Caput V
Augustine Under Siege
Odo introduces Augustine's example, recounting how the bishop of Hippo endured a fourteen-month siege, exhorted others to patient prayer, and was soon answered by God.
So that the high priest of high priests might lean on examples, it is fitting to say a little about certain holy bishops—what they endured, or how they conducted themselves in times of distress. And first, about Father Augustine. For during his time the city of Hippo, over which he presided, was besieged by barbarians for fourteen months. Because he did not have the opportunity to preach to the same people, he instructed his fellow bishops and any others who had by chance fled to the city to endure patiently, constantly praying to God that He might either free the city or deign to call him out of this world. And not long afterward he received the answer to his prayer.
Augustine's Final Penitence
As death approached, Augustine chanted the seven penitential psalms in tears, taught that no baptized person should die without worthy penance, and even restrained laypeople from oath-taking.
Indeed, in the third month of the siege he took to his bed, and among the other things by which he prepared for his departure, he chanted the seven penitential psalms with weeping.1 For he said that after receiving baptism, both praised Christians and priests ought not to depart from this life without worthy and appropriate penance. He restrained not only clergy but also lay people from every kind of oath.
The Bishop's Table Inscription
Augustine posted verses at his dining table condemning those who slander the absent, making the meal a place of moral discipline.
Indeed, he kept such a tight rein on idle talk and detraction—vices that tend to run rampant at banquets—that he had these verses inscribed on his own table: Whoever loves to tear apart the lives of those who are not present with their words—
Modesty in All Things
The table inscription concludes with a warning to the backbiter, and Augustine's personal simplicity in clothing and furnishings is noted as a model of fitting moderation.
Let him know that this table is unworthy of himself. His garments, shoes, and even his bed coverings were of a moderate and fitting quality—neither too showy nor too shabby.
Read the original Latin
Ut autem pontifex pontificum innitatur exemplis, par est de quibusdam sanctis episcopis, quid pertulerint, aut qualiter se in angustiis egerint, parum referre. Ac primum de patre Augustino. Sub ejus namque tempore civitas Hipponia, cui praeerat, per quatuordecim menses, a barbaris obsessa est. Quia vero eisdem praedicandi facultas ei non erat, coepiscopos, et quoslibet alios qui tum forte ad urbem confugerant, ad tolerantiam instruebat, orans jugiter Deum quatenus aut civitatem liberaret, aut se de saeculo vocare dignaretur. Qui non post multum effectum suae precis adeptus est. Tertio siquidem obsidionis mense decubuit, qui inter caetera quibus exitum communiebat, septem psalmos poenitentiales flendo decantabat. Ait enim post perceptum baptismum, et laudatos Christianos, et sacerdotes absque digna et competenti poenitentia non debere de corpore exire. Hic non solum clericos, sed etiam laicos ab omni juramento compescebat.
Loquacitatem vero, et detractionem, quae in conviviis abundare solet, ita comprimebat ut hos versus in sua mensa scriberet:
Quisquis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam,
Hanc mensam indignam noverit esse sui. Vestes vero ejus, et calceamenta, vel lectualia, ex moderato et competenti habitu erant, nec nitida aut speciosa nimium vel abjecta plurimum.
Notes
- 1 ↩communiebat is a rare verb here meaning 'he prepared/made ready'; exitum communiebat = 'he prepared for his departure/death'.
Collationes (Conferences / Collations) companion
Day 11 and onward, delivered every morning
All 140 conferences — and the rest of the Sub Rosa library — in daily portions in the free Chosen Portion iOS app
Odo urged a daily return to sacred reading as the cure for the soul's slow decline; Chosen Portion makes that daily return a scheduled habit on your phone.
- Continue through all three books of the Conferences at 5 minutes a day
- Daily examination-style readings drawn from 78+ historic works
- One morning notification to keep the practice going past day 10