In Augustine’s account of bishop Ambrose’s discovery or rather revelation as to the location of the two dead martyrs, Protasius and Gervasius, he speaks to the incredible timing of the event as well as the importance it had in helping quell the ongoing dispute between the the Arians and the anti-Arians. Augustine recalls how during this time he was “still cold, untouched by the warmth of [God’s] spirit”(165), yet he was still excited by the tension in the city. When Ambrose revealed the martyrs to the world a blind man upon hearing the news was guided to the bodies and where he lifted the cloth to his eyes and immediately they were opened. This news of the man who was once blind now being able to see quickly spread throughout the city along with praises for God. In transcribing all of this Augustine notes his confusion as to why God led him to remember this moment in particular despite passing over so much he had forgotten. Augustine does not share a particular reason for its inclusion, but the moment itself provided a clear turning point for him and his conversion from manicheism to catholicism.

While he may not have known it at the time Augustine was profoundly impacted by the events that he later recognized as the work of God, the events surrounding Ambrose and the martyrs helped to cement Augustine’s belief as the work in his mind could only be a result of God and his omnipotent power. Augustine recalls how at the time “when ‘the perfume of [God’s] unguents’ was so strong”(166) he did not pursue him and how this later made him weep with regret. Augustine’s mental state was previously at a moment of doubt and confusion, he was a follower of manicheism, but was beginning to doubt many of the teachings that came with it. However he was also at a point in which the bible did not make sense in many aspects of its teachings. This resulted in Augustine not really knowing what path he should take. It was only after being baptized and having lived out much of his life that he was able to see how the event with Ambrose and the martyrs truly affected him, realizing how it was this moment that he could draw parallels to his own life, like how he was healed from his toothache only when he and his contemporaries prayed for the pain to alleviate. Augustine saw the work of God in his life both before and after his conversion to catholicism and it was these moments that saved him from the mental instability that he was facing.

Augustine and his contemporaries were in a poor mental state before finding God and it took experience as well as faith in a God that they did not at first believe in, in order to find true happiness and fulfilment. It is safe to say that without the impactful moment Ambrose played in Augustine’s life as well as in those around him, Augustine would likely never have come to find God and thus would never have written his many texts pertaining to christianity and his own journey of faith. Without the documentation of this journey and of the tremendous leap of faith that Augustine and his fellow friends took, the christian word would not be as prevalent as it is today. As without Augustine and his work the spread of chrisitianity would be severely weakened and the prevalence of christianty throughout the Roman empire and later the western world would be minute. Without a doubt Ambrose both Directly and indirectly affected the strength of christian faith through his moments with Augustine and how he guided him and his friends toward a path of faith in christiainty, no longer lookings for flaws within the teachings of the bible, but rather finding solace in what was written and in what God taught them through their life experiences. Augustine overcoming his own doubts and false faith are all a result of Ambrose’s actions he carried out as a servant of God.