By Dr. 布莱恩T. 凯利(88)
BG电子导师
The following remarks are adapted from then-Dean 布莱恩T. Kelly’s report to the Board of Governors at its May 12, 2017, meeting. 它们是人类的一部分 正在进行的系列 of talks about why the College includes certain texts in its curriculum.
如果你看看美丽的farade 圣母圣三一教堂，你会发现三个雕像. Our Lady sits atop the peak, but two men flank the main entrance, St. 托马斯·阿奎那和圣. 奥古斯汀. 年轻的St. 托马斯。 is lost in wonder at the divine mysteries he writes about; an aged St. 奥古斯丁讲道到最后. St. 奥古斯汀 was ultimately called to the episcopate, whereas St. 托马斯能够或多或少地全身心地投入到祈祷和沉思的生活中.
这两位伟大的教会医生并肩站在一起，似乎支持着圣母站在上面的大厦，这是很合适的. They are the two greatest theologians the Church has ever known; their teaching has laid a sure foundation for what 教皇圣. John Paul calls “the very logical and demanding edifice of Christian doctrine.”
St. 奥古斯汀’s influence can be seen concretely in the 天主教教理, where he is cited more than any other “ecclesiastical writer” by a wide margin. 他被引用了87次. St. 托马斯以61分排名第二. 没有人能接近. For obvious reasons I cannot bring myself to agree with my old teacher, Rev. 约翰·哈登，S.J.当他说奥古斯丁是“教会最伟大的医生”时，但第二好也不算太坏.
像圣. 托马斯。, 奥古斯汀 wrote voluminously on all aspects of Christian theology. 不像圣. 托马斯。, 他写的大部分文章本质上都是辩论性的, answering particular objections to the 信仰 or addressing particular heresies. 他的伟大 上帝之城, 例如, 是为了反驳罗马沦陷于蛮族侵略者之手是因为帝国放弃了官方的异教徒习俗. 还有几篇BG电子自由意志和恩典的小论文构成了他对伯拉纠主义诱惑的精心梳理的回应. 尤其是对这项伟大的工作, 奥古斯汀 was named the Doctor of Grace and is even referred to by this title in the 教义问答.
In the history of the Church there have been many heresies. It is somewhat striking how many there were in the first few centuries after Christ. 但是，当异端出现时，忠实的教师和思想家被要求通过更深入地观察信仰的沉淀来解决这些严重的错误. 这是异端的巨大好处，异端以一种新的方式提出一个大问题. We have to be especially grateful to those who have answered error with truth. St. 奥古斯汀, especially after his reluctant vocation and selection as the Bishop of Hippo, was a very important figure in combatting Manichaeism, 伯拉纠派主义, 模仿催眠术, 和阿里乌派.
St. 奥古斯汀 forms the backbone of our Sophomore Theology sequence. 我们从他的小论文开始 论基督教教义, which provides the principles for reading and interpreting the Scriptures. Here the students learn the generous and expansive rule of charity, 认为任何对上帝话语的解释都是建立爱的，都不应该被拒绝. 毕竟, the Holy 精神 is the ultimate author of Scripture, and in His infinite wisdom He can intend a multitude of meanings for any one passage.
我们二年级的学生也读了一些奥古斯丁对优雅和自然的简短论述，以回应伯拉纠异端. 在这里，他仔细阅读了保罗的书信，以表明我们所拥有的每一件好东西都是作为礼物接受的, 也不完全或自主地属于我们. This even applies to our meritorious actions; God works it in us to freely choose the good. 在我们的生命中，唯一真正属于我们自己的是我们所犯的罪和我们养成的坏习惯. 在其他一切事上，我们都是与神的恩典合作.
然后花大量的时间阅读 上帝之城, 追寻救赎历史的轨迹, beginning with the first words of Genesis and ending with the book of Revelation. 奥古斯丁在许多章节中思考了骄傲的独特本质，认为它是最阴险的诱惑. 它总是伴随着好的行为, and it is the secret door through which good men are corrupted. 他说得像一个熟悉这种诱惑的人.
But the most influential of his works that our students read, 也许是他最具影响力的一本书, 是他的 《BG电子平台》. 如果你问一些BG电子的校友四年里哪本书对他们的生活影响最大, 我想大多数人都会提到这本书. It strikes at the heart and conscience of the good-willed reader. In it, 奥古斯汀 humbly relates the story of his life in the form of an extended prayer. He confesses his own shortcomings and God’s many blessings. 它在很多方面都是基督教祈祷的典范. He speaks frankly to the Lord with intimacy, love, and reverence. 教皇圣. 约翰·保罗称这是“一项工作，在这项工作中，那些渴望真理并知道自己局限性的人总能发现自己。.”
St. 奥古斯丁于公元354年出生在现在的阿尔及利亚. His mother, 莫妮卡, was Christian and is now recognized as a saint. 他的父亲, 帕特里克, 她既不是基督徒，也不是圣人，因此莫妮卡有时被认为是虐待受害者的守护神. 奥古斯汀 was not baptized but learned about Christ from his earliest days. As a youth he pursued a serious classical education — and worldly vanity. 奥古斯汀, 的忏悔, 当他回忆起从一个农民的树上偷梨却没有打算吃它们时，他与邪恶的神秘搏斗, but only for sinful fellowship with his ruffian friends. 他的母亲为他感到悲伤，因为他越来越远离信仰，越来越融入世界. 他犯了性罪，生了一个儿子.
St. 莫妮卡, 母性持久性模型, 不断地为他祈祷, hounding him sometimes to the point of distraction. 他不好意思地承认，当他决定从迦太基搬到罗马时，他对母亲撒了谎，这样她就不会跟着他. Once when 奥古斯汀 was adhering to the doctrines of the Manichaeans, 莫妮卡 almost despaired but received a vision to encourage her prayers. 另一位善良的主教向她保证说:“这些眼泪的儿子是不会灭亡的.”
In many ways the story of 奥古斯汀’s conversion revolves around two opposing forces, the millstone of sinful habit and the immense power of a mother’s love.
虽然奥古斯丁克服了他的智力上的怀疑，但他仍然被肉体的快乐所困. His famous prayer was, “Lord make me chaste, but not just yet.”
He felt powerless to release himself and slow to desire freedom. 他说:
我再也没有像往常那样的借口来解释为什么我还没有鄙视这个世界而服侍你, 即, 我对真相的感知是不确定的. 现在我确实很确定了. 然而我仍然被束缚在地球上. 我拒绝成为你的士兵. … The burden of the world weighed me down with a sweet drowsiness. 我对你的思念，就像一个人努力想起来，却又陷入沉睡，又沉了下去. 罪的律法是习惯的暴力，甚至不情愿的心灵也被它拖垮和束缚, 这是它应得的, 因为这是它自己的选择，它养成了习惯. “我真是个可怜的人, 除了你借着我们主耶稣基督的恩典，谁能救我脱离这取死的身体呢?”
After many struggles his inner conflict comes to a crisis.
他说:
我深深自省，从隐秘的深处，挖出了我所有的痛苦，这使我的眼泪像暴雨一样倾泻而下，我倒在无花果树下，让我的眼泪自由地流淌，这是你所悦纳的祭物，我反复对你说:“主啊，要到几时呢? 要多长时间? 明天,明天. 为什么现在不行呢?? 为什么不在此刻结束我不纯洁的生命呢?”
当奥古斯丁这样想的时候, 他听到附近院子里一个孩子的声音说, “拿起来读. 拿起来读.“启发, 他拿起《BG电子官网》随意翻开, 我默不作声地读着我眼前一亮的第一段:“不参加暴动和酒宴, 而不是色情和下流, 而不是在冲突和竞争中, 总要披戴主耶稣基督, 不要为肉体的私欲作准备.(罗马书13:13-14). … It was as if a light of relief from all anxiety flooded into my heart. 所有怀疑的阴影都被驱散了.”
在奥古斯丁任性的岁月里, 莫妮卡 persevered in prayer; she believed and hoped that God would claim her son in the end. 当奥古斯丁告诉她他内心的转变和他对洗礼的渴望时，她感到多么高兴啊! “She exulted … and blessed you who ‘are powerful to do more than we ask or think.”(以弗所书. 3:20).”
In truth 莫妮卡 rejoiced to see her beloved son baptized, 但这场胜利是在结束前不久到来的. After his baptism she traveled with her son to Ostia, 在台伯河口, 她最后一次呼吸的地方. But 奥古斯汀 describes a beautiful moment of deep spiritual communion with his mother. He says, “Step by step we climbed beyond all corporeal objects and the heaven itself. 通过内在的反思和对话，以及对你的作品的惊叹，我们提升了更高的境界，当我们谈论和呼吸着(永恒的), we touched it in some small degree by a moment of total concentration of the heart. And we sighed and left behind us ‘the first fruits of the spirit’ (Romans 8:23).”
在那一刻，奥古斯丁说, “We attained the eternal wisdom which abides beyond all things, … and this world with all its delights became worthless to us.” Before 莫妮卡 died she told him, “My hope in this world is already fulfilled. 我想多活一段时间的一个原因是我想在死前看到你成为天主教徒. My God has granted this in a way more than I had hoped.”
你可以明白为什么她是母亲的守护神，为什么奥古斯丁在几周后去世时如此伤心. 奥古斯丁有一个如此致力于他的皈依和救赎的母亲，这是多么大的祝福啊. And what a blessing to the Universal Church her prayers have turned out to be.
在这本有史以来最美丽、最丰富的书中，我只触及了几个中心时刻. St. 奥古斯丁和圣. 莫妮卡, please pray for us and for all wayward souls and their anxious mothers.