Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vol. LIV: Augustini Epistulae Pars I

choir; not even the little one you know, Onesimus, whom he enjoyed as a younger brother, clings to his side as a companion in such a wilderness.
3 Alone there—or rather, not alone, with Christ as his companion—he sees the glory of God, which even the apostles saw only in the desert. He does not gaze upon turreted cities, but he has enrolled his name in the census of the new city. His limbs are hideous in rough sackcloth, but thus he will be snatched up to meet Christ in the clouds all the more readily. He does not enjoy the pleasantness of any straits, but he drinks the water of life from the side of the Lord. Place this before your eyes, my sweetest friend, and turn your whole heart and mind to the presence of the reality; then you will be able to praise the victory
4 when you have recognized the struggle of the one fighting. The insane sea roars around the entire island, and the ocean, crashing against the winding mountains and cliffs, screams back. No grass greens the earth; no campus, blooming in spring, is thickened by shade. Abrupt crags enclose a kind of prison of horror. He, secure, fearless, and armed entirely by the apostle, now hears God when he reads the divine scriptures; now he speaks with God when he asks for the Lord. And perhaps, following the example of John, he sees something while he dwells on the island.

5. What traps do you believe the devil is now weaving, what snares do you think he is preparing? Perhaps, mindful of his ancient fraud, he will attempt to persuade him with hunger. But he has already been answered that man does not live on bread alone.