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On pages 1–47, Song of the Lamb shows that sacred music, using Pius X’s motu proprio as our rubric, has to lift the soul toward God instead of following social trends or chasing a feel-good vibe. Its value isn’t in how much we “enjoy” it, but in how clearly it helps us understand the prayer and feel ourselves drawn closer to God.

In Book IX of Confessions, Augustine talks about his mother Monica’s death at Ostia after his conversion, showing how she’s calm about dying because her biggest wish that he finally may become a catholic has already come true. Even though he knows he’s supposed to have hope and trust God, he still breaks down and cries for her, and he deals with his grief by praying for her soul.

In Book VIII, St. Augustine is fighting between his mind and his flesh. He keeps asking God why he always says he’ll change “later” or “tomorrow” but never actually does it. At one point he breaks down crying, and then he hears kids singing, “Open the book and read.” He runs home, opens Scripture, and reads a passage about lust that hits him straight in the heart. In that moment, he submits to Christ.

In Book VII of Confessions, Augustine shifts from thinking of God in a physical way to seeing God as eternal and immaterial, helped by Neoplatonic ideas. He realizes evil isn’t a thing in itself but a lack of good, which breaks his old Manichaean beliefs. He briefly “sees” God with his mind, but admits his will and habits still lag behind his new understanding.

In Book VI of Confessions, Augustine is caught between his old life and becoming a true Christian. His mom Monica is happy he left the Manichees but sad that he hasn’t really changed his lifestyle, and by the end he’s closer to believing yet still afraid to fully give up his old habits.

Book V describes how St. Augustine leaves his home for Rome to teach young scholars the arts of speaking and writing. At this time, he admires the Manichaeans and their arguments against the Catholic Church. From Rome, he is sent to Milan to observe how the bishop speaks to his flock. Augustine begins to recognize the truth in the bishop’s preaching and gradually comes to understand the fullness of Catholicism.

In Book 4 of Confessions, Augustine mourns the death of his best friend, whom he saw as “the other half” of himself, and feels as if half his soul has died. Through this grief he realizes that everything in this world passes away and that loving what is mortal leads to repeated loss, pushing him toward the idea that only love for the eternal can truly last.

In Confessions Book 3, Augustine recalls stealing pears as a 16-year-old not because he was hungry or needed them, but just for the thrill of stealing and throwing them away. He realizes the pears didn’t matter what he really enjoyed was doing something wrong with his friends. Looking back, he sees how his desire for acceptance and shared excitement led him into sin.

In Book One of Confessions, Saint Augustine looks back on his life from infancy to youth and sees a constant pattern…he was not grateful to God and often offended Him. He wonders if he truly “didn’t know better” or if, deep down, he did know and ignored it. Speaking directly to God, Augustine admits his guilt and apologizes for having offended Almighty God throughout his life.