Alipius, Saint

ALIPIO, saint. – Bishop of Tagaste, disciple and very close friend of s. Agostino, to whom we owe almost everything that we know about him. Born in Tagaste, a few years after Agostino, he attended his lessons both in his native city and in Carthage. The friendship that followed, and that was never again to lose any of its intimacy throughout their lives, if it drew the pupil away from his unrestrained passion for circus games, nevertheless bound him to his teacher in adherence to Manichaeism. Having gone to Rome to study law, and having been appointed comes elargitionum, A. suffered a painful relapse into his passion for gladiatorial spectacles; but he was then drawn away from them by the sense of moral probity that was extremely vivid in him, and by the goodness and mercy of the Lord (Confess., 6, 8, n. 13). He followed Agostino to Milan, sharing in all the alternating events, struggles, and anxieties of his conversion; he supported him in the harsh battles and defeats of the senses and, in return, received from him the most urgent invitations to embrace the Christian religion. The two friends were baptized together (25 Apr. 387) and lived together at Cassiciaco, taking part in those philosophical discussions that Agostino describes in the two brief works: Contra Academicos and De Ordine (PL 32, 905 ff.; 977 ff.). Having returned to Africa, A. was Agostino’s companion in the monastery at Hippo: he made a brief journey to the East, where he met s. Girolamo, and shortly afterward was elected bishop of Tagaste (394). Under his guidance, the city caused that holiness, exactness, and orthodoxy which prevailed at Hippo to flourish anew. He took part in several councils and vigorously opposed the heretics, strengthened by the example, letters, and affection of Agostino. He seems to have died in 429 or 430. His name entered the Roman Martyrology only in 1584, under the date of 15 Aug. But the Hermits and the Canons Regular of s. Agostino celebrate his feast on the 18th.

Celestino Testore