“So was I speaking and weeping in the most bitter contrition [state of repenting or making up for bad deeds] of my heart, when lo! I heard from a neighboring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting and oft [often] repeating, ‘Take up [take an interest] and read; Take up and read.’ Instantly, my countenance [physical state, attitude] altered [changed], I began to think most intently [with great focus], whether children were wont [likely] in any kind of play to sing such words; nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So checking the torrent [steady flow] of my tears, I arose; interpreting [determining] it to be no other than a command from God, to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find. . . . Instantly at the end of [the first] sentence, by a light as it were of serenity [peace] infused [filled] into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.” —Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine According to the excerpt, how was Augustine feeling at the beginning of the passage?

A. happy
B. peaceful
C. puzzled
D. Troubled