What's in the fresco?

This fresco depicts Augustine’s baptism in Milan on Easter weekend, 387. In the center is Augustine, kneeling. Each of the four main people is marked by a pillar; Bishop Ambrose is standing above Augustine, baptizing him by pouring water from a shell. Over Ambrose’s shoulder is Adeodatus, “[Augustine’s fifteen-year old] son according to the flesh, born of [his] sin" (9.6.14). Adeodatus was born to Augustine and a woman he had long term relations with outside of marriage. Over Augustine’s right shoulder is his mother, Monica, also with a halo.  Next to Monica, in blue and with the halo, is Alypius, the friend who was in the garden with Augustine during the tolle lege experience.

What's in Confessions?

Augustine’s baptism stresses the importance of rebirth, total commitment, and Augustine finally being content with his life. Baptism was mentioned three times in Confessions. The first was when Augustine was a child, and his baptism was deferred (1.11.17). During Augustine’s time, deferring baptisms were considered common. The thought behind this action was so that as children grew they did not dirty their cleansed souls with sin. It was better to get the sinning out of the way, and then get baptized later. After this, Augustine falls into a constant state of sin, as though the deferred baptism has given him encouragement to sin. The second baptism scene was when Augustine’s friend was baptized while unconscious before his death. Before his illness, the friend was a Manichee like Augustine was at the time (4.4.8). Then when he was baptized, even though he was unconscious for the ceremony he still wholeheartedly embraced his conversion, feeling peace and a love for God enter his body. This intensifies Augustine’s state of restlessness. He begins to question his Manichean lifestyle and considers converting to Christianity. From here we see Augustine’s choice to finally become baptized after his tolle lege experience. His friend Alypius and his son Adeodatus were also baptized with him with a number of witnesses there. "Alypius had decided to join me in being reborn in you... We associated the boy Adeodatus with us as well” (9.6.14). Also, Bishop Ambrose, who was a big part of Augustine’s life, was the one who actually baptized them. This stresses the importance of family and friends for Augustine. Without this support, this experience would not have been as meaningful for him.  Although the tolle lege scene is often considered to be the moment of Augustine’s conversion, his baptism was actually his binding action of commitment to God. Before this point, Augustine’s thoughts were filled with merely wishing to become Christian, but it is not until this point that he actually follows through. "Those voices flooded my ears, and the truth was distilled into my heart until it overflowed in loving devotion" (9.6.14).

What's in it for us?

People today experience very similar stages of life just as Augustine did. It is easy to fall into a life of sin like the younger Augustine did when his baptism was deferred. We can find ourselves caught in addictions and habits that are harmful, but we have difficulty when trying to stop these sins from happening. An experience like the second baptism scene can happen where we start to question ourselves and all that we thought we believed in. Restlessness and second-guessing ourselves happen all the time throughout this period of our lives. Then finally, a light bulb goes off, and we find ourselves ready to commit to what we now know to be the truth, just like Augustine. The importance of having the right state of mind during this final baptism to work is stressed in Confessions. We cannot commit if we have the slightest bit of doubt just like Augustine went through that period of time where he would say that he wanted to convert, but not just yet. He was not willing to give up the things that were bad for him. After experiencing this third baptism, we can fully become aware of the meaning of “rebirth” in baptism. “And so we were baptized, and all our dread about our earlier lives dropped away from us. During the days that followed I could not get enough of the wonderful sweetness that filled me as I meditated upon your deep design for the salvation of the human race” (9.6.14).