“Tolle Lege” means “Take Read” and comes from Saint Augustine’s Confessions, in which he tells the story of his conversion. Late in the summer of his thirty-second year, Augustine was in a state of spiritual turmoil, wanting to believe but unable to make the commitment. He was pacing back and forth in a garden when suddenly from over the wall he heard the sound of a child’s voice chanting tolle lege tolle lege – take up and read, take up and read.

Augustine wondered if he had ever heard children singing these words as part of a school rhyme or game, and then he thought that it was the voice of an angel speaking to him. Quickly, he picked up his Bible, opened it, and read the first line he saw: “Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:13-14). He felt instantly at peace and knew that he must leave his old life behind.

The motto Tolle Lege gives us a clear instruction. We take and read the written word that has been given to us, especially God’s powerful word in scripture. We receive the rich heritage of Western civilization and in humility make it our own. The moral content of the scripture that Augustine read is also significant. It shows that we need to acquire virtue together with knowledge, for the highest knowledge only comes through conversion of the heart.

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