We are sure that Augustinian pedagogy can be very relevant to the 21st century education, especially if we compare St. Augustine’s context and ours, to find that many things have undoubtedly changed, but others remain. Studying history is always inspiring, but very especially in the educational context, where, even taking into account the progress of neurobiology, learning patterns remain intact. We are living a time of social, cultural and educational changes. However, we cannot forget that many modern learning theories, methods, concepts, etc. are nothing but restatements of old, clear, and well-defined facts that can be found in St. Augustine’s writings. Our main task is to know how to apply St. Augustine’s thought in today’s context.

It was particularly Augustine who saw the theological and ethical connection between the humility of Christ and the humble Church. Interestingly, the association between both of them has been omitted in most of the studies on the ecclesiology of Augustine. My paper intends on the one hand to fill this lacuna; but on the other hand it will also argue that the ecclesial commitment to the poor finds its kernel in the humility of Christ who chose to be poor.

The article presents the traces of rituals and celebrations of Lent in the Church of Milan in 387, following the clues that we have in the texts both of St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. It deals also about the structure of the catechumenate in Hippo, St. Augustine’s Diocese, underlining those things which were common to other Churches, and those which were exclusive of Northern Africas Church. It presents briefly the ritual of the traditio symboli and the traditio orationis, and also describes St. Augustine’s sermons to the newly baptized or infants, during the in albis Week.

The article deais with St. Augustine’s anthropology, taking as point of departure Mazzarellas’s ideas. It presents the different moment of St. Augustine’s Life and his anthropological sources, both Latin and Greek. The nowadays importance of St. Augustine’s anthropology is based on his performative attitude and the perennial situation of crisis in which he had to live all his life.

The present article seeks to address an important point of contact between early Christian ascetic practice and the heritage of Platonism through the end of the fourth century AD. In short, I find marked similarities between Pierre Hadot’s reading of Plato's Phaedo, for example, and that of St Augustine’s personal prayer book, the Confessions. After outlining essential characteristics of Hadot’s take on spiritual exercises and Augustinian anthropology, I subject the text of the Confessions to critical examination in order to determine whether an emphasis on ‘spiritual exercises’ is indeed present. I argüe that similar spiritual practices may be clearly discerned. First, I discuss the distinct ‘Christian’ and Augustinian character of ‘spiritual exercises’ which incorporate biblical typology of Adam and Christ as paradigmatic for the spiritual life. Next, in terms of concrete practices, I then discern from the first four books of the Confessions a series of exercises through which such a path of spiritual progress (i.e., from ‘Adam’ to ‘Christ’) may occur. Of note, I consider the dialectic praxis of 1) contemplative reading, 2) prayer-writing and 3) prayer itself, or ‘pure’ prayer - distinct from Augustine’s written reflections; 4) the role of lectio divina or meditation on Scripture; and, finally, 5) meditation on death. In addition to developing these individual practices, it is the traditional Augustinian anthropology (rooted as it is in a theology of divine grace) that reveals the essential ‘Christian’ contribution of Augustine.

This essay, «Why pray? Augustine of Hippo’s multifaceted doctrine of prayer », will consist of three moments through which we shall progressively reveal the inner logic at work in Augustine’s understanding of prayer and how it is integrally connected with other aspects of his theological doctrine in general, and sapientia in particular, thus revealing the intrinsically mystagogical nature of prayer in Augustine’s mind-set. First, we shall explain how Augustine’s goal of arriving at sapientia became a matter of seeking Christ, the Incarnate Sapientia Dei. But Christ is most fully encountered in and through prayer, above all the prayer of His Body, the Church, in her scriptures, her sacraments, and above all, her divine liturgy, through which one is initiated into and progressively grows in one’s knowledge of the divine mysteries. Henee in order to attain to Wisdom, one had to engage in true worship, the point which will constitute our second focus. Finally, we shall consider two case studies of a sort, that is, Augustine’s exegesis of two biblical passages in which Christ Himself is depicted praying. The first is Matthew 6,9-13, in which Christ teaches His followers the Pater Noster, and the second John 17, the so-called High-Priestly Prayer, in which Christ is seen in a candid moment of profound communication with His Father. Paul van Geest understands a mystagogue as one who attempts «to kindle a desire in people for the incomprehensible and unspeakable mystery behind everything and everyone », and our contention in this essay will be that this reading of Augustine is confirmed when one examines Augustine’s theology through the lens of prayer and sapientia.

The article focuses on the concept of distentio and makes a comparison between book XI of St. Augustine’s Confessions and «The seventh letter» of the Column and Fundament of the Truth, of the Russian scientific, philosopher and theologian Pavel Florenskij (1882-1937).

In this essay, I argue, along with Saint Augustine, that there is a direct similarity between Holy Scripture and what is commonly known as ‘the letter’. The letter, or epistolary form, serves as a metaphor for Scripture in the following way. In the metaphor of the letter, we recognize three essential elements: the sender or author, the recipient, and the message. These three elements can be grasped according to the philosophical system of Christian neoplatonism, a system which Augustine subscribed to as he explained in his writings especially in Expositions of the Psalms the metaphor of the Letter from God. Augustine’s outstanding work, The City of God, also will serve our understanding of this metaphor.

This article intends to contribute to research of the structure and argument of Augustine’s sermons. Application of the dual method of analysis used here shows that these were much more structured and better considered than has long been assumed. This contribution will provide evidence for the view that s. 193 consists of three parts that reflect a learning trajectory. It will do so by examining structure and argument in the sermon according to a dual method: the use of language and of Scripture. It will become clear that the transitions between the parts found through an analysis of the use of language are the same as those resulting from analysis of the use of Scripture.