One day Augustine went to Hippo (Annaba today) to take care of some affairs. He was in church listening to Bishop Valerius preaching and his remarks included the need for a fit and holy priest in Hippo. By this time Augustine's fame as a holy man had spread. The people recognized him and immediately insisted that he would be the ideal new priest.
Augustine was ordained a priest in 391 A.D. Bishop Valerius gave him some property which he used to begin the second monastery. Valerius gave him the task to preach even though this task was usually reserved to the bishop. During his five years as a priest he combated Manicheanism and was obliged to deliver a discourse to the bishops present at the Plenary Council of Africa which became known as the treatise "De Fide et symbolo".
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