Augustine’s baptistry
From Mark Dever at blog.togetherforthegospel.org:
Evangelicals know about Augustine, but we tend to be less familiar with Ambrose. He was a fascinating figure in his own right. Born in 339AD of an aristocratic Roman family, he trained to be an upper level Roman bureaucrat. But he was elected bishop of Milan in 374, before he had even been baptized! (That’s a long story, but let me simply say that immediately upon his election, he was baptized.) He is the first figure from history that we know read silently. He baptized Augustine in this pool on Easter, 387AD. Ambrose was the same age then that I am now. So when I was there, I prayed that God would lead people to Christ through my preaching, and that I would have the joy of baptizing those this year who would be of immense use to the kingdom.
“A new life in Christ: the baptistery of San Giovanni alle Fonti (4th century).” Such was the title of one of the 28 workshops conducted during the “Pilgrimage of trust” in Milan.
The ancient baptistery, reached by way of a little staircase that descends within the façade of the cathedral, offers a unique testimony to the faith of the early Christians of Milan. The site was rediscovered only 45 years ago and includes the remains of the baptistery, in its day a building 20 meters wide and possibly two stories high, but also, just alongside it, the ruins of two churches, Santa Tecla and the Basilica Vetus, used during the same period. A very special memory is attached to the place for it was here no doubt that, during the Easter vigil in the year 387, Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, baptized the young man Saint Augustine.