"When I told him that I was giving much attention to those writings
(the Epistles of Paul), we began to talk, and he to tell, of Antony,
the monk of Egypt, whose name was then very famous among thy
servants: {23} but was unknown to us till that moment. When he
discovered that, he spent some time over the subject, detailing his
virtues, and wondering at our ignorance. We were astounded at
hearing such well-attested marvels of him, so recent and almost
contemporaneous, wrought in the right faith of the Catholic Church.
We all wondered: we, that they were so great; and he, that we had
not heard of them. Thence his discourse ran on to those flocks of
hermit-cells, and the morals of thy sweetness, and the fruitful
deserts of the wilderness, of which we knew nought. There was a
monastery, too, at Milan, full of good brethren, outside the city
walls, under the tutelage of Ambrosius, and we knew nothing of it.
He went on still speaking, and we listened intently; and it befell
that he told us how, I know not when, he and three of his mess
companions at Treves, while the emperor was engaged in an afternoon
spectacle in the circus, went out for a walk in the gardens round
the walls; and as they walked there in pairs, one with him alone,
and the two others by themselves, they parted. And those two,
straying about, burst into a cottage, where dwelt certain servants
of thine, poor in spirit, of such as is the kingdom of heaven; and
there found a book, in which was written the life of Antony. One of
them began to read it, and to wonder, and to be warned; and, as he
read, to think of taking up such a life, and leaving the warfare of
this world to serve thee. Now, he was one of those whom they call
Managers of Affairs. {24} Then, suddenly filled with holy love and
sober shame, angered at himself, he cast his eyes on his friend, and
said, 'Tell me, prithee, with all these labours of ours, whither are
we trying to get? What are we seeking? For what are we soldiering?