Saint Alypius of Thagaste

However, Alypius gave way to a love for the entertainments of the circus, for which the inhabitants of Tagaste were passionate. Saint Augustine was deeply distressed by this; no longer having him among his disciples, he was not in a position to give him wise warnings. He saw him, however, one day enter his school to listen to his lessons, as he had already done without his father's knowledge. Wishing then to make a passage he was explaining clearer, he borrowed a comparison from the circus games and launched stinging mockery against those who allowed themselves to be carried away by such a mania. He was not thinking of Alypius at the moment. But the latter believed that he had been the target, and as he was very well-born, he did not get angry with Augustine and, on the contrary, loved him all the more for it. Condemning himself, therefore, he withdrew from the abyss in which he took pleasure in sinking, and went to the circus no more.

Alypius subsequently obtained permission from his father to return to the school of Saint Augustine. From then on, he embraced the superstitions of t he Manicha Manichéens Religious group considered idolatrous by Miltiades. eans along with his master. He had allowed himself to be imposed upon by the pretended love that these heretics affected for continence. Such are the charms of this virtue that its mere shadow makes itself loved and respected.

While our Saint was in Carthage, a thief undertook to cut with a hatchet some lead bars that projected into the street: people ran to the noise he was making. Fearing he would be arrested, he left his hatchet there and took flight. Alypius, who happened to pass by and knew nothing of the cause of the tumult, saw the hatchet on the ground and picked it up. He was immediately seized, treated as the true thief, and they set about taking him before the judge. While they were leading him to prison, the architect who was in charge of public buildings passed by. He took it upon himself to prove the innocence of Alypius, and, to this end, led him, followed by all the people, to the house of the thief; they saw a young child at the door. The architect having shown him the hatchet, he recognized it and said: "It is ours." They asked him various other questions, to which he replied with the same naivety. Thus the truth appeared in all its light. The people remained confounded, and Alypius was fully justified. God, according to the remark of Saint Augustine, permitted this event so that Alypius might learn with what circumspection one must judge others, for fear that an indiscreet curiosity might cause an innocent person to be condemned on mere appearances.

To comply with the wishes of his parents, our Saint went to study law in Rome. Dur Rome Birthplace of Maximian. ing his stay in that city, he became passionate about gladiatorial combats. Despite this detestable inclination, he was disciplined in his morals and demonstrated great sentiments of probity. He was made a legal assessor in the court of the treasurer of Italy, and gave, in the exercise of this office, brilliant marks of his love for justice and his disinterestedness. He had the courage to oppose the iniquitous pretensions of a powerful senator, whom no one dared to resist because of the magnitude of his influence.

Saint Augustin saint Augustin Father of the Church and spiritual master of Possidius. e having come to Rome, Alypius joined him in the most intimate friendship, and foll owed Milan Italian city where the saint has an altar and an annual feast. him to Milan. They both converted in that city, and were baptized there by Saint Ambrose, on th saint Ambroise Father of the Church cited for a maxim on strength. e eve of Easter in the year 387. Some time later, they returned to Rome, where they spent a year in retreat. They then departed for Africa. Arriving in Tagaste, they formed a community of pious people there, where they lived in the practice of all kinds of good works. Such a retreat seemed necessary to them to secure their conversion; by this they were also preparing for the apostolic life to which God destined them. Three years passed in this manner at Tagaste. Saint Augustine having been made bishop of Hippo, the whole community followed him th Hippone City where Possidius took refuge and where Saint Augustine died. ere and settled in the monastery that he had built.

Alypius went out of devotion to visit Palestine, and there saw Saint Jerome, with whom he formed a close friendship. Upon his return to Africa, he was made Bishop o évêque de Tagaste African city where the saint stayed and founded monasteries. f Tagaste, around the year 393. He greatly assisted Saint Augustine in everything he did or wr ote agains Donatistes A Christian schismatic group from North Africa. t the Do natists a Pélagiens Heretical group denying the necessity of grace. nd the Pelagians, attended several councils, undertook various journeys, and worked with untiring zeal for the glory of God and the Church. We see that he was elderly in 429, from a letter that Saint Augustine wrote to him in that year and in which he calls him an old man. It is believed that he died shortly thereafter.

Alypius is named today in the Roman Martyrology, and his feast is celebrated in Algi Alger City associated with the liturgical source of the text. ers on August 19. Excerpt from Godescard.