| Hoc igitur verum et summum bonum, si illo concupiscibili suo et delectabili anima gustaverit, et duabus his hauserit affectionibus, excludens dolorem et formidinem, incredibiliter exaestuat. Osculata enim Verbum Dei, modum non capit, nec expletur, dicens: Suavis es, Domine, et in jucunditate tua doce me justificationes tuas. Osculata Dei Verbum, concupiscit super omnem decorem, diligit super omnem laetitiam, delectatur super omnia aromata, cupit frequenter videre, saepe intendere, cupit attrahi, ut sequi possit. Unguentum, inquit, exinanitum est nomen tuum; propterea te diligimus adolescentulae, propterea certamus, sed comprehendere te non possumus. Attrahe nos, ut possimus currere, ut odore unguentorum tuorum accipiamus virtutem sequendi. Festinat etiam interna mysteria videre, ipsam requiem Verbi, ipsam boni illius summi habitationem, et lucem ejus, et claritatem. In illo sinu ac recessu patrio festinat audire sermones ejus; et cum audierit, super omnem suavitatem accipit. Doceat te Propheta, qui gustavit, et ait: Quam dulcia faucibus meis verba tua, super mel et favum ori meo. Quid enim aliud desiderat anima, quae semel suavitatem Verbi gustaverit, quae semel claritatem ejus viderit? Moyses in monte positus quadraginta diebus Legem accipiens, cibum corporis non requirebat : Elias ad illam festinans requiem, rogabat ut acciperetur a se anima sua: Petrus aspiciens et ipse in monte Dominicae resurrectionis gloriam, nolebat descendere, dicens: Domine, bonum est nos hic esse. Quanta igitur illa divinae substantiae gloria, quanta Verbi bona, in quae concupiscunt et angeli prospicere! Anima igitur quae illud videt, corpus hoc non requirit, minimamque sibi familiaritatem cum eo esse debere intelligit, renuntiat saeculo, abducit se a vinculis carnis, exuit omnibus voluptatum istarum nexibus. Denique Stephanus Jesum videbat, et lapidari non formidabat; immo cum lapidaretur, non pro se, sed pro illis a quibus perimebatur, rogabat. Paulus quoque raptus usque ad tertium coelum, cum corpore esset, an sine corpore, nesciebat: raptus, inquam, in paradisum, usum proprii jam non sentiebat corporis; et audiens verba Dei, quomodo ad corporis infirmitates descenderet, erubescebat. Itaque sciens quid vidisset in paradiso, vel quid audisset, clamabat dicens: Quid adhuc velut videntes de hoc mundo decernitis? Ne tetigeritis, ne attaminaveritis, ne gustaveritis quae sunt omnia ad corruptelam ipso usu. Volebat enim nos in figura esse istius mundi, non in possessione atque usu; ut ita utamur hoc mundo tamquam non utamur, tamquam praetereuntes, non tamquam residentes: ambulantes tamquam in imagine saeculi, non in cupiditate, ut velocissima disputatione ipsam imaginem hujus mundi transeamus. Denique ipse fide ambulans, non specie, peregrinabatur a corpore, aderat Domino; et cum esset in terris, non in terrenis, sed in coelestibus conversabatur. Ergo anima nostra, quae Deo vult appropinquare, elevet se a corpore, semper illi summo adhaereat, illi bono quod est divinum, quod est semper, et quod erat ab initio, et quod erat apud Deum, hoc est, Dei Verbum. Ipsum est illud divinum, in quo vivimus, et sumus, et movemur. Ipsum est quod erat in principio, ipsum est quod est. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXIX, Irenaeo Source: Migne PL 16.1056d-1058b |
Therefore if the soul with its faculties of desire and pleasure has tasted the true and greatest good and has by the means of these two affections drunk it in, untouched by sorrow and fear, it is wonderfully kindled. For having kissed the Word of God, it knows no measure and yet feels no satiety, saying. 'You are sweet, O Lord, amid your joy teach me your justifications.' 1 Having kissed the Word of God, it desires Him above all beauty, it loves Him above all joy, it delights in Him above all scents, it desires to see Him often, to look on Him often, and to be drawn to Him that it might follow. 'Your name,' she says, 'is as ointment poured out, because of which we maidens love you, and we strive but we cannot grasp you. Draw us out that we may run, that by the fragrance of your ointments we may be given the strength to follow.' 2 Indeed the soul hurries to see internal mysteries, to the rest of the Word, to the very dwelling of that greatest Good, His light and brightness. Into that paternal lap it hurries to hear His words, and when it has heard, it receives them as something sweeter than all things. Let the Prophet teach you, he who tasted and said, 'How sweet are your words in my throat, far beyond honey and the comb in my mouth.' 3 For when it has once tasted the sweetness of the Word and seen His brightness, what else shall the soul desire ? When Moses received the Law he remained forty days on the mount and required no food for his body. Elijah, hastening to this rest, prayed that his soul might be taken away. Peter, looking on the glory of the Lord’s resurrection on the mount, did not wish to descend, saying, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here.' How great then is the glory of the Divine substance, how great the goods of the Word on which even the angels desire to look? 4 Therefore the soul which beholds this greatest good does not need the body, and it understands that it should have as little familiarity with it as possible. It renounces the world, withdraws itself from the chains of the flesh, and removes itself from all the bonds of earthly pleasures. Thus Stephen beheld Jesus and did not fear to be stoned. Indeed while he was being stoned, he did not pray for himself but for those who were killing him. Paul also, when caught up to the third heaven, did not know if he was in or out of the body. 5 Caught up, I say, into Paradise, he no longer knew the use of his own body, and then hearing the words of God he blushed to descend again to the infirmities of it. And thus knowing what he had seen in Paradise and what he had heard, he cried out saying, 'Why do you yet judge as though looking on the world? Touch not, taste not, handle not, for all are corrupted in the using.' 6 He wants us to have this world as a figure, not for use or possession, but that we make use of the world as though we did not, as passers by and not dwellers, walking as if in an image of the world, not in the desire for it, so that we may pass over the image of this world as quickly as possible. So he walked, by faith and not by sight, 7 travelling from the body and drawing near to the Lord, and on the earth he did not associate with earthly things but heavenly things. Therefore let our soul, which wishes to draw near God, lift itself from the body, and ever adhere to that greatest height, which is Divine, which is everlasting, which was from the beginning, and which was with God, that is, the Word of God. This is the Divine One, 'in whom we live and are and move.' That which was in the beginning, is that which is. 8 Saint Ambrose, from Letter 29, to Irenaeus 1 Ps 118.68 2 Song 1.2 3 Ps 118.103 4 Exod 34.28, 1 Kings 19.4, Mt 17.4, 1 Pet. 1.12 5 Acts 7.55, 2 Cor 12. 2 6 Col 2.20–22 7 2 Cor 5.8 8 Jn 1.1, Acts 17.28, Exod 3.14 |
No comments:
Post a Comment