Augustine, according to the Pontiff, "reached this fundamental stage of his long journey through his passion for man and the truth, a passion that led him to look for God, great and inaccessible". "But God is not distant, because He made Himself close to the human beings, by becoming one of us", stated the Pope, according to whom, "his faith in Christ made Augustine accomplish his long quest, along the way towards the truth": a way, this one, "to be covered with courage and at the same time with humbleness, while being open to a permanent purification, which we all need". After baptism, which he received in 387 from bishop Ambrogio and the "beautiful dream" of monastic life in Africa, Augustine’s "second conversion" begins when he is appointed bishop of Hippo, whereby "he learnt day after day to offer the fruit of his intelligence and his studies to the benefit of others, of simple Christians and ordinary people". But there is one last stage in Augustine’s journey, a third conversion: the one that "led him, every day of his life, to ask God for forgiveness". "This attitude of deep humbleness in front of the only Lord Jesus Christ, which is exemplary for Christians of all times explained the Pope introduced him to the experience of an intellectual humbleness as well", of which his "Retractationes" are evidence.
