Module 4: Activity 3 Assessment Task
Prepared by: TRICIAH NADINE P. EVANGELISTA, ARCH 4B
Persons who influenced Augustine’s How do they influence him –based
Conversion on their teachings or associations?
Monica Augustine's mother remains steadfast
in her faith that her son will find his
way to Catholicism. Her confidence is
boon to him. He never resents her
beliefs and wishes but instead always
accepts her for who she is. Monica's
faith encourages him and supports
him
Ambrose The personal kindness and
understanding with which St. Ambrose
treated Augustine in a private
conversation, and the very nature of
the doctrine behind the preaching of
the bishop attracted Augustine so that
he began to be a regular listener to his
sermons. To Augustine’s amazement,
Ambrose expounded the Holy
Scriptures so clearly and so profoundly
that one difficulty after another was
solved completely: the obscure was
clarified, the enigmatic made
intelligibly, and apparent
contradictions reconciled.
Simplicianus Simplicianus counsels Augustine
against reading books written by the
classical philosophers, even the
Platonists, and instead offers
biographies of saints who converted to
Christianity as examples for Augustine
to consider. In other words, the
aesthetic image or eidos of a
converted Christian is what initially
pushes Augustine toward converting
to Christianity. Simplicanus
encourages Augustine to learn about
Victorinus, an old man of great
learning.
Ponticianus Visited by Ponticianus, who tells the
story of how two of his friends had
been converted while reading the Life
of St. Antony. Having observed the
Realizations of Augustine
Monica’s emotions upon realizing
Augustine’s growth to manhood is
understandable at least respect the
marriages of others. “I still remember
her anxiety”, writes Augustine, “how
she most earnestly warned me not to
sin with women, and above all not to
seduce any man’s wife. It all seemed
womanish advice to me, and I should
have blushed to accept it.”
He realized that the Manicheans had
given him a distorted interpretation of
the Scriptures and that the vanity
which induced him at Carthage to set
them aside on account of their
simplicity of language had deprived
him of what would have been the
greatest aid in his search for truth.
Augustine becomes overwhelmed
with a desire to “imitate” Victorinus.
He also becomes fascinated by
Christian monks who reject the world
and live in great monasteries away
from cities. He is drawn to the ascetic
life. Augustine is offered these various
images of Christian alternatives to life
under Rome. Augustine reflects on his
inner struggle with a friend named
Alypius while they sit in a garden in
Milan. In desiring to fully convert to
Christianity, Augustine claims it must
be “a resolute and whole-hearted act
of the will”
This story prompts Augustine to
ponder his own conflict of wills and
analyze his spiritual state. Then comes
one of the most famous stories in the
 way of life led by these servants of God
and having read the life of St. Antony
of Egypt they found there, the two
courtiers a once compared the mode
of life with their own at the Imperial
Court. “
Saint Paul Standing in a garden while he was
reflecting, he heard a child’s voice
telling him “Take and read”. He took
the Holy Scriptures and opened the
book by a random page.
The fragment he found was St. Paul’s
letter to the Romans, specifically
chapter 13. In it, Paul urges us to live
and work in conscience and in charity.
St. Augustine specifically noted the
end of the letter: “Do not indulge in
feasting and drunkenness, do not lie in
bed and be lazy, do not fight and
emulate, but put on the Lord Jesus
Christ and do not care for the flesh
with too much desire.
world. In a garden adjacent to his
lodging, Augustine is torn between a
desire to commit himself to God and
his lifelong habit of sin
After concluding the reading of the
letter of St. Paul, Augustine felt “as if a
light of security had infiltrated my
heart, all the darkness of my doubts
had dissipated”. It was the definitive
step to consummate the process of
conversion that took place in the
Bishop of Hippo for a long time,
counting on the incessant prayer of his
mother Monica.