Episode Transcript
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In one of Saint Augustine’s
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earliest works written soon after his baptism
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is called the Soliloquies.
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It was written around 386 AD,
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shortly after his conversion into Christian faith.
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The Soliloquies
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show Augustine’s restless heart
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at the beginning of his Christian journey.
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Intense, personal,
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philosophical, and deeply prayerful conversation
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marking the transition from his old life
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to the new one centred on God.
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We all know that he had lived more than thirty years
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wandering around the intellectual worlds
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of Neo-Platonism and scepticism.
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Eventually he converted into Christianity.
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But he still did not know much about Christ
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nor what to do with his life.
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He had much to learn,
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and he prayed for the patience
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to wait until the fullness of Christ’s message
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was revealed to him.
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He asks two great things of God,
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to know himself and to know God.
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Through reason’s guidance,
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he reflects on the nature of the soul,
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the pursuit of wisdom, and the longing for eternal life.
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Full of hope, he prayed.
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My Friends, on this Jubilee year
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let us pray Saint Augustine’s Pilgrim’s Prayer
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for the Soliloquies.
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O God,
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even here in the midst of my darkness
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you speak to me of bright shiny places.
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You don't try to drive me crazy in the midst of my troubles
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and you forbid others to upset me
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as I live out my days.
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I know that someday I will go to you.
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Open the door to my knock.
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Tell me how to get to where you are.
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I don't have anything now
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to help me get to you
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except my desire for you.
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I don't know anything beyond the passing things of this life.
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I want to know your eternal truths.
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Right now, the only thing I know is that
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I must search out these truths,
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but I don't know how.
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Help me find my way.
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Amen.
