Reading Confessions is a great foundation for Augustinian spirituality, but it can be daunting. This monthly series moderated by Kevin A. Bergdorf, an Oxford-educated Augustine scholar, aims to make Confessions accessible to everyone through hour-long online discussions that guide participants through Augustine’s masterpiece one chapter at a time.
In June, we will be reading Book 6. You can find a guide to Book 6, as well as a Quick Start Guide to the entire work, by clicking the buttons below. If you missed a session, don’t worry: all the videos from previous sessions are available on the Lay Augustinians’ YouTube page.
There is no specific version of Confessions you need to read, so feel free to use whichever version you already have at home or whichever translation you like best. If you can’t decide, the moderator recommends either the version translated by Maria Boulding, O.S.B., or the Oxford World’s Classics edition translated by Henry Chadwick.
If you have joined us since February, the Zoom link is the same and you do not need to register again. New registrants will receive the Zoom to the event in their confirmation email. Make sure our emails aren’t being caught by your spam filter!
Meet the Moderator: Kevin Bergdorf
Kevin Bergdorf is a former financial services entrepreneur turned classicist. He holds a degree in Latin from SUNY, a post-baccalaureate in Greek and Latin Language and Literature from the Catholic University of America, and in 2024 completed a research degree at Blackfriars Hall, the University of Oxford. His research interests include the world of Late Antiquity, the Latinity of Augustine, and the influence of Terence, Cicero, and the Psalms on Augustine’s development. He was awarded a Merit by the Examiners at Oxford for his work in Augustinian studies. Concurrent with the completion of his degree at Oxford, his book, The Confessions of Saint Augustine: A Latin Reader’s Edition was published by Emmaus Academic. He currently teaches Latin, theology, and philosophy at Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, OH and is the visiting instructor for Latin for the Propaedeutic Immersion Year at St. Mary’s Seminary in Wickliffe, OH.