101 pages • 3 hours read
Confessions
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Key Figures
Augustine
Born Augustinus Aurelius in 354 CE in Roman Africa and known to history as Saint Augustine of Hippo, Augustine is the narrator and protagonist of Confessions. Augustine grew up in a noble but financially unstable family in the small town of Thagaste (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria). He began to struggle with lust and pride as he matured, and he found himself involved in some petty crime. A student of considerable academic promise, his parents sent him away to school, where his habits heightened. In Carthage, he entered a committed relationship with a woman whose name his writings do not preserve. Although they never married, she would bear Augustine a son, Adeodatus, when he was 18 years old. Around this time, Augustine came home to Thagaste to begin his career as an instructor of rhetoric but soon returned to Carthage to escape his depression following a friend’s death.
After reading Hortensius, a book by Cicero that praises philosophy, Augustine began his search for truth, which led him to the controversial teachings of Manicheism. He converted and, though it greatly distressed his Christian mother and brought him little contentment, remained a Manichee for about a decade. By the time Augustine abandoned that faith, his career had brought him to Milan. There, the ministry of Ambrose, the Catholic Bishop of Milan, helped Augustine to overcome his misgivings about Christianity. Eventually, this led to the dismissal of his lover, and in 387 CE Augustine converted. He resigned his teaching post and returned to Thagaste to become a monk.
When he wrote Confessions about 13 years later, he was several years into his tenure as bishop of the major city of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Algeria). Given his past, many of his followers were skeptical of his credentials and authenticity. Out of remorse over his years of sin and his passion to glorify God, Augustine responded with these confessions of his life story and interpretations of Christianity, hoping to strengthen his relationship with the divine and to share the ideas that brought him to God and which he hoped would do the same for his readers.
Following Augustine’s death in 430 CE at age 75, the Catholic Church canonized him and in 1298 CE named him one of the Four Great Latin Fathers, a Doctor of the Church. He is venerated similarly by many Protestant sects, and, though his legacy has been the subject of debate within the Eastern Orthodox tradition, he is a saint in that church as well.
Monica
Augustine’s mother, Monica (c. 332-387 CE), is the single most influential person in her son’s life as depicted in Confessions. Raised in a Christian family, Monica was a lifelong Catholic whose only significant struggle with sin was a brief period of overdrinking in her youth. Married off to the much older Patricius around age 22, she submitted completely to her hot-tempered, unfaithful husband, regarding unconditional servitude to him as her duty. Together, Monica and Patricius had at least three children, including Augustine. Monica prayed for Patricius to find God and was satisfied to see him baptized on his deathbed.
Long horrified by her son’s sinful, wayward habits, Monica labored tirelessly to make a Catholic out of Augustine. Augustine credits her daily prayers on his behalf and the support she provided after following him from Africa to Milan as crucial contributing factors to his eventual conversion and ministry. Just before her death en route back to Africa, she and Augustine shared a powerful and formative religious experience.
Following her death, Monica too was canonized by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and is similarly venerated among many Protestant sects.
Patricius
Augustine describes his father, Patricius Aurelius (c. 314-371 CE), as “no more than a fairly obscure town councillor at Thagaste” (35). Though a member of the upper class, Patricius struggled financially and saw Augustine as the family’s ticket to a more prosperous future. Augustine reveals little about his father beyond the man’s paganism and obsessive commitment to Augustine’s career prospects, though he does reveal that Patricius encouraged his son’s sexual promiscuity and was himself frequently unfaithful to Augustine’s mother. Monica achieved her longtime goal of baptizing Patricius on his deathbed, but Augustine nevertheless has few positive words to say about his father.
Ambrose
Ambrose (c. 339-397 CE) was the bishop of Milan from 374 CE until his death. When Augustine arrived in Milan, he was immediately captivated by Ambrose’s sermons and began to seek private audiences with the bishop to talk through his curiosities and doubts about Christianity. Although Ambrose was too busy and distant for such an audience, his interpretations of the Bible, particularly the figurative meanings he extracted from verses that had troubled Augustine, had immense influence on Augustine’s decision to become a Catholic and also provided a model for Augustine’s eventual role in the clergy. In 387 CE Ambrose baptized Augustine.
A prominent figure of his time, Ambrose was victorious in a religious standoff, in which Augustine took part, with the Roman Empire. Ambrose is further remembered for his contributions to Catholic hymns and chanting. Like Augustine, Ambrose was canonized and named one of the Four Great Latin Fathers of the Catholic Church, and he, too, is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is venerated similarly by many Protestant sects.
Alypius
Friends form a significant part of Augustine's life story in Confessions, but Alypius (c. 360-430 CE) is the most consequential. Also born in Thagaste, Alypius grew up with Augustine, though Augustine was about six years older and was at one time Alypius’s teacher. Though Alypius was principled and came from a noble family, he had a weakness for circus and gladiator games. Augustine partially helped him to overcome this problem, although this assistance was inadvertent. Alypius went to Rome before Augustine where he studied law. The friends reconnected there, and Alypius followed Augustine to Milan.
There, the two friends considered questions of philosophy and religion together. Traumatized by an early sexual experience, Alypius had mixed feelings about marriage, which manifested as insecurities when Augustine prepared to marry leading up to his conversion. In the end Alypius, who was present in the garden during Augustine’s famous conversion episode, became a Christian alongside his friend, and both men would commit to lives of celibacy. They were baptized together as well, and Alypius returned to Thagaste with Augustine to help him found a monastery there. Alypius was a supportive and loving force in Augustine’s adult life whose friendship was a critical part of Augustine’s spiritual path.
When Augustine left for Hippo, Alypius stayed in Thagaste and became its bishop. He, too, rose to prominence in the Catholic Church, and after his death he was canonized in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.
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