Joseph The Slave

Madianitae vendiderunt Joseph in Aegypto Putiphari eunucho Pharaonis, magistro militum. Caeterum quod ad moralem pertinet locum, quia omnes vult salvos fieri Dominus Deus noster, dedit per Joseph etiam iis qui sunt in servitute solatium: attribuit magisterium; ut discerent etiam in ultima conditione posse mores esse superiores, nec ullum statum immunem esse virtutis, si animus se uniuscujusque cognoscat; carnem servituti subditam esse, non mentem; multosque servulos esse dominis liberiores, si in servitute positi a servilibus putent operibus abstinendum. Servile est omne peccatum, libera est innocentia. Unde et Dominus ait: Omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Quomodo enim non servus omnis avarus, qui pro exigno pecuniae lucello se ipsum auctionatur? Timet omnia, ne congesta amittat, qui non utenda congessit, majore periculo servaturus quo majora quaesivit. Quomodo non mendicus, cui sunt parva quae possidet? Nam etsi mihi dives videatur, sibi eget: nec testimoniis sua vota solatur, qui quod optat nescit credere. Quomodo autem non et ille servus, qui subditus est libidini? Primum suis ardet incendiis, et pectoris sui facibus exuritur. Quibus recte dicit propheta: Ambulate in lumine ignis vestri, et in flamma quam accendistis. Suscipit omnes metus, insidiatur somno singulorum: ut unius cupiditate potiatur, fit servus omnium. Servit igitur hanc miseram quidem servitutem, qui ipse sibi dominos facit, ipse vult habere quos timeat. Nihil enim tam speciale servitutis est, quam semper timere. Ille vero in quavis conditione servitii semper liber, qui mundi amore non capitur, avaritiae vinculis non tenetur, metu criminis non alligatur, qui securus spectat praesentia, quem futura non terrent. Nonne videtur tibi iste in servitute dominari: ille autem in libertate servire? Serviebat Joseph, regnabat Pharao: beatior hujus servitus, quam regnum illius. Denique tota Aegyptus collapsa esset fame, nisi regnum suum consilio servuli subdidisset. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Jospeph Patriarca, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 14.649b-650b

The Madianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Putiphar, an eunuch of Pharaoh, captain of the soldiers. 1 Now let us look to the moral of the passage. Because the Lord wishes to save everyone He gives comfort through Joseph to those who are slaves, and adds a teaching, so that they might learn that even in the lowest state it is possible to have better ways and that no state is shut off from virtue, if the soul of a man knows itself, and that it is the flesh that is subject to servitude and not the mind. Many slaves are more free than their masters if set in slavery they think to abstain from servile works. Every sin is slavish and innocence is freedom. Hence the Lord says, 'Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.' 2 For how is every avaricious man not a slave, who for even a tiny profit will put himself up for sale? He fears everything, lest he lose what he has gathered, he who cannot use what he has gathered, and with greater peril he becomes more slavish the more he has sought. How is he not a beggar for whom what he does possess is little? For even if he seems to be rich he is needy in himself. Nor does he soothe his desires with proofs, he who does not know how to believe what he hopes for. And how is he not a slave who is subdued to lust? First he burns with his own flames and then he burns up with the deeds of his heart. To such men the prophet rightly says, 'Walk in the light of your own fire, and in the flame you have kindled.' 3 Fear takes hold of everyone of them, it stalks the sleep of each one of them, the desire of one man makes him a slave of all. He serves in a wretched servitude who makes masters for himself, he who wishes to have what will make him fearful. There is no more certain a slavery than to be always afraid. But he who is a state of slavery is free if he is not seized by the love of the world, and if he is not held by the chains of avarice, and if not bound by the fear of evil, if he can look securely on present things and not be terrified by the future. Does it not seem to you that he rules in slavery and another man with his freedom is a slave? Joseph was a slave, Pharaoh reigned, but more blessed was the servitude of the former than the rule of the latter. Then all Egypt would have been ruined by famine if its ruler had not bowed to the counsel of a slave. Saint Ambrose, On The Patriarch Joseph, Chapter 4 1 Gen 37.36 2 Jn 8.34 3 Isaiah 50.11

Seeking The Kingdom

Nam cum dicat: Quaerite regnum Dei: et hac omnia adjicientur vobis. nec ad praesens, nec in reliquum fidelibus ostendit gratiam defuturam: si modo qui divina desiderant, terrena non quaerent, Indecorum quippe est homines curare de cibo, qui militant de regno. Novit rex quemadmodum familiam suam pascat, alat, vestiat; et ideo dixit: Jacta in Deum cogitatum tuum, et ipse te enutriet. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam, Liber VII Source: Migne PL 15.1733a

When He says: 'Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you,' 1 He shows that grace shall not fail the faithful in the present, nor in the time to come, but that shall only be for those who desire Divine things, and do not seek after worldly things. Certainly it is wretched for men who battle for the kingdom to fret over food. The king knows how to supply and feed and clothe his own, and therefore it has been said, 'Cast all your care on God, and He shall support you.' 2 Saint Ambrose, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 7 1 Lk 12.31 2 Ps 54.23

Manna And Bread

Ambrosius Ireneaus, salutem. Quaeris a me cur Dominus Deus manna pluerit populo patrum, et nunc non pluat. Si cognoscis, pluit, et quotidie pluit de coelo manna servientibus sibi. Et corporeum quidem illud manna hodie plerisque in locis invenitur, sed nunc non est tanti res miraculi; quia venit quod perfectum est. Perfectum autem panis de coelo, corpus ex Virgine, de quo satis Evangelium te docet. Quanto praestantiora haec superioribus? Illud enim manna, hoc est, panem illum qui manducaverunt, mortui sunt: hunc autem panem qui manducaverit, vivet in aeternum. Sed est spiritale manna, hoc est, pluvia spiritalis sapientiae, quae ingeniosis et quaerentibus de coelo infunditur, et irrorat mentes piorum, et obdulcat fauces eorum. Qui igitur intellexerit infusionem divinae sapientiae, delectatur, nec alium cibum requirit, nec in solo pane vivit, sed in omni verbo Dei. Qui curiosior fuerit, quaerit quid sit istud quod melle dulcius sit. Respondet illi minister Dei: Hic est panis, quem dedit tibi Deus manducare. Quid sit iste panis, audi: Sermo, inquit, quem ordinavit Deus. Haec ergo ordinatio Dei, haec alimonia alit animam sapientis, et illuminat atque obdulcat, resplendens veritatis corusco, et mulcens tamquam favo quodam, ita diversarum virtutum suavitate et sermone sapientiae: Favi enim mellis sermones sunt boni, sicut scriptum est in Proverbiis Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistola LXIV Source: Migne PL 16.1219b-1220b

Ambrose to Ireneaus, Greetings. You ask me why the Lord God rained manna on the people of the fathers but now He does not. If you consider it, every day He does rain manna from heaven on those who serve Him. The material manna is to this very day found in many places, but it is not now a miraculous event because that which is perfect has come. The Bread from heaven is perfect, the body from the Virgin, concerning which the Gospel sufficiently teaches us. How greatly does this excel what went before it? For those who ate that manna or bread are dead, but he who shall eat this bread shall live for ever. 1 But there is a spiritual manna, that is, the rain of spiritual wisdom, which is poured out from heaven on those who sincerely seek it, and which waters the minds of the righteous, and puts sweetness in their throats. Therefore, he who understands this infusion of Divine wisdom has joy in it, and he does not seek any other food, nor does he live on bread alone, but on every word of God. 2 He who is more curious will ask what it is that is sweeter than honey. The servant of God answers him, 'This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.' And hear what this bread is, 'The word which the Lord has commanded.' 3 Therefore this food commanded by God nourishes the soul of those who are wise, illuminating and sweetening and brightening with the beams of truth, and caressing like the honeycomb with the sweetness of many virtues and the word of wisdom; for good words are like a honeycomb, as it is written in the Proverbs. 4 Saint Ambrose, from Letter 64 1 Jn 6.5 2 Mt 4.4 3 Exod 16.15-16 4 Prov 16.24

Joseph And The Resurrection

Et accesserunt, inquit, ad illum, et dixit: Ego sum Joseph frater vester, quem vos tradidistis in Aegyptum. Nunc ergo nolite moesti esse, neque obis durum videatur, quoniam huc me vendidistis. Ad vitam enim vestram misit me Deus ante vos. Quam fraterna pietas, quam dulcis germanitas, ut etiam parricidale excusaret admissum, dicens divinae illud providentiae fuisse, non impietatis humanae: quandoquidem non ab hominibus oblatus ad mortem, sed a Domino missus sit ad vitam. Quid aliud habet illa Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui fratres omnes pietate superavit, in cruce positi intercessio pro plebe, dicentis: Pater, dimitte illis; non enim sciunt quid faciunt? Quid aliud illa appellatio sanctitatis in medio discipulorum dicentis: Pax vobis: ego sum, nolite timere? Et cum conturbati et conterriti existimarent se spiritum videre, iterum dixit ad illos: Quid turbatis estis, et quare cogitationes ascendunt in corda vestra? Videte, ecce manus meas, et pedes meos, quia ego sum ipse. Palpate, et videte, quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere. Haec ergo jam tunc futura posterioribus temporibus mysteria revelata sunt. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Jospeph Patriarca, Caput XII Source: Migne PL 14.667c-668a

And they came near to him and he said, 'I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold off to Egypt. Now do not be troubled, nor let it seem hard to you, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you for your life.' 1 What fraternal piety, what sweet fellowship, that he would even excuse a murderous deed in saying it was a matter of Divine providence and not human wickedness, and that he was not handed over to death by men but sent by the Lord for life. Does this not have something of our Lord Jesus Christ in it, He who exceeded all brothers in piety and who placed on the cross prayed for the people, saying, 'Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they do?' 2 Does it not have something of that appeal of sanctity which in the midst of the disciples said, 'Be at peace. It is me. Do not be afraid.'? And when they were troubled and thought him a ghost, again He said to them, 'Why are you troubled and why do your thoughts leap up in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, it is me. Touch and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and blood, as you see I have.' 3 Therefore even then the mysteries that were to come to be in later times were already revealed. Saint Ambrose, On The Patriarch Joseph, Chapter 12 1 Gen 45.4-5 2 Lk 23.34 3 Lk 23.38-39

Evangelical Advice

Et quicumque non receperint vos, exeuntes de civitate illa, etiam pulverem de pedibus vestris excutite in testimonium supra illos. Qualis debeat esse qui evangelizat regnum Dei, praeceptis evangelicis designatur; ut sine virga, sine pera, sine calceamento, sine pane, sine pecunia hoc est, subsidii saecularis adminicula non requirens, fideique deditus sit, et quanto minus appetat temporalia, tanto magis speret ea sibi posse suppetere. Quae possunt qui volunt ad eum derivare tractatum; ut spiritalem tantummodo locus iste formare videatur corporis exuisse, non solum potestate rejecta, contemptisque divitiis, sed etiam carnis ipsius illecebris abdicatis. Quibus primo ominim datur pacis atque constantiae generale mandatum; ut pacem fecerant, constantiam servent, hospitalis necessitudinis jura custodiant; alienum a praedictore regni coelestis astruens cursitare per domos, et inviolabilis hospitii jura mutare. Sed ut hospitii gratia deferenda censetur: ita etiam si non recipiantur, excutiendum pulverem, et egrediendum de civitate mandatur. Quo non medicoris boni remuneratio docetur hospitii, ut non solum pacem tribuamus hospitibus: verum etiam si qua eos terrenae obumbrant delicta levitatis, receptis apostolicae praedicationis vestigiis, auferantur.  Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VI Source: Migne PL 15.1685a-b

And whoever does not receive you, go out from that city and shake off even the dust from your feet in testimony against them 1 He who evangelises for the kingdom of God should be like this, which the evangelical precepts counsel, without staff, without bag, without shoes, without bread, without money, 2 that is, not needing the support of any worldly prop, but dedicated to the faith, so that the less he desires temporal things the more he hopes that they might be supplied to him. Which they can by those who wish to learn a lesson from him, which is that the only state that is spiritual seems to be when the body has been cast off, and not only by the rejection of power and contempt for wealth, but even with the dismissal of care for one's own flesh. For this, first of all, is a commandment of peace and general steadfastness is given, that they should be peaceful and serve faithfully and guard the law of needful hospitality. A preacher of the kingdom of heaven should not be rushing around houses, and perverting the inviolable law of hospitality. But let it be reckoned that thanks should be given by the hosts, so that if they are not received, so they are ordered that they must shake off the dust and leave the city. By this it is taught that no paltry reward is given to those who are hospitable, and that we do not bestow peace alone on those who are hospitable, but even if they are shadowed by small worldly faults, such things are borne away by the reception of the Apostolic preaching.  Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 6 1 Lk 9.5 2 Lk 9.3

The Wise Serpent

Serpens autem erat sapientior omnium bestiarum quae erant super terram, quas fecit Dominus Deus, et dixit serpens mulieri: Quid utique dixit Deus, ne edatis ab omni ligno quod est in paradiso? Cum dicit sapientiorem serpentem, intelligis quem loquatur, id est, illum adversarium nostrum qui tantum habet hujus sapientiam mundi. Sed et voluptas atque delectatio bene sapiens dicitur, quia et sapientia carnis appellatur sapientia, sicut habes: Quia sapientia carnis inimica est Deo. Et ad exquirenda delectationum genera astuti sunt, quia appetentes sunt voluptatum. Sive ergo delectationem intelligas, quaedam est divino adversa mandato, et inimica sensibus nostris. Unde sanctus Paulus ait: Video aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati. Si autem ad diabolum referas, verus inimicus est generis humani. Quae autem causa inimicitiarum nisi invidia? Sicut Salomon ait: Quia invidia diaboli mors introivit in orbem terraru. Invidiae autem causa beatitudo hominis in paradiso positi, et ideo quoniam ipse diabolus acceptam gratiam tenere non potuit, invidit homini, eo quod figuratus e limo, ut incola paradisi esset, electus est. Considerabat enim diabolus quod ipse qui fuisset superioris naturae, in haec saecularia et mundana deciderat; homo autem inferioris naturae sperabat aeterna. Hoc est ergo quod invidet dicens: Iste inferior adipiscitur quod ego servare non potui? Iste de terris migrabit ad coelum, cum ego de coelo lapsus in terra sim? Multas vias habeo quibus hominem decipere possim. De limo factus est, terra ei mater est, corruptibilibus involutus est. Et si anima superioris naturae, tamen et ipsa lapsui potest esse obnoxia, in corporis carcere constituta; quando ego lapsum vitare non potui. Est igitur via prima, ut decipiatur, dum conditione sua majora desiderat. Hic enim quidam conatus est industriae. Deinde carnis est, quod non habeat, desiderare. Postremo in quo videor ego omnibus esse sapientior, nisi circumscribam hominem, et versutia et fraude contendam? Itaque machinatus est, ut non primo Adam adoriretur, sed Adam per mulierem circumscribere conaretur. Non adorsus est eum qui coram acceperat coeleste mandatum: sed eam adorsus est quae a viro didicerat, non a Deo quid observaret, acceperat. Neque enim habes quia mulieri dixit Deus, sed quia Adae dixit; et ideo per Adam cognovisse mulier aestimanda est. Cognoscens igitur hoc loco tentamenti genus, plurima etiam aliis locis tentamenti genera reperies. Alia sunt per principem istius mundi, qui quaedam venena sapientiae in hunc mundum evomuit; ut vera putarent homines esse quae falsa sunt, et specie quadam hominum caperetur affectus. Non enim semper quasi apertus hostis ingreditur: sed sunt quaedam potestates quae amorem simulent, gratiamque praetendant; ut paulatim cogitationibus nostris venenum suae iniquitatis infundant, a quibus oriuntur illa peccata quae vel ex delectatione, vel ex quadam mentis facilitate nascuntur. Sunt etiam aliae potestates quae veluti colluctantur nobiscum. Unde et Apostolus ait: Quia non est nobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem, sed adversus principatus, et potestates, et rectores hujus mundi, tenebrarum harum, adversus nequitiam spiritalium quae sunt in coelestibus. Volunt enim hac quadam contentione nos frangere, et veluti quoddam animae nostrae corpus elidere. Unde et Paulus quasi bonus athleta non solum ictus adversantium potestatum vitare cognoverat, verum etiam adversantes ferire. Unde et ait: Percutio pugnis, non ut aera caedens. Et ideo quasi bonus athleta ad coronam meruit pervenire. Ergo multiplicia tentamenta sunt diaboli. Et ideo bilinguis serpens habetur atque lethalis, eo quod diaboli minister aliud lingua loquatur, aliud corde meditetur. Sunt et alii ministri qui et cordis et vocis suae infectas veneno veluti verborum suorum jactant sagittas, quibus Dominus ait: Generatio viperarum, quomodo potestis bona loqui, cum sitis mali? Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput XII Source: Migne PL 14.301b-302c

'The serpent was wiser than any of the beasts on the earth which the Lord God had made, and the serpent said to the woman, 'Why did God say, you shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' 1 When it says that the serpent was more cunning, you understand who is spoken of, that is, the one who is our enemy, who has the wisdom of this world. Gratification of pleasure has been fittingly called wisdom, because it is called the wisdom of the flesh, as in the statement, 'Because the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God.' 2 And for seeking out gratification there is cleverness, since there are seekers of pleasure. If, therefore, you understand the gaining of pleasure to be contrary to the Divine command and hostile to our senses, this is in accord with what Paul states: 'I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and making me a captive in the law of sin.' 3 And if you ascribe this to the Devil, the true enemy of mankind, what other cause of enmity is there unless it is envy? As Solomon says: 'By the envy of the devil death came into the world.' 4 The cause of envy was the happiness of man placed in Paradise, and therefore because the devil was not able to hold to the grace once accepted, he envied man, who though fashioned from mud, had been chosen to be an inhabitant of Paradise. The Devil began to think how it was that he who was of a higher nature had fallen into this worldly existence, but man, an inferior creature, yet had hopes of eternal life. In envy he said, 'This inferior will acquire what I could not keep? He will leave the earth for heaven, when I have fallen from heaven to earth? I have many ways by which I can deceive man. He was made of mud, earth is his mother, and he is bound up in things corruptible. And if his soul is of superior nature, yet it is open to being cast down, since it is established in the prison of the body. When I fell, I could not avoid it. This, therefore, is the first way, to deceive him while he wants to make his state greater. Thus trial will be made of his ambition. The next way is by the flesh, the desire of what he does not have. Finally, how else can I appear to be wiser than all else if not by the use of cunning and fraud to ensnare man?' Thus he did not plan his first attack against Adam, but he plotted to to trap him through the woman. He did not assail the man who had in his presence received the heavenly command, but her who had learned of it from her husband and who had not received from God the command that should be observed. There is no passage in which God spoke to the woman, but because He spoke to Adam, we must judge that she learnt of it from Adam that the command was communicated through Adam to the woman. Recognise, then, in this place the nature of the temptation, for in other places there are  many other kinds of temptations await. Some come from the Prince of this world, who has vomited into this world a sort of poisonous wisdom, so that men think the false to be true and the emotions of men are carried away by mere appearance. The enemy's advance is not always in the open, but certain powers feign what is desirable and becoming pleasing by that, they pour into our thoughts the poison of their iniquities, from which source arise those sins which are born of indulgence in pleasures, or from some weakness of the mind. And there are yet other powers who may be said to wrestle with us, as the Apostle says, 'For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the Principalities and Powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high.' 5 They wish by such exertions to break us, and, as if were, drive out the soul from the body. Wherefore, like a good athlete, Paul knew how to avoid the blows of the opposing powers and even to strike those who were set against him. Hence he says, 'I strike with my fists, not as one beating the air.' 6 And so like a good athlete he merited the crown of victory. The temptations of the Devil, then, are manifold. For that reason his is the double tongued serpent, because a servant of Devil says one thing with the tongue and, meditates something else in the heart. There are other servants who cast forth the shafts of their word and thought smeared in venom, to whom the Lord says, 'You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil?' 7 Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, Chapter 12 1 Gen 3.1 2 Rom 8.7 3 Rom 7.23 4 Wisd. 2.24 5 Ephes 6.12 6 1 Cor 9.26, 2 Tim 4.8 7 Mt 12.34

A Questioning Of Life

Quid enim est quod haec vita delectet, plena aerumnarum et sollicitudinum, in qua innumerae calumniae et multae molestiae, et multae lacrymae eorum qui afflictantur molestiis, et non est, inquit, qui eos consoletur. Et ideo laudat Ecclesiastes defunctos magis quam viventes. Et optimus, inquit, supra hos duos, qui nondum natus est, qui non vidit hoc malum. Et alibi idem Ecclesiastes meliorem longaevo viro eum asseruit, quem abortu ejecit mater sua; quia non vidit haec mala quae fiunt in hoc mundo, nec in has venit tenebras, nec in vanitate ambulavit saeculi; et ideo requiem hic magis habebit qui in hanc vitam non venit, quam ille qui venit. Quid enim boni est homini in hac vita, qui in umbra vivit, nec expleri potest cupiditatibus suis? Et si expleatur divitiis, fructum quietis amittit, quia cogitur custodire quod misera aviditate quaesierit; ut miserius eas possideat, cui prodesse non poterunt. Quid enim miserius quam ut custodia torqueat, quarum abundantia nihil prosit? Itaque si plena oneris vita, utique finis ejus allevamento est: allevamentum autem est bonum, mors autem finis: mors igitur bonum est. Neque enim aliter gavisus est Simeon, qui responsum acceperat non visurum se mortem, nisi prius videret Christum Domini; et cum eum parentes in templum inducerent, suscepit manibus suis, et dixit: Nunc dimittis servum tuum in pace; quasi necessitate quadam teneretur in hac vita, non voluntate. Ita dimitti petit, quasi a vinculis quibusdam ad libertatem festinaret. Sunt enim velut vincula quaedam corporis hujus, et quod est gravius, vincula tentationum, quae nos alligant, et ad injuriam captivitatis astringunt quadam lege peccati. Denique in exitu ipso videmus quemadmodum anima decedentis paulatim solvat se vinculis carnis, et ore emissa evolet tamquam carcereo corporis hujus exuta gurgustio. Denique festinabat etiam sanctus David de hoc loco peregrinationis exire, dicens: Advena ego sum apud te in terra et peregrinus, sicut omnes patres mei. Et Ideo tanquam peregrinus ad illam sanctorum communem omnium patriam festinabat, petens pro hujus commorationis inquinamento remitti sibi peccata, priusquam discederet e vita. Qui enim hic non acceperit remissionem peccatorum, illic non erit. Non erit autem qui ad vitam aeternam non poterit pervenire, quia vita aeterna remissio peccatorum est. Ideoque dicit: Remitte mihi, ut refrigerer, priusquam abeam, et amplius non ero. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput II Source: Migne PL 14.541a-542a

What is this life that delights, which is full of sickness and care, and in which there are numerous calamities and many troubles, and many are the tears of those who are afflicted with distress, and as Lamentations says, there is no one to comfort them. 1 Therefore Ecclesiastes praises the dead more than the living. And better than these two, he says, is he who was not born, who did not see this evil. And elsewhere the same Ecclesiastes says that a child stillborn from its mother is better than a man who lives long, 2 because he does not look on the evils which are done in the world, nor does he come into this darkness, nor does he walk in the vanity of the age, and therefore the one who does not come into this life has greater peace than he who does. What good is there for a man in this life, who lives in shadows, and is not able to satisfy his desires? And if he comes into riches he loses the fruit of peace because he is driven to guard what he sought with wretched avidity, so that he is more wretched who possesses and it cannot profit him. Who is more wretched than he who is tormented by guarding, when his abundance does not profit him? Thus if life is full of burdens then its end is an alleviation of them, and the alleviation is a good, and death is the end, and therefore death is good. There was no one so happy as Simeon who received the oracle that he would not see death until he had first looked on the Christ of the Lord, and when his parents brought him into the temple and he took Him in his hands and said, 'Now dismiss your servant in peace,' 3 it was as by necessity he was detained in this life and not by choice. Thus he seeks to be dismissed, as if he was hurrying from chains to freedom. Indeed the things of this body are chains, and what is heavier than temptation which binds us and by the law of sin is tightened to the injury of the captive? Finally in our departure we see that the soul is withdrawing itself little by little from the chains of the flesh, and it flies from the mouth as from the prison of its body, and as from a vile little hut. Finally the blessed David hurries to leave this place of pilgrimage, saying, 'I am a stranger on the earth and a wanderer like all my fathers.' 4 And therefore as a wanderer he makes haste to that common fatherland of ours, seeking against the soiling of his tarrying to be forgiven his sins before he is done with life. For he who does not receive forgiveness of sins here, shall not there. He shall not be able to come to eternal life because eternal life is forgiveness of sin. Therefore he says, 'Forgive me, that I be refreshed, before I go from here and am no more.' 5 Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, from Chapter 2 1 Lament 1.2 2 Eccles 4.2-3, 6.3 3 Lk 2.29 4 Ps 38.13 5 Ps 38.14

A Judge Counselled

Vides igitur quid auctoritas tribuat, quid suadeat misericordia. Excusationem habebis, feceris: laudem, si non feceris. Sed si non potueris facere; nec tamen nocentes atterere squalore carceris, sed absolvere, plus quasi sacardos probabo. Potest enim fieri ut causa cognita, recipiatur ad senientiam reus, qui postea aut indulgeniiam sibi petat, aut certe sine gravi severitate, quod quidam ait, habitet in carcere. Scio tamen plerosque gentilium gloriari solitos, quod incruentam de administratione provinciali securim revexerrint Si hoc gentiles, quid Christiani debent? Ad omnia tamen accipe responsum Salvatoris. Nam cum adulteram reperissent obtulerunt eam Salvatori, captantes ut si absolveret eam, videretur legem solvere, qui dixerat: Non veni legem solvere, sed adimplere: si damnaret, videretur adversus finem venisse propositi sui. Hoc igitur praevidens Dominus Jesus, inclinato capite, scribebat in terra. Quid scribebat, nisi illud propheticum: Terra, terra scribe hos viros abdicatos; quod de Jechonia descriptum est in Hieremia prophetam? Cum Judaei interpellant, in terra scribuntur nomina Judaeorum: cum adeunt Christiani, non scribuntur in terra fidelium nomina, sed in coelo. In terra autem scribuntur abdicati a patre proprio, qui patrem tentant, et contumelias irrogant auctori salutis. Cum interpellant Judaei, inciinat caput Jesus; et quia non habet ubi reclinet caput suum, iterum erigit, quasi dicturus sententiam, et ait : Qui sine peccato est, prior lapidet eam. Et iterum inclinato capite, scribebat in terra. Audientes illi exire coeperunt singuli, incipentes a senioribus: vel quod ipsi plura haberent crimina, qui diu vixerant: vel quia priores vim intellexerunt sententia, quasi prudentiores, et coeperunt sua magis peccata deflere, qui alieni criminis venerant accusatores. Recedentibus ergo illis, remansit solus Jesus, et elevans caput ad mulierem, ait: Ubi sunt, qui te accusabant? Nemo te lapidavit? Et illa respondit: Nemo. Dicit ei Jesus: Nec ego te damnabo. Vade et vide amodo ne pecces. Non damnat, quasi redemptio; corrigit , ita: quasi vita: quasi fons, abluit. Et quia quando se inclinat Jesus, ideo inclinat, ut jacentes elevet: ideo ait remissio peccatorum: Nec ego te damnabo. Habes quod sequaris; potest enim fieri, ut ille criminosus possit habere spem correctionis: si sine baptismo est, ut possit accipere remissionem: si baptizatus, ut poenitentiam gerat, et corpus suum pro Christo offerat. Quantae sunt ad salutem viae. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXV, Studio Source: Migne PL 16.1040b-1042a

See, then, that He who gives you power would persuade you to be merciful. You will be excused if you do it, praised if you do not. But if you are not able to do it, if you are unwilling to afflict the perpetrator with the squalor of a prison, I, a priest, shall approve of you far more. For it may well be that when the cause is set forth the guilty man may be reserved for judgment, who later may ask pardon for himself, or certainly may suffer what is called a less severe stay in prison. Even pagans, I know, are accustomed to boast that they have brought back the axes from their provincial government unstained with blood. And if pagans do this what should Christians to do? In all these matters receive the answer of the Saviour. The Jews brought an adulteress they had caught to the Saviour, so that they might seize on Him if He were to forgive her, because by doing that He would appear to flout the law, He who had said, 'I do not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it,' and if He were to condemn her, He might seem to act against the purpose of His coming. Therefore the Lord Jesus, foreseeing this, inclined His head and wrote upon the earth. What did He write but that word of the prophet, 'O Earth, Earth, write these men deposed,' which was told of Jeconiah in the prophet Jeremiah. 1 When the Jews interrupt Him, their names are written in the earth, when the Christians draw near, the names of the faithful are not written on the earth but in heaven. For they are written on the earth as cast off by their Father, they who tempt their Father, and heap insult on the author of salvation. When the Jews interrupt Him, Jesus inclines His head, but not having anywhere to lay His head, 1 He raises it again, and as if about to give sentence, says, 'Let him that is without sin cast the first stone at her.' And again He inclined His head and wrote upon the ground. When they heard this they began to go out one by one beginning with the oldest, either because those who had lived the longest had committed the most sins, or because, being wiser, they were the first to understand His meaning, and so they began to lament their own sins who had come as the accusers of the evil of another. When they departed Jesus was left alone, and lifting up His head, He said to the woman, 'Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no man cast a stone at you?' She said, 'No one.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.' He does not condemn because He is the Redemption, He corrects as the Life, He cleanses as the Fountain. For when Jesus bends down, He does so that He may raise up those who have fallen. Therefore the absolver of sins says, 'Neither do I condemn you.' You have here what you should follow, for it may be that there is hope of amendment for this guilty man, and if he is not baptised, that he may receive remission, and if he has been baptised that he may do penance and offer up his body for Christ. See how many ways there are to salvation. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 25, to Studius 1 Jn 8.3-, Mt 5.17, Jerem 22.29 2 Mt 8.20

Finding Faith

Pulchre admones, frater, ut epistolares fabulas, et sermonem absentium ad interpretationem conferamus oraculi coelestis, interrogans me quid significet illud didrachmum, cujus dimidium Hebraeus praecipitur offerre pro redemptione animae suae. Quid enim tam consociabile, quam de divinis rebus sermonem contexere? Est autem dimidium didrachmi, drachma; redemplio autem animae, fides: fides ergo drachma, quam illa mulier in Evangelio, ut legimus, amissam diligenter requirit, lucernam accendens, et mundans domum suam: et si invenerit, convocat amicas et vicinas, petens contragulari eas secum, quod invenerit drachmam quam perdiderat. Magnum enim damnum animae, si quis fidem amiserit, vel gratiam, quam fidei pretio acquisivit sibi. Et tu ergo accende lucernam tuam: Lacerna tua oculus tuus est, ille scilicet interior oculus mentis. Istam lucernam accende, quae accipit oleum spiritale, et lucet in toto domo tua. Quaere drachmam redemptionem animae tuae, quam qui amiserit, turbatur: qui invenerit, exsultat. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula VII, Justo Source: Migne PL 16.16.943c-944a

You exhort well, brother, in your asking about the meaning of the half shekel which the Hebrew is directed to offer for the redemption of his soul, 1 so that while we apart from each other the intent of our letters and our speech should be of the understanding of the heavenly oracles. What indeed can be so fitting but to steep our words in Divine things? Now the half of the shekel is a piece of silver, and faith is the redemption of the soul. Faith, therefore, is that piece of silver which that woman in the Gospel, as we read, lost and diligently sought, lighting a lamp and sweeping the house, and if she finds it she calls together her friends and neighbours, telling them to rejoice with her because she has found the piece of silver which she had lost. 2 Great is the loss to the soul if a man should lose his faith, or that grace by which he obtained for himself the prize of faith. You, then, light your lamp. Your lamp is your eye, 3 that is, the inward eye of the mind. Light this lamp, which is fed by spiritual oil and gives light to your whole house. Seek the piece of silver that is your soul's redemption, for he that loses it is troubled, and he that finds it rejoices. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 7, to Justus 1 Exod 30.12 -15 2 Lk 15.8-9 3 Mt 6.22

The Soul's Sustenence

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

Stopping The Flood

Nunc consideremus quid sit quod ait Scriptura divina: Clausi sunt fontes aquarum, et cataractae coeli. Nec obscurum arbitror. His enim causis minuitur diluvium quibus crevit. Erupti erant fontes aquarum, apertae fuerant cataractae coeli, ut undique influentibus aquis terra inundaretur. Debuerant claudi ea ex quibus diluvii origo manavit, ut ejus inciperet esse defectus. Hoc littera sonat. Subtilior autem interpretatio exprimit, eo quod diluvium animae vitio mentis et luxuriae corporalis influxerat, ut malitia passioni, passio malitiae misceretur: ingrediente medico Dei Verbo ad visitationem animae quae diutina aegritudine laborabat disceptationum improbitate, et passionum acerbitate, prius debuerunt causae aegritudinis amputari. Principium enim medicinae est causas languoris incidere; ne diutius ea quae nocent, ad incrementum aegritudinis ministrentur. Quod nos etiam lex docet; cum enim steterit lepra, ut jam non diffundatur, tunc ait mundam esse leprae stationem quamdam et mansionem. Quidquid enim praeter naturam movetur immundum est. Haec igitur est animae sanitas, haec salubritas mentis, ut affluentia cesset erroris, sistatur culpa, ne serpat. Cessante incentivo culpae atque delicti salus tuta est, atque innoffensus vigor animae se refundit. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XVII Source: Migne PL 14.388c-389a

Now let us consider what it may mean when Holy Scripture says: 'The founts of the waters were closed up, and the waterfalls of heaven.' 1 I do not think that this is obscure. With these causes with which He created the flood He brought it to an end. For when the founts of the waters erupted and the waterfalls of heaven were opened, then from every direction the earth with inundated with flowing water. Thus with these closed, from which the flood originated, it should dry up, and thus it began to subside. This the letter tells us. The more subtle understanding tells that the flood has poured vices into the soul and lusts into the body, so that wickedness mixes with passion and passion with wickedness, and with the coming of the physician of the Word of God to visit the soul, which has laboured in its long sickness amid the disruptions of evil and the bitterness of the passions, first the causes of the sickness should be cut off. For the beginning of medicine is the discovery of the causes of the illness, lest those things which harm afflict for a longer time with the increase of the ailment. Which the Law teaches us, for the leper was made to wait and when the sickness had not spread, then the leper was said to be clean in himself and his house likewise. 2 For whatever occurs beyond nature is unclean. This, therefore, is the health of the soul and the well being of the mind, that its flood of errors cease and its defect be fixed, lest it become worse. The cessation of the cause of fault and evil is perfect salvation, and the restoration of the unharmed vigour of the soul. Saint Ambrose, On Noah and the Ark, from Chapter 17 1 Gen. 8.2 2 Lev 13.5-6

Water And Trees

Plantaverat autem Dominus Deus paradisum voluptatis a principio, in quo posuit hominem quem formaverat. Produxitque Dominus Deus de humo omne lignum pulchrum visu, et ad vescendum suave... Ergo paradisus est plurima ligna habens, sed ligna fructifera, ligna plena succi atque virtutis, de quibus est: Exultabunt omnia ligna silvarum; ligna semper florentia viriditate meritorum, sicut illud lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, cujus folium non defluet; quia totus in eo fructus exuberat. Hic ergo paradisus est. Locus autem ejus in quo est plantatus, voluptas dicitur. Unde et sanctus David ait: Ex torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos. Legisti enim: Quia fons procedit ex Eden, qui rigat paradisum. Haec igitur sanctorum ligna, quae plantata sunt in paradiso, quasi profluvio quodam torrentis spiritus irrigantur. De quo etiam alibi ait: Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei. Est autem civitas illa quae sursum est Hierusalem libera, in qua diversa sanctorum merita pullularunt. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput I Source: Migne PL 14.276a-b

And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning, in which He placed the man whom He had made. And from the ground the Lord God brought forth all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat... 1 Therefore paradise has many trees, but they are fruit bearing trees, trees full of vigour and virtue, concerning which it is said, 'Every tree of the wood shall exult.' 2 They are trees that are always flourishing with the bloom of merits, just like that tree which has been planted by the flowing waters, whose leaf does not fall, 3 because its every fruit comes forth in abundance. Here, then, is paradise. And this place which he planted is named 'delight,' whence the holy David says: 'From the stream of your delight you give them drink.' 4 And you read that a fount comes out of Eden which waters paradise. 5 These, then, are the trees of holy people, who have been planted in paradise, which are, as it were, watered by the flood of the rushing Spirit. Concerning which it is said elsewhere, 'The current of the river gives joy to the city of God.' 6 And that city is the free Jerusalem on high, 7 in which the various merits of the holy spring forth. Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, Chapter 1 1 Gen 1.8-9 2 Ps 95.12 3 Ps 1.3 4 Ps 35.9 5 Gen 2.10 6 Ps 45.5 7 Galat 4.26

Life And Death

Quid igitur tantopere vitam istam desideramus, in qua quanto diutius quis fuerit, tanto majore oneratur sarcina peccatorum? Ipse Dominus ait: Sufficit diei malitia sua. Et Jacob dixit: Dies annorum vitae meae quos habeo, centum triginta minima et mali, sed quia nobis acessu dierum malitiae incrementa cumulantur. Nullus enim dies sine nostro peccato praeterit. Unde egregie Apostolis ait: Mihi enim vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum, aliud ad necessitatem vitae referens, aliud ad mortis utilitatem. Christus enim nobis vivere est, cui servimus, cui oportet ut a sanctis suis in Evangelii praedicatione deferatur obsequium. Denique et Simeon qui ait: Nunc dimittis servum tuum, propter Christum exspectabat. Christus enim rex noster est; et ideo quod rex jubet, deserere non possumus et contemnere. Quantos imperator terrae hujus in peregrinis locis aut honoris specie, aut muneris alicujus causa jubet degere. Numquid hi inconsulto imperatore discedunt? Et quanto amplius est divinis parere, quam humanis! Vivere ergo sancto Christus est et mori lucrum. Unde Apostolus quasi servus; non enim refugit vitae obsequium, et quasi sapiens lucrum mortis amplecitur. Lucrum est enim evasisse incrementa peccai, lucrum fugisse deteriora, et ad meliora transisse. Et addidit: Dissolvi enim, et cum Christo esse multo melius: permanere autem in carne magis necessarium propter vos. Aliud melius, aliud necessarium. Necessarium propter fructum operis, melius propter gratiam et copulam Christi. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput II Source: Migne PL 14.542a-c

Why, then, should we so greatly desire this life, in which the longer someone is so the much more he adds to the burden of his sins? The Lord Himself says: 'Sufficient for the day is its evil.' 1 And Jacob said: 'The days of my life are a hundred and thirty years, so few and evil,' 2 because when no day passes without us sinning, then for us the increase of days heaps up evils. Whence the Apostle admirably says, 'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,' 3 referring on the one hand to the necessity of living and on the other to the usefulness of death. Because for us to live is Christ, whom we serve, in which it is necessary that the required service is carried out by his holy ones in the preaching of the Gospel. Then there is Simeon who said, 'Now dismiss your servant,' 4 on account of his hope for Christ. For Christ is our king, and therefore commands as a king, one whom we cannot desert or disregard. How much does an emperor of this world command be done in foreign places, as a matter of honour or for the reason of some other duty? Are these things issued by a reckless commander? And how much more should Divine things be obeyed than human! To live, therefore, is Christ, to die is gain. Whence the Apostle is as a servant, for he does not flee from obedience, and he is like a wise man in embracing death as gain. For it is a gain to have avoided an increase of sin, and to have fled worse things and passed on to better things. And he adds: 'I would be dissolved and be with Christ, which is better by far, but to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.' 5 One thing is better, another needful. Necessary on account of the fruit of the work, better because of grace and being with Christ. Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, from Chapter 2 1 Mt 6.34 2 Gen 47.9 3 Phil 1.21 4 Lk 2.29 5 Phil 1.23-24

Appearances And Peter

Videtur enim separatim se istis undecim demonstrasse, sicut se Ammaoni et Cleophae seorsum iam vespere demonstraverat: et quemadmodum isti duo, ita etiam videntur illi undecim ad confirmandos reliquos convenire potuisse. Denique et conturbati sunt, ut habes secundum Lucam; et ideo aperuit eis sensum, ut intelligerent ea quae scripta sunt. Hunc autem latius, illum succinctius scripsisse non dubium est. Quomodo enim soli Cephae visum dicerent, si ab omnibus erat visus? Sed sicut ex mulieribus Mariae, et alii Mariae Magdalenae; ita ex viris Petro visus est primo mane. Et Paulus sic ait: Tradidi enim vobis imprimis, quia Christus mortuus est secundum Scripturas, et quia sepultus est, et quia resurrexit tertia die secundum Scripturas, et visus est Cephae. Et ideo Marcus specialiter inducit iuvenem mandantem ut Petro et discipulis dicerent mulieres, quia surrexit Dominus. Petrus ergo vidit solus Dominum; devotio enim parata semper et prompta credebat, et ideo studebat frequentiora fidei signa colligere. Alibi cum Ioanne, alibi solus, ubique tamen impiger currit, ubique aut solus, aut primus: non contentus vidisse quae viderat, repetit intuenda, et quaerendi Domini amore succensus, non satiatur videndo. Videt eum solus, videt cum undecim, videt cum septuaginta, videt et quando Thomas credidit, videt cum piscaretur: sed non vidisse contentus, impatiens desiderii, negligens captionis, immemor periculi, non tamen immemor reverentiae; ubi Dominum vidit in littore, veste se texit, serum aestimans si cum caeteris navigio perveniret. Sic cum in undis Dominus ambularet, super undas maris naturae suae oblitus occurrit: sic cum a Iudaeis Dominus teneretur, adversum turbas gladium solus exeruit: sic et nunc cum Dominus stetisset in littore periculoso, compendio religiosum maturavit obsequium. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber X Source: Migne PL 15.1847b-1848a

It seems that the Lord showed himself separately to the eleven disciples, just as He showed Himself in the evening to Ammeaus and Cleophas, and as with these two, so even it seems with the eleven, that they might come together to strengthen the rest. 'But then they were troubled,' as Luke has it, 'and therefore He opened their eyes that they might understand what was written.' 1 And that this one wrote more widely and that one more succinctly must not be doubted. For how do they say that Cephas alone saw if He was seen by everyone? But as from the women with Mary, and with the other Mary Magdalen, so at the break of day He appeared to Peter. So Paul says: 'For I handed it on to you from the first that Christ died according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose on the third day according to the Scriptures, and He appeared to Cephas.' 2 Therefore Mark especially sets down that the youth commanded the women to tell Peter and the disciples that the Lord had risen. 3 So Peter alone saw the Lord, for with a ready and prompt devotion he believed, because of which he more frequently desired to gather up signs of the faith. Here with John, there alone, and everywhere with energy he rushes, everywhere he is on his own or first. He was not content to see what he had seen, he looked for repetition, and burning with a love of seeking the Lord, he is not satisfied with seeing once. He saw alone, he saw with the eleven disciples, he saw with the seventy, he saw when Thomas believed, he saw when he fished, but having seen he was not satisfied, he was impatient with desire, and caring not for the fishing and careless of danger, he was yet not forgetful of reverence. When he saw the Lord on the shore, he bound his garment about him, because he judged that to come with the others in the boat would be an impediment. So when the Lord walked on the waters, he crossed over the waters, forgetful of his own nature, 4 and when the Lord was seized by the Jews, so he alone struck with a blade against the crowd. So now with the Lord standing on the shore, by a perilous shortcut, he hastens to holy devotion. 5 Saint Ambrose, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 10 1 Lk 24.13-35 2 1 Cor 15.3-5 3 Mk 16.7 4 Mt 14.28-33 5 Jn 21.4-8

Freedom And Service

Docuit me tamen Apostolus quod ultra ipsam libertatem sit, ut servire libertas sit: Cum liber, inquit, essem omnium me servum feci; ut plures lucrifacerem. Quid est ultra libertatem, nisi habere Spiritum gratiae, habere charitatem? Libertas enim liberum facit hominibus, charitas amicum Deo. Unde ait Christus: Vos autem dixi amicos. Bona charitas, de qua dicitur: Per charitatem Spiritus servite invicem. Servivit et Christus, ut omnes liberos faceret. Manus ejus in cophino servierunt: qui non rapinam est arbitratus esse se aequalem Deo, formam servi accepit; et omnia omnibus factus est, ut omnibus salutem afferret. Cujus imitator Paulus, et quasi sub Lege erat, et quasi sine Lege vivebat pro eorum utilitate, quos cupiebat lucrari: et infirmis volens fiebat infirmus, ut eos confirmaret: et currebat, ut comprehenderet: et corpus suum castigabat, ut potestates aereas in Christo triumpharet. Est ergo sapienti et servire libertas. Unde colligitur quia stulto et imperare servitus est; et quod pejus est, cum paucioribus praesit, pluribus dominis et gravioribus servit. Servit enim propriis passionibus, servit cupiditatibus suis, quarum dominatum nec nocte potest fugere, nec die; quia intra se dominos habet, intra se servitium patitur intolerabile, Gemina enim servitus est, altera corporis, animarum altera: domini autem corporis quidem homines, animarum autem malitiae et passiones, a quibus sola animi libertas sapientem vindicat; ut servitio ei liceat exire. Quaeramus igitur illum vere sapientem, vere liberum, qui quamvis sub plurimorum dominatu degat, libere dicit. Quis est, qui mecum judicio contendat? Tu solus manum tuam a me abstine, a cujus conspectu non potero me abscondere; et timor tuus non me percellat. Quem secutus David rex ait: Tibi soli peccavi. Regali enim subnixus fastigio, quasi legum dominus legibus reus non erat, soli Deo obnoxius tenebatur, qui dominus est potestatum. Alium audi liberum: Mihi autem pro minimo est, ut a vobis dijudicer, aut ab humano die: sed neque me ipsum dijudico; nihil enim mihi sum conscius . . . . qui autem dijudicat me, Dominus est. Vera libertas hominis spiritalis, quia dijudicat omnia, ipse autem a nemine dijudicatur, nec a quocumque creaturae participe, sed soli Deo se subditum novit, qui solus sine peccato est, de quo dicit Job: Vivit Dominus, qui sic me judicat; solus enim ille potest judicare justum, cujus in conspectu coelum non est mundum, nec stellarum pura et clara lumina. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXXVII, Simpliciano Source: Migne PL 16.1089b-d

But the Apostle has taught me what is beyond freedom itself, that to serve is freedom, 'When free,' he says, 'I made myself a servant to all, that I might gain more.' 1 What is beyond freedom unless to have the Spirit of grace, and to have love? Freedom makes one free from men, but love makes one a friend of God. Whence Christ says, 'But I have called you friends.' 2 Love is good, and thus it is said, 'Serve one another through the love of the Spirit.' 3 Christ also became a servant that He might make all free. His hands served in the baskets, 4 and He who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, took on Himself the form of a servant, 5 and was made all things to all men, that He might bring salvation to all. 6 Of whom Paul was an imitator, as one under the Law, and living without the Law, for the good of those who he wished to gain. To the weak he willingly became weak, so that he might strengthen them, and he ran so that he might achieve, and he disciplined his body, so that he might be victorious in Christ over the powers of the air. 7 Therefore even service is freedom to the wise man. Whence it is understood that for a fool to have power is servitude, and what is worse, while he rules over a few, he serves more masters and more severe ones. For he serves his own passions, his own lusts, the tyranny of which he cannot escape night or day, for he carries these lords within himself, and within himself he suffers an intolerable slavery. For there is a double bondage, one of the body, another of the soul; the lords of the body are men, but the lords of the soul are evil inclinations and passions, from which only the liberty of the mind sets free the wise man and enables him to depart from servitude. Therefore let us seek that truly wise man, that truly free man, who although he may live under the dominion of many, says freely, 'Who is the one who will contend with me in judgement? You alone take your hand from me, from whose sight I shall not be able to hide, and do not daunt me with your fear.' 8 Whom following King David said, 'Against you alone have I sinned.' 9 For elevated by the royal height, and as lord of the laws, he was not guilty to them, but accountable to God alone, who is the Lord of hosts. Hear another free man: 'But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by any man, but I do not judge myself, for I am not aware of anything against myself, .... but He who judges me is the Lord.' 10 True freedom belongs to the spiritual man, because he judges all things, yet he is not judged by any man, nor anything that partakes of created things. He knows himself to be subject to God alone, He who alone is without sin, 11 of whom Job says, 'The Lord lives, He has judged me so.' 12 For only He can judge the righteous man, in whose sight the heavens are not clean, nor the light of the stars pure and bright. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 37, to Simplicianus 1 1 Cor 9.19 2 Jn 15.15 3 Galat 5.13 4 Ps 80.7 5 Phil 2.6 6 1 Cor 9.22 7 Ephes 2.2 8 Job 13.19 9 Ps 50.6 10 1 Cor 4.3-4 11 1 Cor 2.15 12 Job 27.2

Noah In The Ark

Omnibus igitur qui extra arcam fuerunt, interemptis, derelictus est Noe solus in arca cum iis qui cum ipso erant. Non indiget interpretatione sermo simplicior. Concurrit intellectus cum littera. Altior autem et interior significatio demonstrat justum virum, amatoremque sapientiae, tamquam arborem fructuosam, internecatis quae escam ejus solebant arrodere, comam obumbrare, coarctare processus ramorum, velut exsortem irrationabilium passionum solum remansisse cum suis. Sui autem sunt purae animi disceptationes, quae virtuti adhaereant. Et bene addidit in arca remansisse, quasi vix credibile amputatis corporalibus passionibus videretur eum adhuc versari in corpore: quo licet jam terrenis careret contagiis, incorruptam licet, corporis tamen adhuc substantiam reservabat: et velut incorporeus in corpore, superferebatur diluvio, non absorbebatur; corpus quidem gerens quasi in arcae positus interno, sed qui corpus ipsum, insuperabilis passionibus, quasi incorporeus, in medio tantorum motuum gubernaret. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XV Source: Migne PL 14.386d-387b

Therefore with all those who were outside the ark destroyed, Noah alone remained on the ark with those who were with him. 1 This passage is not without a simple interpretation. The understanding runs along with the letter. But there is a higher and more profound meaning that speaks of the righteous man, and the lover of wisdom, as a fruitful tree, whose fruit those destroyed were accustomed to gnaw, and to overshadow the leaves, and to break off the growing branches, he who alone exempt from irrational passions remained with his own. For they are pure judges of the soul, who adhere to virtue. And well it is added that he remained in the ark, since it is scarcely credible that having been cut off from the corporeal passions he would seem yet tossed about in the body, he who now should be free of worldly infections, and incorrupt, though he was yet set in the substance of the body. So as something incorporeal dwelling in a body he was carried about on the flood, and did not sink, placed within the ark as borne by a body, but he as something incorporeal steered that body with its insuperable passions in the midst of great waves. Saint Ambrose, On Noah and the Ark, Chap 15 1 Gen. 7.23

The Word And The Flesh

Sic scriptum est, inquiunt, qui Verbum caro factum est. Scriptum est, non nego: sed considera quid sequatur; sequitur enim: Et habitavit in nobis, hoc est, illud Verbum quod carnem suscepit, hoc habitavit in nobis, hoc est, in carne habitavit humana; et ideo Emmanuel dictus est, hoc est, nobiscum Deus. Hoc ergo Verbum caro factum est, pro eo quod est, homo factus est. Sicut etiam in Joel dixit; Effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem carnem; non enim super irrationabilem carnem, sed in homines futura promittitur gratiae spiritalis effusio. Quod si secundum litteram vos tenetis, ut putetis ex eo quod scriptum est, quod Verbum caro factum est, Verbum Dei in carnem esse conversum; numquid negatis scriptum esse de Domino, quia peccatum non fecit, sed peccatum factus est. Ergo in peccatum conversus est Domnius? Non ita; sed quia peccata nosta suscepit, peccatum dictus est. Nam et maledictum dictus est Dominus, non quia in maledictum conversus est Dominus, sed quia nostrum suscepit ipse maledictum: Maledictus enim, inquit, qui pendet in ligno. Miraris ergo quia scriptum est: Verbum caro factum est, cum caro assumpta sit a Dei Verbo; quando de peccato quod non habuit, scriptum est quia peccatum factus, hoc est, non natura operationeque peccati, utpote in similitudinem carnis peccati factus: sed ut peccatum nostrum in sua carne crucifigeret, susceptionem pro nobis infirmitatum obnoxii jam corporis peccati carnalis assumpsit. Desinant ergo dicere naturam Verbi in corporis naturam esse mutatam; ne pari interpretatione videatur natura Verbi in contagium mutata peccati. Aliud est enim quod assumpsit, et aliud quod assumptum est. Virtus venit in Virginem, sicut et Angelus ad eam dixit quia virtus Altissimi obumbrabit te. Sed natum est corpus ex Virgine; et ideo coelestis quidem descensio, sed humana conceptio est. Non ergo eadem carnis potuit esse, divinitatisque natura. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Incarnationis Dominicae Sacramento, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 16.833a-d

So it is written, they say, that 'The Word was made flesh.' 1 It is written, I do deny it, but consider what follows. It follows: 'And He dwelt among us,' that is, the Word took up flesh, so He dwelt among us, that is, He dwelt in the human flesh, and therefore He is called 'Emmanuel,' that is, God is with us. 2 Thus was the Word made flesh, for by this He was made man. As indeed it is said in Joel, 'I shall pour out my spirit on all flesh.' 3 Not on the irrational flesh, but an effusion of the grace of the spirit is promised to men in the future. Now if you hold to the letter, so that you think the Word was made flesh means the Word changed into flesh, you cannot deny that it is written about the Lord that He committed no sin but was made sin. 4 Was the Lord then changed into sin? Not so, but because He took up our sin, He is called sin. For the Lord is called a curse 5 but not because the Lord was changed into a curse, but because He took up our curse. 'Cursed,' it is said, 'is he who is hung from a tree.' 6 You wonder, then, because it is written, 'The Word was made flesh,' when the flesh was taken up by God the Word, and when He had no sin, it is written that He was made sin, but it was not by the nature and working of sin that He was made the likeness of sinful flesh, but He took up for us the carnal body of sin beset by weakness so that our sin should be crucified in His flesh. Thus let them stop saying that the nature of the Word was changed into the nature of the body, lest by a similar understanding the nature of the Word seem to have been changed by the infection of sin. It is one thing that takes up, another thing which is taken up. Power came to the Virgin, as even the angel said to her, because 'the virtue of the Most High shall overshadow you.' 7 His body was born from the Virgin, and thus there is a certain heavenly descent, but it was a human conception. For else He could not have been of the nature of the flesh and of the Divinity. Saint Ambrose, On the Mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation, Chapter 6 1 Jn 1.14 2 Mt 1.23 3 Joel 2.28 4 2 Cor 5.21 5 Gal 3.13 6 Deut 21.23 7 Lk 1.3

Death And Mourning

Ordiamur igitur ab eo, ut lugendum nobis nostrorum obitum non esse doceamus. Quid enim absurdius, quam ut id quod scias omnibus esse praescriptum, quasi speciale deplores? Hoc est animum supra conditionem extollere, legem non recipere communem, naturae consortium recusare, mentem carnis inflari, et carnis ipsius nescire mensuram. Quid absurdius, quam nescire qui sis, affectare quod non sis? Aut quid imprudentius, quam quod futurum scias, id cum acciderit, ferre non posse? Natura ipsa nos revocat, et ab hujuscemodi moeroribus quadam sui consolatione subducit. Quis est enim tam gravis luctus, aut tam acerbus dolor, in quo non interdum relaxetur animus? Habet hoc natura, ut quamvis homines in tristibus rebus sint; tamen si modo homines sunt, a moerore mentem paulisper abducant. Fuisse etiam quidam feruntur populi, qui ortus hominum lugerent, obitusque celebrarent. Nec imprudenter; eos enim qui in hoc vitae salum venissent, moerendos putabant: eos vero qui ex istius mundi procellis et fluctibus emersissent, non injusto gaudio prosequendos arbitrabantur. Nos quoque ipsi natales dies defunctorum obliviscimur, et eum quo obierunt diem, celebri solemnitate renovamus. Non est ergo gravis subeundus moeror secundum naturam; ne aut excellentiorem aliquam naturae exceptionem nobis arrogare videamur, aut communem recusare. Etenim mors aequalis est omnibus, indiscreta pauperibus, inexcepta divitibus. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De excessu fratris sui Satyri, Liber II Source: Migne PL 16.1316b-1317a

Let us then begin from this, that we teach that the death of our loved ones should not be mourned by us. For what is more absurd than to deplore what you know is appointed to all as if it were something special? This is to lift up the mind above our state, not to accept the common law, to reject association with nature, to be puffed up in a fleshly mind, and to be ignorant of the measure of the flesh. What is more absurd than not to know what one is and to pretend to be what one is not? Or what is more imprudent than to be unable to bear what one knew would happen when it has happened? Nature herself calls us back and draws us away from this kind of sorrow by a certain consolation of her own. For what mourning is so deep or grief so bitter in which at times the soul may not have relief? Nature is so, that though men may be amid grievous things, yet if they are but men, they sometimes withdraw their thoughts a little apart from grief. Indeed it is said that there were certain peoples who lamented the birth of men and celebrated their deaths. This was not without reason, for they thought that those who had entered upon this sea of life should be mourned, but judged that those who had escaped from the storms and the waves of this world should rightly be accompanied by joy. 1 We also forget the birthdays of the dead and recall with solemn celebrations the day they died. Therefore it is in accordance with nature that one should not fall to excessive grief, lest either we seem to claim for ourselves either an exceptional excellence beyond nature, or we reject what is common. For death is the same for all, without difference for the poor, without exception for the rich. Saint Ambrose, On the Death of His Brother Satyrus, from Book 2 1 cf Herodotus Hist 5.4.1-2

The Worst And The Middle

Nec illud otiosum quod primo dixit, quia memor fuit Dominus Noe, deinde bestiarum, postea jumentorum, hoc est, cur non ea animantia quae mitiora sunt, post hominem nominavit, sed ferociora. In quo videtur illa esse ratio, ut ea quae ferociora erant, utriusque partis vicinitate mansuescerent. Quod videtur etiam in illo versu poetico declarari: κακοὺς δ' ἐς μέσσον ἔλασσεν. Hinc enim etiam poeta usurpavit, ut dispositionem dimicaturi ita ordinaret exercitus; quo inferiores collocaret in medio, quo magis hinc inde a fortioribus juvarentur, et dimicationem utriusque partis assumerent. In his scriptis series manifestatur. Altiore autem sensu certum est quod justus in medio habet non in parte cogitationes cordis sui: et quoad carpit hanc vitam, habeat necesse est in corpore tamquam in illa arca bestias graves. Nulla enim mens est, nulla anima, quae non recipiat etiam malarum motus agrestes cogitationum. Itaque insipientis anima ferinos acuit motus, atque adolet venena serpentum: sapientis autem vigor mitigat et coercet. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 14.387c-388a

Not without purpose was it said that He first remembered Noah, and then beasts, and finally cattle, 1 that is, there is a reason why he did not name the more peaceful animals after man, but the fiercer ones. The reason seems to be this: that those which were fiercer were mollified by the presence of the others on both sides. Which indeed is seen in the verse of the poet that declares: 'but the worst he drove into the middle.' 2 Hence indeed the poet presents it, that the disposition of an army to fight is ordered so that the worst are gathered in the middle, and this so that they may be better helped by the stronger, with both sides lifting them up in battle. With these words the order is made clear. But there certainly is a higher meaning, because the righteous man does not have his thoughts in the middle part of his heart, as long as he holds to this life where it is necessary in this body, as in the ark, to have burdensome beasts. There is no mind, no soul, which does not receive the wild motions of wicked thoughts. The soul of the unwise man is provoked by fierce motions, and the venom of the serpents burns, but the power of the wise man soothes and restrains. Saint Ambrose, On Noah and the Ark, Chap 16 1 Gen. 8.1 2 Homer Iliad 4.299