Tears of Comfort and Discomfort

In this article, I examine the role of tears in Augustine’s Confessions in the context of conversion and consolation through the lens of Erin Manning’s theory of minor gestures. In doing so, I offer a new reading of Augustine, where his conversion is not so much carried forward by a determined will as it is assisted by the automatic, non-volitional gesture of crying. The analysis focuses on the constitutive role of the body and emotions in Augustine’s accounts of being confronted with others’ conversions, his own hesitation about celibacy, and his grief over Monica’s death. I argue that, across these scenes, the acts of seeing, groaning, and crying function as inceptive and disruptive gestures that facilitate new and deepened attachments to God.