Augustine in His Own Words
Epilogue 439
The Death of Augustine
Augustine died at the age of 76, just as the Vandal army was laying siege to Hippo. From Possidius of Calama, Life of St. Augustine: (31) Now, that holy man in the long life God gave him for the Church's welfare and happiness (indeed, he lived seventy-six years, almost forty of them as bishop or presbyter) used to say to us in intimate conversation that, even after receiving baptism, praiseworthy Christians and priests should not depart from the body without worthy and proper repentance. This he himself performed in the last illness that caused his death. He commanded the very brief penitential Psalms of David to be written out, and during the days of his illness, as he lay in bed, he looked at the pages which were opposite him on the wall and read them with overflowing and constant weeping. Moreover, in order that no one might hinder his purpose, about ten days before he departed from the body, he asked those of us who were present not to allow anyone to come to him except at the hours when the physician came to examine him or when nourishment was brought to him. His request was respected and fulfilled, and during all that time he had leisure for prayer. Up to his very last illness he preached the word of God in church incessantly, vigorously, and forcefully, with clear mind and sound judgment. With all the limbs of his body intact, his sight and hearing unimpaired, while we looked on and prayed at his bedside, "he slept with fathers," as we read, "well-nourished in a good old age" (1 Kgs 2:10). After the Holy Sacrifice was offered, he was buried in our presence as we commended the repose of his body.3
Reading Augustine vs. Hearing Him
By no small miracle, Augustine's works were preserved. We do not know the full circumstances, but Possidius certainly played a key role. We have Possidius's Index (Indiculus), an invaluable catalog of Augustine's library. But Possidius was acutely aware of the difference between reading Augustine and hearing him live. From the conclusion of Possidius of Calama, Life of St. Augustine: (31) It is clear from his writings that this priest, so valued and accepted by God, lived rightly and wisely in the faith, hope, and love of the Catholic Church, as far as he could, seeing things in the light of truth. Those who read what he has written in his Isabelle Bochet, "Le Firmament de l'Écriture": L'hermeneutique augustinienne, CEASA 172 (Paris: Institut d'Études Augustiniennes, 2004). "Turning to the Lord . . .": Augustine ended his sermons with a prayer that began with these words; his stenographers recorded not the full prayer, but only the opening words. On this, see François Dolbeau, "L'oraison 'Conuersi ad dominum. . . .' Un bilan provisoire des recensions existants," Archiv für Liturgiewissenschaft 41 (1999): 295–321; reprinted in Augustin et la prédication en Afrique, 127–54.
3. Vita 31 (Geerlings, 102); trans. Muller and Deferrari, FOTC 15:122–23 (modified).