(c) Virtus et scientia.
In an earlier article, I wrote that the phrase "Virtus et scientia" is absent from the writings of St. Augustine, but that it paraphrases many of Augustine’s formulations on the relationship of science and faith, wisdom and understanding, doctrine and practice15. While it is true, the binomial virtue-science does not appear in Augustine’s works, their opposites -- Concupiscence -- Ignorance (Concupiscentia -- Ignorantia) -- do exist.
The two consequences of original sin that Augustine always associates whenever he mentions them are concupiscence and ignorance. Inasmuch as these two vices had been excluded by God from human nature as He had fashioned it, it may be said without exaggeration that human nature was changed by the first man’s evil will. Instead of the knowledge Adam enjoyed without having to acquire it, there is our present ignorance from which we are trying laboriously to emerge; instead of mastery exercised over the flesh by the soul, there is the body’s revolt against the spirit. These disorders are sins, as was the act from which they flow; they are original sin itself, carried on in the effects it has caused, effects which in this sense, are still original sin.16
Virtue and Science then are evoked in the motto of Augustinian schools in the Philippines as remedies-by-contrary of the effects of original sin 
. This places education squarely within an "ascetic" context. This view is supported by Augustine himself since he does discuss "Virtue" and "Science" as steps in two separate versions of what we may call his "stages of perfection." In "De quantitate animae (33, 70-76)," "Virtue" is on the fourth level following "Art" and prepares for "Tranquility." In "De doctrina christiana, (II, 7, 9-11)" "Science" is on the third level between "Piety" and "Fortitude." The motto "Virtus et scientia" therefore should be taken as an indication that Augustinian study and learning must be taken as integral elements in one’s growth in the Christian life.
(d) The Inner Teacher.
The student’s devotion and dedication to study, within the Augustinian perspective described above, must lead to a deeper love of God who resides in the heart’s innermost chambers as the Teacher Within. The ideal Augustinian student is exemplified by Adeodatus, Augustine’s son who, at the end of the "De Magistro" -- a philosophical dialogue on sign-theory -- says:
...I have learned ... that words do no more than prompt man to learn, and that what appears to be, to a considerable extent, the thought of the speaker expressing himself, really amounts to extremely little. Moreover, ... He alone teaches who, when he spoke externally, reminded us that He dwells within us. I shall now, with His help, love Him the more ardently the more I progress in learning.17"
Here, in a nutshell, is Augustine’s philosophy of education: the verbal signs we listen to (and even read) "prompt" us for an encounter with the real Teacher who dwells within us. Study and learning -- even in the most profane field of study -- leads the Christian to love God "the more ardently" the more one progresses in learning18. See also "Dialogue: Pursuit of Truth in Community," under "Community" infra.
The school motto "Virtus et Scientia" is characteristic of Augustinian schools in the Philippines. It is a legacy left there by the Spanish friars who added education to their missionary endeavours. There has been attempts to inculturate "Virtus et Scientia" in order to make it understandable to "non-Latinized Filipinos" and such attempts should be encouraged. To interpret the motto, however, as meaning "Academic Excellence and Moral Integrity" or similar expressions do not bring out the theological nuances that we have explained above. While it is true that academic excellence and moral integrity are desirable, "virtue" and "science" have connotations in the thought of St. Augustine that go beyond academic achievement and morality.
