Augustine of Hippo (Agostino d'Ippona)

Truly the Romans of the times of Scipio did not leave a stone standing.

Alypius should already be there.

Megalius!

Alypius!

What happened?

They have been assaulted by bandits

They are merchants. They were coming loaded with merchandise from the port of Hippo.

There is no safety on the road any more

Alypius, it is going from bad to worse

Shall we go?

Yes, let us go! - Hippo should not be far - We are already late

Valerius is waiting for us

He wanted the comfort of your advice

Our trip must have an important reason

if he summoned us with so much urgency

Take care of them

God will reward you

Alypius, Bishop of Tagaste. Do you remember me?

We are of the same age

You have become an honored Bishop

And I am a beggar monk

When will you turn to poverty, Alypius?

I remember you, Elias!

Alypius, you descended from the pure heights of the Gospel and of primitive Christianity

Down to the depths of a handmaid of the State

Poverty and penance should not debase men

You have already lost in prosperity

the glory gained in persecution and disaster

Come Megalius!

Unfortunately it is useless to speak to them

They do not understand!

Hell's fire will burn those who contaminated themselves

They are worse than the Manicheans

The would like men not to eat but herbs, for they say

that what is flesh contains evil

to drink only dirty water because...

Fresh water makes one feel sensual pleasure when ones drinks it

They would like man to destroy himself

So to destroy the evil that is hidden within us

They would like to be saved for their own merits

And not for Christ's

You have nothing to fear

However vehicle circulation is forbidden in the city before sunset

Tonight you shall receive your merchandise

You must trust me

We have an impeccable organization

But why unloading my car? - It would not pass through the streets

Our cars have an axle of different size

And so we pay another tax

Sure!

Hello Caius!

See? We shaved our wives' heads as a sign of mourning

For the death of the great Theodosius Augustus

Stop!

But can you see they are two high imperial dignitaries?

Go and call Bishop Valerius!

Megalius!

Peace to you!

Alypius!

Peace to you!

May peace be to this house

Peace to you! - Peace to you! - Peace to you!

Welcome to this house, Megalius

And to you, Alypius

I have been waiting for you

Thank you for coming with such haste

Here is Augustine!

May discord be far from us!

It is born when we only love ourselves

If you want to be admitted to our monastery, you must learn to read and write well

Oh Alypius! Megalius! What a surprise!

Peace be with you!

Peace to you Augustine!

Peace to you Augustine!

Peace to you!

Do not stop teaching

Do go on

We shall see you later

We shall stop here for some days

Come! Come!

In memory of the Blessed Martyr Polycarp

Epistle of the Church of Smyrna to the Christian communities

Brothers!

Three days before his arrest

While he was praying

Polycarp had a vision

And said to his companions

I must be burned alive

But he did not flee

He was arrested

And while he was being lead to the stadium through the insults of a large crowd

A voice from heaven was heard

Be strong, Polycarp

Behave as a brave man

The Proconsul said to him

Insult the Christ and I will release you

I have been serving Him 86 years

Polycarp answered

And He never wronged me

I have beasts at my disposal

Added the Proconsul

They will devour you

"Let them come" said Polycarp

I do not change better for worse

Since you despised the beasts

Ended the Proconsul

I will have the fire consume you

And he was placed on the stake

But since the fire would leave him unscathed

The impious pierced him with a dagger

A dove came out of his heart

And such an amount of blood that extinguished the fire

The crowd was filled with wonder in seeing what a difference was

Between the unfaithful and the elect

Now you may speak

We have crossed the city to arrive here

It is a babel

All Africa is a babel

And all the Empire by now

We even met heretical monks

They are like bandits

The bandit deprives the passers-by of their goods or takes their life away

The heretic robs Christians of the truth

And separates them from the Church

The world seems to be overrun by unspeakable confusion

The Empire is divided and discordant

The unity of the Church is threatened by heresies

And by sects

First Arius's heresy

Then the Manicheans

Now, especially here in Africa

The Donatists

A merchant told me that famine is threatening Rome

With a decree Emperor Honorius

Ordered to rebuild the fleet for the victualing of wheat

He is still a boy but he shows to be wise

Two months ago, at the death of Theodosius

When the Empire was divided between East and West

Most of the ships stayed in Constantinople

What I fear most is the barbarians' pressure

The search for new lands, for a warmer climate, pushes them towards the Mediterranean

Toward Africa

Emperor Honorius will surely know how to defend the Empire and the Church

He is a fervent Christian

He gave orders that in all the churches of the Empire

we pray that God's hand may stop the Barbarians that are pressing at the border

Many pagans will still pray to their idols

To stop the Barbarians we would need again the ancient legions of Rome

But where are they now?

With your permission I retire

I am old now!

Tomorrow I shall wait for you in my episcopal palace

You know that I need your help

Your advise

Before speaking to the faithful

Brothers in the priesthood and sons

I, Valerius, your Bishop

Have been feeling for a while the weight of years

In the difficult times we are passing

In front of the tempest threatening us

The Church needs a Shepherd full of strength

And I am just an old man close to death

Who better than me can confound the Manichean heretics

And the followers of Bishop Donatus, who want to destroy the unity of Christ's Church?

Who can announce to the pagans

Salvation

Teach

Baptize

Preach with a new energy

Who among us burns more than all

Of the fire of faith?

The man that you yourselves wanted me to ordain a priest

A priest here present in this church

He has been in Milan and Rome

He met the great dignitaries of the Empire

He already travelled across Numidia

Baptizing many pagans

Romans

Berbers

Phoenicians

Even the heretics

Listen with admiration to his speeches

Full of a faith born out of a wonderful grace of God

It is this man that I want to call with your agreement

To share with me the load of the Episcopate

Of our Church

Of our Church

Aurelius Augustine of Tagaste

I propose that you be with me and after me Shepherd and Bishop

No! No, it is not possible!

It is not possible!

You all know my pride

You all know my sins

I made Monica, my mother, cry

I abandoned a woman, my son's mother

I left her in solitude, with no pity for her

And not content with having spent years in... in filth

I had the pride of wanting to confound God's wisdom

I had the pride to proclaim that Christ was one like I

He was a man