passed in such a zealous discipleship in Thy way, he appeared to me likely to have gained much wisdom. And indeed he had. From all his experience I desired him to tell me, setting before him all my agitations, which would be the most fitting way for one who felt as I did to walk in Thy way. For I saw the church full, and one man was going this way, and another that. Still I could not be satisfied with the life I was living in the world. Now, indeed, my passions had ceased to excite me as of old, with hopes of honour and wealth, and it was a grievous burden to go on in such servitude. For compared with Thy sweetness and the beauty of Thy house, which I loved, those things delighted me no longer. But I was still tightly bound by the love of women. Nor did the apostle forbid me to marry, although he exhorted me to something better, wishing earnestly that all men were as he himself was. But I was weak and chose the easier way, and for this single reason my whole life was one of inner turbulence and listless indecision, because from so many influences I was compelled, even though unwilling, to agree to a married life which bound me hand and foot. I have heard from the mouth of truth that there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. But, said he, he that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Of a certainty all men are vain who do not have the knowledge of God, or have not been able, from the good things that are seen, to find him who is good. But I was no longer fettered in that vanity. I had surmounted it, and from the united testimony of Thy whole creation had found Thee, our Creator, and Thy Word, God with Thee, and together with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, by whom Thou hast created all things. There is still another sort of wicked man, who, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful. Into this also I had fallen, but Thy right hand held me up and bore me away, and Thou didst place me where I might recover. For Thou hast said to men, Behold the fear of the Lord, this is wisdom, and Be not wise in your own eyes, because they that profess themselves to be wise become fools. But I had now found the goodly pearl, and I ought to have sold all that I had and bought it. Yet I hesitated. CHAPTER II. I went, therefore, to Simplicianus, the spiritual father of Ambrose, then a bishop, whom Ambrose truly loved as a father. I recounted to him all the mazes of my wanderings. But when I mentioned to him that I had read certain books of the Platonists, which Victorinus, formerly professor of rhetoric at Rome, who died a Christian, as I had been told, had translated into Latin, Simplicianus congratulated me that I had not fallen upon the writings of other philosophers, which were full of fallacies and deceit, after the beggarly elements of this world, whereas in the Platonists, at every turn, the pathway led to belief in God and His word. Then, to encourage me to copy the humility of Christ, which is hidden from the wise and revealed to babes, he told me about Victorinus himself, whom he had known intimately at Rome. And I cannot refrain from repeating what he told me about him, for it contains a glorious proof of thy grace which ought to be confessed to thee, how that old man, most learned, most skilled in all the liberal arts, who had read, criticized, and explained so many of the writings of the philosophers, the teacher of so many noble senators, one who, as a mark of his distinguished service in office, had both merited and obtained a statue in the Roman forum, which men of this world esteem a great honour, this man, who up to an advanced age had been a worshipper of idols, a communicant in the sacrilegious rites to which almost all the nobility of Rome were wedded, and who had inspired the people with the love of Osiris, and the dog, Anubis, and a medley crew of monster-gods who against Neptune stand in arms, against Venus and Minerva, steel-clad Mars, whom Rome once conquered and now worshipped, all of which old Victorinus had, with thundering eloquence, defended for so many years. Despite all this, he did not blush to become a child of thy Christ, a babe at thy fault, bowing his neck to the yoke of humility, and submitting his forehead to the ignominy of the cross. O Lord! Lord, who didst bow the heavens, and didst descend? Who didst touch the mountains, and they smoked? By what means didst thou find thy way into that breast? He used to read the Holy Scriptures, as Simplicianus said, and thought out and studied all the Christian writings most studiously. He said to Simplicianus, not openly but secretly, as a friend, You must know that I am a Christian. To which Simplicianus replied, I shall not believe it, nor shall I count you among the Christians, until I see you in the Church of Christ. Victorinus then asked, with mild mockery, Is it then the walls that make Christians? Thus he often would affirm that he was already a Christian, and as often Simplicianus made the same answer. And just as often his jest about the walls was repeated. He was fearful of offending his friends, proud demon-worshippers, from the height of whose Babylonian dignity, as from the tops of the cedars of Lebanon, which the Lord had not yet broken down, he feared that a storm of enmity would descend upon him. But he steadily gained strength from reading and inquiry, and came to fear lest he should be denied by Christ before the holy angels, if he now was afraid to confess him before men. Thus he came to appear to himself guilty of a great fault, in being ashamed of the sacraments of the humility of Thy word, when he was not ashamed of the sacrilegious rites of those proud demons, whose pride he had imitated and whose rites he had shared. From this he became bold-faced against vanity, and shame-faced toward the truth. Thus, suddenly and unexpectedly, he said to Simplicianus, as he himself told me, Let us go to the church. I wish to become a Christian. Simplicianus went with him, scarcely able to contain himself for joy. He was admitted to the first sacraments of instruction, and, not long afterward, gave in his name that he might receive the baptism of regeneration. At this Rome marvelled, and the church rejoiced. The proud saw and were enraged. They gnashed their teeth and melted away. But the Lord God was Thy servant's hope, and He paid no attention to their vanity and lying madness. Finally, when the hour arrived for Him to make a public profession of His faith, which at Rome those who are about to enter into Thy grace make from a platform in the full sight of the faithful people, in a set form of words learned by heart, the presbyters offered Victorinus the chance to make his profession more privately, for this was the custom for some who were likely to be afraid through bashfulness. But Victorinus chose rather to profess his salvation in the presence of the holy congregation, for there was no salvation in the rhetoric which he taught. Yet he had professed that openly. Why, then, should he shrink from naming Thy word before the sheep of Thy flock, when he had not shrunk from uttering his own words before the mad multitude? So, then, when he ascended the platform to make his profession, everyone, as they recognized him, whispered his name one to the other, in tones of jubilation. Who was there among them who did not know him? And a low murmur ran through the mouths of all the rejoicing multitude, Victorinus, Victorinus. There was a sudden burst of exaltation at the sight of him, and suddenly they were hushed that they might hear him. He pronounced the true faith with an excellent boldness, and all desired to take him to their very heart. Indeed, by their love and joy they did take him to their heart. And they received him with loving and joyful hands. CHAPTER III O good God, what happens in a man to make him rejoice more at the salvation of a soul that has been despaired of, and then delivered from greater danger, than over one who has never lost hope, or never been in such imminent danger? For Thou also, O merciful Father, dost rejoice more over one that repents than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance. And we listen with much delight whenever we hear how the lost sheep is brought home again on the shepherd's shoulders, while the angels rejoice, or when the piece of money is restored to its place in the treasury, and the neighbours rejoice with the woman who found it. And the joy of the solemn festival of thy house constrains us to tears when it is read in thy house. About the younger son who was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found. For it is Thou who rejoicest both in us and in thy angels, who are holy through holy love. For Thou art ever the same, because Thou knowest unchangeably all things which remain neither the same nor forever. What then happens in the soul when it takes more delight at finding or having restored to it the things it loves, than if it had always possessed them? Indeed, many other things bear witness that this is so. All things are full of witnesses, crying out, so it is. The commander triumphs in victory, yet he could not have conquered if he had not fought. And the greater the peril of the battle, the more joy of the triumph. The storm tosses the voyagers, threatens shipwreck, and everyone turns pale in the presence of death. Then the sky and sea grow calm and they rejoice as much as they had feared. A loved one is sick and his pulse indicates danger. All who desire his safety are themselves sick at heart. He recovers, though not able as yet to walk with his former strength. And there is more joy now than there was before when he walked sound and strong. Indeed, the very pleasures of human life, not only those which rush upon us unexpectedly and involuntarily, but also those which are voluntary and planned, men obtain by difficulties. There is no pleasure in caring and drinking unless the pains of hunger and thirst have preceded. Drunkards even eat certain salt meats in order to create a painful thirst. And when the drink allays this, it causes pleasure. It is also the custom that the affianced bride should not be immediately given in marriage so that the husband may not esteem her any less, whom as his betrothed he longed for. This can be seen in the case of base and dishonorable pleasure. But it is also apparent in pleasures that are permitted and lawful. In the sincerity of honest friendship, and in him who was dead and lived again, who had been lost and was found. The greater joy is everywhere preceded by the greater pain. What does this mean, O Lord my God, when thou art an everlasting joy to thyself, and some creatures about thee are ever rejoicing in thee? What does it mean that this portion of creation thus ebbs and flows, alternately in want and satiety? Is this their mode of being, and is this all thou hast a allotted to them? That from the highest heaven to the lowest earth, from the beginning of the world to the end, from the angels to the worm, from the first movement to the last, thou wast assigning to all their proper places and their proper seasons, to all the kinds of good things, and to all thy just works? Alas, how high thou art in the highest, and how deep in the deepest! Thou never departest from us, and yet only with difficulty do we return to thee. CHAPTER IV. Go on, O Lord, and act. Stir us up and call us back, inflame us and draw us to thee, stir us up and grow sweet to us. Let us now love thee, let us run to thee. Are there not many men who, out of a deeper pit of darkness than that of Victorinus, return to thee? Who draw near to thee and are illuminated by that light which gives those who receive it power from thee to become thy sons? But if they are less well known, even those who know them rejoice less for them. For when many rejoice together, the joy of each other is fuller, in that they warm one another, catch fire from one another. Moreover, those who are well known influence many toward salvation, and take the lead with many to follow them. Therefore, even those who took the way before them rejoice over them greatly, because they do not rejoice over them alone. But it ought never to be, that in thy tabernacle the persons of the rich should be welcomed before the poor, or the nobly born before the rest. Since thou hast rather chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong, and hast chosen the base things of the world, and things that are despised, and the things that are not, in order to bring to naught the things that are. It was even the least of the apostles by whose tongue thou didst sound forth these words. And when Paulus, the proconsul, had his pride overcome by the onslaught of the apostle, and he was made to pass under the easy yoke of thy Christ, and became an officer of the great king, he also desired to be called Paul instead of Saul, his former name, in testimony to such a great victory. For the enemy is more overcome in one on whom he has a greater hold, and whom he has hold of more completely. But the proud he controls more readily through their concern about their rank, and, through them, he controls more by means of their influence. The more, therefore, the world prized the heart of Victorinus, which the devil had held in an impregnable stronghold, and the tongue of Victorinus, that sharp, strong weapon with which the devil had slain so many. All the more exultingly should thy sons rejoice, because our king hath bound the strong man, and they saw his vessels taken from him, and cleansed, and made fit for thy honour, and profitable to the Lord for every good work. CHAPTER V. Now when this man of thine, Simplicianus, told me the story of Victorinus, I was eager to imitate him. Indeed, this was Simplicianus's purpose in telling it to me. But when he went on to tell how, in the reign of the emperor Julian, there was a law passed by which Christians were forbidden to teach literature and rhetoric, and how Victorinus, in ready obedience to the law, chose to abandon his school of words rather than thy word, by which thou makest eloquent the tongues of the dumb, he appeared to me not so much brave as happy, because he had found a reason for giving his time wholly to thee. For this was what I was longing to do, but as yet I was bound by the iron chain of my own will. The enemy held fast my will, and had made of it a chain, and had bound me tight with it. For out of the perverse will came lust, and the service of lust ended in habit, and habit, not resisted, became necessity. By these links, as it were, forged together, which is why I called it a chain. A hard bondage held me in slavery. But that new will, which had begun to spring up in me freely to worship thee, and to enjoy thee, O my God, the only certain joy, was not able as yet to overcome my former willfulness, made strong by long indulgence. Thus my two wills, the old and the new, the carnal and the spiritual, were in conflict within me, and by their discord they tore my soul apart. Thus I came to understand from my own experience what I had read, how the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. I truly lusted both ways, yet more in that which I approved in myself, than in that which I disapproved in myself. For in the latter it was not now really I that was involved, because here I was rather an unwilling sufferer than a willing actor. And yet it was through me that habit had become an armed enemy against me, because I had willingly come to be what I unwillingly found myself to be. Who then can with any justice speak against it, when just punishment follows the sinner? I had now no longer my accustomed excuse that as yet I hesitated to forsake the world and serve thee, because my perception of the truth was uncertain. For now it was certain. But still bound to the earth, I refused to be thy soldier, and was as much afraid of being freed from all entanglements as we ought to fear to be entangled. Thus, with the baggage of the world, I was sweetly burdened, as one in slumber, and my musings on thee were like the efforts of those who desire to awake, but who are still overpowered with drowsiness, and fall back into deep slumber. And, as no one wishes to sleep for ever, for all men rightly count waking better, yet a man will usually defer shaking off his drowsiness when there is a heavy lethargy in his limbs, and he is glad to sleep, even when his reason disapproves, and the hour for rising has struck. So was I assured that it was much better for me to give myself up to thy love than to go on yielding myself to my own lust. Thy love satisfied and vanquished me, my lust pleased and fettered me. I had no answer to thy calling to me. Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. On all sides thou didst show me that thy words are true, and I, convicted by the truth, had nothing at all to reply but the drawling and drowsy words, Presently, see, presently, leave me alone a little while. But presently, presently, had no present, and my leave me alone a little while, went on for a long while. In vain did I delight in thy law in the inner man, while another law in my members warred against the law of my mind, and brought me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. For the law of sin is the tyranny of habit, by which the mind is drawn and held, even against its will. Yet it deserves to be so held, because it is so willingly falling into the habit. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, but thy grace alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord? CHAPTER VI. And now I will tell and confess unto thy name, O Lord, my Helper and my Redeemer, how thou didst deliver me from the chain of sexual desire by which I was so tightly held, and from the slavery of worldly business. With increasing anxiety I was going about my usual affairs, and daily sighing to thee. I attended thy church as frequently as my business, under the burden of which I groaned, left me free to do so. Allopius was with me, disengaged at last from his legal post, after a third term as assessor, and now waiting for private clients to whom he might sell his legal advice, as I sold the power of speaking, as if it could be supplied by teaching. But Nebrodias had consented, for the sake of our friendship, to teach under Veracundus, a citizen of Milan and professor of grammar, and a very intimate friend of us all, who ardently desired, and by right of friendship demanded from us, the faithful aid he greatly needed. Nebrodias was not drawn to this by any desire of gain, for he could have made much more out of his learning, had he been so inclined. But as he was a most sweet and kindly friend, he was unwilling, out of respect for the duties of friendship, to slight our request. But in this he acted very discreetly, taking care not to become known to those persons who had great reputations in the world. Thus he avoided all distractions of mind, and reserved as many hours as possible to pursue, or read, or listen to discussions about wisdom. On a certain day, then, when Nebrodias was away, for some reason I cannot remember, there came to visit Allopius and me, at our house, one Ponticianus, a fellow-countryman of ours from Africa, who held high office in the Emperor's court. What he wanted with us I do not know, but we sat down to talk together, and it chanced that he noticed a book on a game-table before us. He took it up, opened it, and, contrary to his expectation, found it to be the Apostle Paul, for he imagined that it was one of my wearisome rhetoric-textbooks. At this he looked up at me with a smile, and expressed his delight and wonder that he had so unexpectedly found this book, and only this one, lying before my eyes. For he was indeed a Christian, and a faithful one at that. And often he prostrated himself before thee, our God, in the church, in constant daily prayer. When I had told him that I had given much attention to these writings, a conversation followed in which he spoke of Anthony, the Egyptian monk, whose name was in high repute among thy servants, although up to that time not familiar to me. When he learned this, he lingered on the topic, giving us an account of this eminent man, and marvelling at our ignorance. We, in turn, were amazed to hear of thy wonderful works so fully manifested in recent times, almost in our own, occurring in the true faith and the Catholic Church. We all wondered, we, that these things were so great, and he, that we had never heard of them. From this his conversation turned to the multitudes in the monasteries, and their manners so fragrant to thee, and to the teeming solitudes of the wilderness, of which we knew nothing at all. There was even a monastery at Milan, outside the city's walls, full of good brothers under the fostering care of Ambrose, and we were ignorant of it. He went on with his story, and we listened intently and in silence. He then told us how, on a certain afternoon at Trier, when the Emperor was occupied watching the gladiatorial games, he and three comrades went out for a walk in the gardens close to the city walls. There, as they chanced to walk, two by two, one strolled away with him, while the other two went on by themselves. As they rambled, these first two came upon a certain cottage where lived some of thy servants, some of the poor in spirit, of such is the kingdom of heaven, where they found the book in which was written the life of Anthony. One of them began to read it, to marvel and to be inflamed by it. While reading, he meditated on embracing just such a life, giving up his worldly employment to seek thee alone. These two belonged to the group of officials called Secret Service Agents. Then, suddenly being overwhelmed with a holy love and a sober shame, and as if in anger with himself, he fixed his eyes on his friend, exclaiming, Tell me, I beg you, what goal are we seeking in all these toils of ours? What is it that we desire? What is our motive in public service? Can our hopes in the court rise higher than to be friends of the Emperor? But how frail, how beset with peril is that pride! Through what dangers must we climb to a greater danger? And when shall we succeed? But if I chose to become a friend of God, see, I can become one now. Thus he spoke, and, in the pangs of the travail of the new life, he turned his eyes again onto the page and continued reading. He was inwardly changed, as thou didst see, and the world dropped away from his mind, as soon became plain to others. For as he read, with a heart like a stormy sea, more than once he groaned. Finally he saw the better course, and resolved upon it. Then, having become thy servant, he said to his friend, Now I have broken loose from those hopes we had, and I am determined to serve God, and I enter into that service for this hour in this place. If you are reluctant to imitate me, do not oppose me. The other replied that he would continue bound in his friendship, to share in so great a service for so great a prize. So both became thine, and began to build a tower, counting the cost, namely, of forsaking all that they had, and following thee. Shortly after, Ponticianus and his companion, who had walked with him in the other part of the garden, came in search of them to that same place, and, having found them, reminded them to return as the day was declining. But the first two, making known to Ponticianus their resolution and purpose, and how a resolve had sprung up and become confirmed in them, entreated them not to take it ill if they refused to join themselves with them. But Ponticianus and his friend, although not changed from their former course, did nevertheless, as he told us, bewail themselves, and congratulated their friends on their godliness, recommending themselves to their prayers. And with hearts inclining again toward earthly things, they returned to the palace. But the other two, setting their affections on heavenly things, remained in the cottage. Both of them had affianced brides, who, when they heard of this, likewise dedicated their virginity to thee.