Augustine, Confessions §aug_conf_09_032: And behold, the corpse was carried to the burial; we went and returned withou...
Source: Augustine, Confessions (c. AD 400) (aug_conf_09_032) · father
And behold, the corpse was carried to the burial; we went and returned without tears. For neither in those prayers which we poured forth unto Thee, when the Sacrifice of our ransom was offered for her, when now the corpse was by the grave's side, as the manner there is, previous to its being laid therein, did I weep even during those prayers; yet was I the whole day in secret heavily sad, and with troubled mind prayed Thee, as I could, to heal my sorrow, yet Thou didst not; impressing, I believe, upon my memory by this one instance, how strong is the bond of all habit, even upon a soul, which now feeds upon no deceiving Word. It seemed also good to me to go and bathe, having heard that the bath had its name (balneum) from the Greek Balaneion for that it drives sadness from the mind. And this also I confess unto Thy mercy, Father of the fatherless, that I bathed, and was the same as before I bathed. For the bitterness of sorrow could not exude out of my heart. Then I slept, and woke up again, and found my grief not a little softened; and as I was alone in my bed, I remembered those true verses of Thy Ambrose. For Thou art the
Witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15)
- manuscript_tradition: Patrologia Latina (Migne) vol. 32 — Confessions Latin text
- critical_edition: Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (CCSL) 27 — Verheijen
- translation: Pusey translation (1838) — Library of Fathers
- translation: Pine-Coffin translation (Penguin Classics, 1961)
- republication: Internet Archive — Confessions (multiple editions)
- republication: Project Gutenberg — Confessions
- citation_tradition: Aquinas, Summa Theologica — cites Confessions extensively