Letters 50-59

To the most august Emperor THEODOSIUS, AMBROSE the bishop.

1. An Old Friendship and a Reason for Absence

Both the recollection of our old friendship is sweet to me, and I remember, with gratitude, the benefits which by my frequent intercessions you have, with the utmost kindness, conferred upon others. From which it may be gathered that it was not from any ungrateful feeling that I have hitherto been able to avoid your visit, which was always most desired by me. But I will explain briefly the reason why I did this.

2. Denied a Voice in the Emperor's Council

I saw that to me alone, in your retinue, the natural right of hearing was denied, so that I was also deprived of the office of speaking; for you have often been moved because some things reached me which had been decided in your council. I therefore am deprived of a common privilege, though the Lord Jesus says that nothing is hidden that shall not be made manifest. By the modesty, then, that I could muster, I have satisfied the imperial pleasure; and I have taken care that either you yourself should have no cause of displeasure, since I have taken pains that nothing of the imperial decrees be reported to me: or, when I am present, either I shall not hear, out of fear of everyone, and shall thereby incur the reputation of one who connives; or I shall hear in such a way that my ears are open but my voice is shut up; so that, having heard, I cannot speak out, lest I harm, in their peril, those who have fallen under suspicion of treachery.

3. The Dilemma of Silence Before Wrongdoing

What then should I do? Should I not hear? But I could not close my ears with the wax of old fables. Should I disclose? But what I should fear in your commands, I should have to guard against in my own words, lest something bloody be committed. Should I keep silent? But—what would be the most wretched of all things—my conscience would be bound, my voice taken away. And where would that word be? But if the priest does not speak to the one who errs, he who has erred shall die in his own guilt, and the priest shall be guilty of the penalty, because he did not warn the one erring?

4. An Appeal to the Emperor's Temper

Take this, august emperor. That you have zeal for the faith, I cannot deny; that you have the fear of God, I do not disown: but you have a natural impetuosity, which, if anyone should wish to soothe, you quickly turn to mercy: if anyone should goad it, you rouse it the more, so that you can scarcely be recalled from it. Would that, if no one soothes it, no one might inflame it! I gladly commit it to you: you recall yourself, and by zeal for piety you conquer the impetuosity of nature.

5. Illness as a Pretext to Avoid Public Rebuke

This impetuosity I preferred to commit secretly to your own thoughts, rather than perhaps to stir it up publicly by my own actions. And so I preferred that something be lacking in my office, rather than in humility: and that the authority of a priest be sought for in me by others, rather than that a mark of the most loving honor toward you be desired from me; so that, its impulse restrained, there might remain full freedom to choose one's counsel. I pleaded a bodily illness, indeed truly grave, and scarcely to be relieved except by gentler physicians: yet I would rather have died than not have awaited your arrival for two or three days. But what could I do, there was no way.

6. The Massacre at Thessalonica

A thing has been done in the city of the Thessalonians of which no memory exists, which I was not able to prevent, though I tried; indeed, I said beforehand that it would be most atrocious, when I asked so many times: and that thing which you yourself, by revoking it too late, thought grave, I could not make light. When it was first heard, on account of the arrival of the Gallican bishops a Synod had convened; there was no one who did not groan, no one who took it with moderation: there was no absolution of your deed in the communion of Ambrose, and the odium of the offense committed would have been all the more heaped upon me, if no one had said that reconciliation with our God would be necessary.

7. David's Confession as a Model for the Emperor

Are you ashamed, Emperor, to do this which the king and prophet, the author of Christ's lineage according to the flesh, David, did? To him it was said, that a rich man who had very many flocks seized and killed the one ewe of a poor man on account of a guest's arrival; and when he learned that he himself was being accused of this, because he himself had done it, he said: I have sinned against the Lord. Do not, then, take it impatiently, Emperor, if it is said to you: You have done that thing, as was said to King David by the prophet. For if you hear this attentively, and say: I have sinned against the Lord; if you say that royal prophetic word: Come let us adore, and fall down before him; and let us weep before our Lord who made us; it shall also be said to you: Because you repent, the Lord forgives you your sin, and you shall not die.

8. David's Census and Nathan's Three Choices

Again, when David had ordered the people to be numbered, he was smitten in his heart, and said to the Lord: I have sinned exceedingly in that I have done this thing, and now, Lord, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have transgressed exceedingly. And Nathan the prophet was sent to him again, to offer him a choice of three conditions, that he might choose whichever he wished: famine for three years in the land, or to flee three months from the face of his enemies, or three days of death in the land. And David answered: These three things are very straitening; nevertheless I will fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are very many; and into the hand of man I will not fall. His fault was, however, that he wished to know the number of the whole people who were with him, which he ought to have reserved for God alone to know.

9. David's Plea to Spare the Stricken People

And when, it says, death came upon the people, on that very first day, at the hour of dinner, when David had seen the angel striking the people, David said: I have sinned, and I the shepherd have done wickedly, and what has this flock done? Let your hand be upon me, and upon my father's house. And so the Lord repented, and commanded the angel to spare the people, and that David should offer a sacrifice; for there were then sacrifices for sins—these now are sacrifices of penitence. And so by this humility he became more acceptable to God: for it is not to be wondered at that a man sins; but this is blameworthy, if he does not recognize that he has erred, and does not humble himself before God.

10. Job, Jonathan, and David on Innocent Blood

Holy Job, himself also powerful in the world, said: I have not hidden my sin, but have declared it before all the people. To that fierce king Saul, his own son Jonathan said: Do not sin against your servant David: and: Why do you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without cause? For even if he was king, he was sinning nonetheless, if he were to kill an innocent man. Finally, even David, when he already possessed the kingdom, and had heard that Abner had been killed as an innocent man by Joab, the commander of his army, said: I and my kingdom are innocent from now and forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner; and he fasted in grief.

11. A Call to Remove Sin Through Penitence

I have written these things not to confound you, but so that the examples of kings may provoke you to remove this sin from your reign: and you will remove it by humbling your soul before God. You are a man, and temptation has come to you; conquer it. Sin is not taken away except by tears and penitence. Neither angel nor archangel can do it; the Lord himself, who alone can say: I am with you; if we have sinned, he does not release those who do not bring penitence.

12. An Urgent Plea to Grieve for the Innocent

I urge, I ask, I exhort, I admonish; because it is a grief to me that you, who were an example of unheard-of piety, who held the summit of clemency, who would not suffer even single guilty individuals to be endangered, do not grieve that so many innocent people have perished. Even if you have acted most successfully in battles, even if you are praiseworthy in other things too; nevertheless the summit of your works has always been piety. This is what the devil has envied in you, the thing you possessed as most excellent. Conquer him, while you still have the means by which you can conquer. Do not add another sin to your sin; do not usurp what has harmed many who have usurped it.

13. A Refusal to Offer the Sacrifice

I certainly, though in all other things a debtor to your piety, to which I cannot be ungrateful, a piety which I preferred to that of many emperors, and equated to that of one alone—I, I say, have no cause of contumacy toward you, but I have cause for fear: I do not dare to offer the sacrifice, if you should wish to attend. Or is it that what is not permitted in the blood of one innocent man is permitted in that of many? I do not think so.

14. A Private Warning and a Prayer for Peace

Finally I write with my own hand, what you alone may read. So may the Lord free me from all tribulations; for I perceived that it was forbidden to me openly, not by man, nor through man. For when I was anxious, on that very night on which I was preparing to set out, you seemed indeed to have come to the church; but I was not permitted to offer sacrifice. Other things I pass over, as I was able to be cautious; but I endured them for love of you, as I think. May the Lord cause all things to turn out with tranquility. Our God admonishes us in many ways, by heavenly signs, by the precepts of the prophets: he wishes us to understand even through visions of sinners; wherefore let us pray to him, that he may take away disturbances, preserve peace under your rule, and that the faith of the Church and tranquility may persevere, for it profits that emperors be Christian and pious.

15. Mercy Preferred to Sacrifice

Surely you wish to be approved by God. There is a time for every matter, as it is written: There is a time, it says, for acting, O Lord; and: It is the time of God's good pleasure. You will offer when you have received the opportunity of sacrificing, when your victim shall be accepted by God. Would it not delight me to have the emperor's favor, that I might act according to your will, if the matter allowed? And plain prayer is a sacrifice: this brings pardon, that offense; because this has humility, that contempt: for it is God's own voice, that he prefers his command to be done, rather than that sacrifice be offered. This God proclaims, Moses announces to the people, Paul preaches to the peoples. Do that which you understand accomplishes more at this time. Mercy, he says, I prefer rather than sacrifice. Why should not those be more Christian who condemn their own sin, than those who think to defend it?

For the just man at the beginning of his speech is his own accuser. He who accuses himself when he has sinned is just, not he who has praised himself.

16. God's Chastisement of His Servants

Would that, Emperor, I had trusted myself before rather than your habitual custom. Since I think that you forgive quickly, revoke quickly, as you have often done; and you were anticipated, and I did not decline, what I ought not to have avoided. But thanks be to the Lord, who wishes to chastise his little servants, lest he lose them. This is common to me with the prophets, and it will be common to you with the saints.

17. Love for Gratian's Children and the Emperor

Should I not prefer the father of Gratian before my very eyes? Your other holy pledges should grant me pardon. That sweet name I have put before others, to whom I have shown love equally. I love, I cherish, I follow with prayers. If you believe, follow; if, I say, you believe, acknowledge what I say: if you do not believe, forgive what I do, in which I prefer God. Most blessed and most flourishing may you be, together with your holy pledges, enjoying perpetual tranquility, august Emperor.

Ambrose to Titianus.

1. Rufinus's Promotion and Hope for Reconciliation

An innocent victory has come to you, so that you might possess the security of victory without the bitterness of a vow; for Rufinus, having been made from master of the offices, has become, in his consulship, praetorian prefect: and by this he has begun to have more power, but is now no obstacle to you at all; for he is prefect of other regions. How glad I am, both for him, as a friend, because, being increased in honor, he has been relieved of envy: and for you, as a son, because you have been freed from him whom you judged a harsher arbiter for yourself; so that if you decide the matter with your niece, it may be a matter of your piety, not of your fear.

2. The Better Fruit of a Peaceful Settlement

Therefore be more ready for a settlement, for which the hope is better, and the fruit is greater. The hope, because the father of your niece, who was greatly flattering himself over that man's opinion, now has nothing to hope from him; for he attends to other things, neglects the past matters, and has laid aside, along with that man, the office which he then held: the other considers the merit of his own case, not a patron's opinion. And the fruit is more pleasant, that the grace of the settlement be attributed to you, who were able to disdain it and did not disdain it, regarding the piety of the relationship, not the goad of offense. Farewell, and love us, as a son; for we love you, as parents.

Ambrose to Theodosius the Emperor.

1. Grief Hidden in Silence

The word of your clemency has broken my silence; for in such sad matters I had resolved on nothing better to do, than, if it were possible, to hide myself away. But because I could not lurk in some retreat and withdraw from the priesthood, I was hiding within myself, at least in silence.

2. Valentinian's Faith and Longing for Baptism

For I grieve, I confess, with bitter grief, not only that Valentinian Augustus has departed at an untimely age, but also that, formed in the faith and by your own instructions, he had put on such devotion toward our God, and had leaned upon me with such affection, that whom he had before persecuted, he now loved; whom he had before repelled as an adversary, he now regarded as a father. I bring this forward not for the sake of recalling an old injury, but as testimony of his conversion. For that former thing was foreign to him, this his own, which, poured into him by you, he held so fast that he excluded his mother's persuasion. He preferred to declare that he had been nurtured by me; he desired me as a devoted father; he waited impatiently, when a false report of my arrival had been given by certain people.

Indeed, even in those very days of public mourning, when he had holy and eminent bishops of the Lord within Gaul, he judged that he should nonetheless write to me, that he might be initiated by me into the sacraments of baptism: which, even if not reasonably done, testified nonetheless lovingly to his devotion toward me.

3. Mourning an Untimely Death

Shall I not, then, embrace him with the innermost breath of my spirit, and in the secret recesses of my mind and soul? Shall I think him dead to me? Rather, all the more is he dead to me. What thanks was I giving to the Lord, that he had been so converted toward me, so amended, as though he had put on the character of some older age; what thanks to your clemency, that you had not only restored him to his kingdom, but also, what is greater, had instructed him in the disciplines of your faith and piety? Shall I then not grieve that he, in the fullness of his age, before he obtained the grace of the sacraments which he desired, died a sudden death? You have refreshed my spirit, in that you yourself have deigned to bear testimony to my grief. I hold you, Emperor, as the arbiter of my affection, you as the interpreter of my mind.

4. Arrangements for the Emperor's Burial

But other times for weeping will not be lacking; now concerning his burial, since your clemency has written that it should be arranged here in this manner. Whether he departed without the lot of baptism, what I have come to know I have now suppressed. There is here a most beautiful porphyry basin, most suitable for use of this kind; for Maximian too, colleague of Diocletian, was buried in this way. There are most precious slabs of porphyry, with which the covering may be clad, by which the royal remains may be enclosed.

5. The Grief of Valentinian's Sisters

This had been prepared, but the rescript of your clemency was awaited: by the receipt of which your holy daughters, the sisters of your son Valentinian, were refreshed, who afflict themselves grievously; and were the more agitated, because nothing had for a long time been written to them. Whence not a little consolation has come to them; but while the remains are unburied, they by no means spare themselves; for they seem to themselves to be holding the daily funeral of their brother. And truly, since they are never without great weeping and grave sorrow; yet as often as they go there, they return bloodless. Provision, then, will be made both for them, and for the dearest remains, if the burial is hastened, lest they be entirely dissolved in the summer heat; for we have scarcely gotten through the past summer.

6. A Prayer for the Emperor

I keep your command and commend it to the Lord. May the Lord love you, because you love the Lord's servants.

Ambrose to Eusebius.

1. Pardon for the Officer of Portus

The officer of the prefecture, who had incurred offense on account of the works at Portus, is now sailing in the harbor. And he came at an opportune time; for as soon as I received your letter, I saw the prefect, I asked on his behalf: he forgave him at once, ordered the letter to be withdrawn which he had dictated concerning the publication of his goods. But if he had come later, no one would have proved more clearly that the work of restoring the harbor is inexplicable, than this man, who had suffered shipwreck there, unless he had had you as his pilot; so that otherwise he could not have gotten out from there except stripped bare.

2. Little Faustinus's Cough

Little Faustinus is suffering from a cough; he came to your holy sister to be cured, and came of his own accord; for he has learned by experience that his stomach is better cured with her. Indeed he also thinks me a physician, and awaits his meal. And so here he is treated twice a day, and had begun to fare well; but while they, out of excessive affection, are eager to keep him from food, he began to cough more from his stomach; and he will still be troubled, unless he returns to his own remedies. Farewell, and love us; for we love you.

Ambrose to Eusebius.

1. Two Faustini and the Blessing of Noah

Both Faustini have been restored to you; to us both Ambrosii remain as a pledge. You yourself have what is first in the father, and what is most delightful in the younger son; for you hold the summit of virtue, and display the grace of humility: we have what is between the father and the younger son. With you is the highest of the whole house, and the continuous succession of a perpetuated name: with us a modest mediocrity, which both depends from the summit and rests in the latter place. With you, therefore, is the rest of us both, which, when it is poured back upon us in turn, wipes away every anxiety of the mind. With you is he who by his character and works and by such offspring has found favor with our Lord. With you is he who, amid the storms of this world, nourished the spiritual dove, that it might bring him the fruits of peace, anointed with the oil of integrity.

With you is he who built an altar to God, whom God blessed, and his sons, saying: Increase, and multiply; with whom he established his covenant of peace, that it might be to him and to his sons for an everlasting generation.

2. Noah's Rest and Shem's Vigilance

You have, therefore, an heir of divine blessing, a partner of grace, a sharer of righteousness. But see, I ask, lest this our Noah, the farmer, the good planter of a fruitful vineyard, when he has become inebriated with the cup of your love and grace, as if made drowsy from wine, indulge too long in rest: and if perchance he should fall asleep, may the longing of our Shem awaken him.

3. Japheth's Reverence for His Father

There is also Japheth, the younger of the brothers, who with the reverence of piety clothed his father, whom the father, even sleeping, sees, and never dismisses from his heart, but always holds in his eyes and embrace, and, waking, understands what his younger son has done for him. He is called in Latin “breadth,” because grace was spread abroad in his lips, and in his character; on account of which the Lord blessed him, because he, as it were returning backward to Bononia, covered his father with the pious veil of charity, and paid the honor of piety, of whom also the father said: May God gladden Japheth in the houses of Shem. Whence also in the enumeration of the generations he is set before his elder brother, and is substituted in the blessing: he is set before because of the honor of the name, he is substituted because of the prerogative of the elder age, and the reverence due to nature.

4. The Blessing Carried in Shem's Name

Shem, moreover, is said to mean “name” in Latin. And well does this our Ambrosius bear a good name, in whose houses Japheth may be enlarged; for a good name is better than great riches. Let him too, then, be blessed, and let his grace be above gold and silver; let the seed of Abraham be in his portion; let every blessing be upon the posterity and the whole family of the just man. But let no one be cursed, let all be blessed; for blessed is the fruit of Sarah.

5. Greetings and the Comparison to Nimrod

The Ambrosii greet you, the sweetest Parthenius greets you, Valentinian greets you, ready for humility; which in Hebrew is called Canaan, as it were the servant of his brother, to whom he has yielded even his own name. And therefore, like Nimrod, a giant twin in name, an outstanding hunter upon the earth, of whom it is said: Like Nimrod the giant hunter before the Lord. For, being somewhat rustic in wit but strong in body, he surpasses in strength those whom he cannot equal in wit; so that he seems to carry the crags of Como with him, and in his face, closer to a bull’s, to express in his countenance one who resents being placed after, and, stripped of his father’s name, a metropolitan man made subject to Bononia; for he knows nothing of the blandishments of infancy, and has shaken himself unharmed from the nurse’s lap. Farewell, and love us; for we love you.

Ambrose to Theophilus.

1. Flavian's Fear of Examination

Evagrius has nothing that presses him, and Flavian has something to fear, and therefore he flees examination. Let the brethren pardon a just grief; because on their account the whole world is shaken, and yet they do not share our grief. Let them at least bear with equanimity being touched upon by those whom they see harassed by their contention through the course of so many times. For between these two, choosing nothing that pertains to the peace of Christ, a grave discord stood over the whole world.

2. The Synod of Capua's Remedy for Discord

To this shipwreck of good peace the holy Synod of Capua had at length offered the port of tranquillity; that communion should be given to all throughout the East who confess the catholic faith, and that the examination of these two should be entrusted to your holiness, our brothers and fellow-priests of Egypt sitting together with you likewise; because we judged that this would be a true judgment, in that, with communion joined to neither party, it would incline by no favor.

3. Renewed Discord Through Imperial Rescripts

When therefore, from these most equitable decrees of the synod, we hoped that a remedy had already been given, and an end brought to the discord, your holiness writes again that our brother Flavian has resorted to the aid of petitions and the support of imperial rescripts. In vain, then, is the labor poured out by so many priests; again we must return to the judgments of this age, again to rescripts, again the aged priests will be harassed, they will cross the seas, again men weak of body will exchange their fatherland for foreign soil, again the sacred altars will be deserted, that we may set out for distant lands, again crowds of poor bishops, for whom poverty was not before burdensome, being in want of foreign help, will be forced to groan in indigence, or certainly to beg the sustenance of a poor man's journey.

4. Flavian's Refusal to Appear

Meanwhile Flavian alone, as it seems to him, out of the law, does not come, when we all assemble. The moneylender and the debtor meet one another; these two cannot meet each other: Flavian alone, as he himself wishes, excluded from priestly fellowship, who presents himself neither at imperial decrees nor at the assembly of priests.

5. Neither Bishop's Cause Vindicated

Yet not even moved by this grief do we grant to brother Evagrius the appearance of a good cause, who seems to himself the more defensible because Flavian flees him, or because he judges that he has another his equal, each relying more on the faults of the other's ordination than on his own. Yet we call them to a better way; that we might prefer them to be defended rather by their own merits than by another's fault.

6. Preserving the Decrees of Nicaea and Capua

Concerning which matter, since you have set forth in your own letters that some formula might be found by which the discord of the brothers could be removed, since the holy Synod has entrusted the right of cognizance to your unanimity, and to the rest of our fellow-priests from Egypt: it is again fitting that you convene our brother Flavian; so that if he persists in thinking he should not come, you may, while preserving the decrees of the Council of Nicaea, and also of the Synod of Capua, provide for the undamaged peace of all in such a way that we do not seem to destroy what has been built: For if I destroy what I have built, I make myself a transgressor; and if I should build again what I have destroyed. Let, then, the grace of the peace granted be preserved among all, and let it nonetheless be that the withdrawal of one party cannot have the effect of frustrating it.

7. Referring the Matter to the Roman Church

We think it right that this be referred also to our holy brother, the bishop of the Roman Church; for we presume that you will judge those things which cannot even displease him. For thus will the counsel of the sentence be useful, thus the security of peace and quiet be assured; if that be established by your counsel which brings no dissension to our communion; so that we too, having received the series of your decrees, when we have learned that what has been done is that which the Roman Church has without doubt approved, may joyfully obtain the fruit of such an examination.

2. "Finally, when Bishop Bonosus, after your judgment, had sent to our brother Ambrose, to consult his opinion, whether he might break in and enter the church forbidden to him; he was answered, that nothing should be done rashly, but all things modestly, patiently, and in order, nor should anything be attempted against your sentence; that you should determine what seemed to you to accord with justice, to whom the Synod had given this authority. It is fitting, therefore, first that those judge to whom the faculty of judging has been given; for you, as we have written, decide in the stead of the whole Synod; it is not fitting for us to judge as though by the authority of the Synod. 3. "Certainly we cannot deny that concerning the sons of Mary a just rebuke was given, and that your holiness rightly abhorred that from that same virginal womb, from which Christ was born according to the flesh, another birth should have been poured forth.

For the Lord Jesus would not have chosen to be born through a virgin, if he had judged that she would be so incontinent that she would defile that birthplace of the Lord's body, that hall of the eternal King, by the intercourse of human seed. For whoever asserts this asserts nothing else than the perfidy of the Jews, who say that he could not have been born of a Virgin. Now if they should receive this authority from the priests, that Mary should seem to have poured forth many offspring, they will strive with greater zeal to overthrow the truth of the faith. 4. "And where is that which is written, the Lord saying to his mother concerning John the Evangelist: Woman, behold your son; and again to John concerning Mary: Behold your mother? What does this mean, that when the Lord, placed on the cross, was taking away the sin of the world, he pronounced also concerning his mother's integrity?

Or what else is said, but that perfidy might shut its own mouth, and grow silent; lest it dare to defile the mother of the Lord with any reproach? He himself, then, is witness, the same arbiter, the same asserter of maternal modesty, that she had been betrothed only to her husband Joseph; yet she knew nothing of the rights of the marriage bed by any custom of conjugal intercourse: for he would not have wished to separate her, about to receive sons from Joseph, from the fellowship of her husband. 5. "But if this is too little, the Evangelist adds testimony, saying that the Disciple received her into his own home. Did he then make a divorce? Did he lead her away and take her from her husband? Therefore whoever reads this in the Gospel, how does he waver and fluctuate like a shipwrecked man? 6. "This, then, is the son's testament concerning his mother's integrity, this is Mary's rich inheritance of unspoiled modesty, this is the whole end of the consummation.

Finally he said this, and gave up his spirit, consummating the whole mystery with a good end of piety. 7. "We have also read and gone through everything, both concerning the fact that Senecio was given to our brother and fellow-bishop Bassus as a partner in ruling the Church, and concerning the rest, whence we await the standard of your judgment."

To the most clement emperor EUGENIUS, AMBROSE bishop.

1. Fear of the Lord Before Emperors' Favor

The cause of my withdrawal was the fear of the Lord, to whom I am accustomed to direct all my actions, as far as I can, and never to turn my mind aside from him, nor to esteem the grace of any man more than that of Christ. For I do no one an injury, if I prefer God to all; and trusting in him, I am not afraid to say to you emperors what, according to my measure, I feel. And so what I have not kept silent before other emperors, I will not keep silent before you either, most clement Emperor. And that I may keep the order of things, I will briefly go over what pertains to this matter.

2. Objection to Restoring Temple Funds

The most eminent man Symmachus, when he was prefect of the City, had made a report to Valentinian, the younger emperor of august memory, that he should order that the temples which had been taken away be restored. He performed his own part according to his zeal and worship. Certainly I too, as bishop, was bound to recognize my own part. I gave two petitions to the emperors, in which I signified that a Christian man could not restore the expenses of sacrifices: and that I had indeed not been the author when they were taken away; yet I would become the author of their not being decreed; then, that he would seem himself to be giving to idols, not restoring. For what he himself had not taken away, he was not, as it were, himself restoring: but he would be bestowing it, by his own decision, upon the expenses of superstition.

Finally, if he had done it, either he would not come to the Church, or if he came, it would happen that either he would not find a priest, or he would find one resisting him in the Church. Nor could it be pleaded in excuse that he was a catechumen; since it is not lawful even for catechumens to supply expenses to idols.

3. The Consistory's Decision on the Petitions

My petitions were read in the consistory; there was present the count Bauto, most eminent in the honor of the military magistracy, and Rumoridus, he too of the same rank, devoted to the worship of the gentile nations from the first years of his boyhood. Valentinian at that time heard my suggestion, and did nothing else than what the reasoning of our faith demanded. They also acquiesced along with their count.

4. Theodosius Assents to Ambrose's Plea

Afterward I also declared this in person to the most clement emperor Theodosius, and did not hesitate to say it to his face, to whom, when such an embassy of the senate had been made known—though not the whole senate had made the request—he at length gave his assent to my representation, and thus for some days I did not come to him, nor did he take it ill; because I was not acting for my own advantage, but for what was profitable both to him and to my own soul, I was not ashamed to speak in the sight of the king.

5. An Unsuccessful Embassy to Gaul

Again, an embassy sent by the senate to Valentinian, of august memory, prince, within Gaul, could obtain nothing: and indeed I was absent, and had at that time written nothing to him.

6. Revenues Granted to Petitioners, Not Temples

But when your clemency undertook the helm of the empire, it was afterward discovered that those things had been granted to men outstanding in the republic, but of pagan observance; and perhaps it may be said, august Emperor, that you yourself did not restore them to the temples, but bestowed them upon those who had deserved well of you. But you know that one must act steadfastly for the fear of God, as is also frequently done for liberty, not only by priests, but also by those who serve under you in arms, or are counted among the provincials. While you were emperor, envoys petitioned that you restore the revenues to the temples; you did not do it: again others made the same request, and you resisted; and afterward you thought fit to grant it to those very persons who had petitioned.

7. God's Scrutiny of the Emperor's Gifts

Although imperial power be great, yet consider, Emperor, how great God is: He sees the hearts of all, He questions the inner conscience, He knows all things before they happen, He knows the inmost parts of your breast. You yourselves do not allow yourselves to be deceived, and do you wish to hide anything from God? Has this not occurred to your mind? For although they acted so persistently, was it not your part, Emperor, out of reverence for the supreme, true, and living God, to resist all the more persistently, and to refuse what involved injury to the sacred law?

Who begrudges that you have given to others what you wished? We are not scrutinizers of your liberality, nor envious of others' advantages; but we are interpreters of the faith. How will you offer your gifts to Christ? Few will judge what you have done; all, what you have willed: whatever they do will be yours; whatever they do not do will be their own. Although you are emperor, you ought rather to be subject to God. How will the priests of Christ dispense your gifts?

9. The Silver for Hercules Diverted to Shipbuilding

There was a question of this kind in former times; and yet persecution itself yielded to the faith of the fathers, and paganism gave way. For when the five-yearly games were being held in the city of Tyre, and that most wicked king had come from Antioch to view them, Jason appointed procurators of the sacred rites, that they should bring from Jerusalem to the Antiochenes three hundred silver didrachmas, to be given for the sacrifice of Hercules: but the fathers did not give the money to the pagans; rather, having sent faithful men, they protested that it should not be spent on the sacrifice of the gods, since that was not fitting, but should be given to other expenses.

And it was pronounced that, since he had said the silver was sent for the sacrifice of Hercules, it ought indeed to be received for that purpose for which it was sent: but because those who had brought it resisted for the sake of their own zeal and worship, so that it should not go to the sacrifice but to other necessities, the money was handed over for the building of ships: though they had sent it under compulsion, yet not for sacrifice, but for other expenses of the republic.

10. A Precedent for Consulting the Priesthood

Finally, those who had brought it could certainly have kept silent: but they would have wounded their faith, since they knew to what purpose it was being directed; and therefore they sent men fearing God, who should see to it that it be assigned not to the temple, but to the expenses of the ships, for which it had been sent. For they entrusted the money to those very men who would plead the causes of the holy law: he became a judge of the matter who absolved their conscience. If men placed under another's power took such precautions, it cannot be doubted what you ought to have done, O Emperor. You certainly, whom no one compelled, whom no one held in his power, ought to have consulted a priest.

11. Ambrose's Long Silence and Reluctant Reply

I, certainly, when I then resisted, although I resisted alone, yet did not wish to be alone, nor did I alone give this counsel. Since, then, I am held bound by my own words both before God and before all men, I understood that one course was not lawful for me, another not fitting, except that I should take counsel for myself; because I could not trust you with restraint. Certainly for a long time I suppressed, for a long time I concealed my grief; I thought nothing should be disclosed to anyone; to dissemble is no longer permitted me, though to keep silent was never free to me. Therefore also at the beginning of your reign, when you wrote to me, I did not write back, because I foresaw that this would come to pass. Finally, when you demanded a reply, since I myself did not write back, I said: This is the reason, that I think it must be wrung from him.

12. Honor to Whom Honor Is Due

Yet when a matter concerning my office arose, on behalf of those who bore anxiety for themselves, I both wrote and asked; that I might show that in the causes of God the fear of Him is rightly present in me, and that I do not value flattery more than my own soul: but in those matters in which it is fitting that you be asked, I also show the diligence owed to your power, as it is also written: To whom honor, honor; to whom tribute, tribute. For since I have deferred to a private person from the depth of my heart, how should I not defer to the emperor? But you who wish to be deferred to yourselves, permit that we defer to Him whom you wish to be acknowledged as the author of your empire.

AMBROSE to Bishop Sabinus.

1. Paulinus of Nola's Renunciation of Wealth

I have learned that Paulinus, second to none in splendor of birth in the regions of Aquitaine, having sold his possessions, both his own and those of his wife, has clothed himself in this way of life for the sake of the faith; that he might bestow on the poor what he had converted into money: and he himself, made poor from rich, as though relieved of a heavy burden, is bidding farewell to house, homeland, and kindred as well, that he may serve God more fully. It is affirmed, moreover, that he has chosen the retreat of the city of Nola, where, fleeing tumult, he passes his days.

2. His Wife's Shared Renunciation and Devotion

His wife also comes very close to his virtue and zeal, nor does she differ from her husband's resolve. Finally, having transferred her estates into the rights of others, she follows her husband, and, content there with her husband's meager plot, she consoles herself with the riches of religion and charity. They have no offspring, and so the posterity of merits was the thing desired.

3. Reproach from Nobles Compared to Isis Rites

When the great men hear these things, what will they say? That one of such family, such lineage, such natural gifts, endowed with such eloquence, has departed from the senate; that the succession of a noble family has been cut off: that this cannot be borne. And though they themselves shave their heads and eyebrows whenever they undertake the rites of Isis, if perchance a Christian man, more attentive to the most sacred religion, changes his garment, they call it an unworthy deed.

4. Moses, David, and Isaiah Unashamed of Faith

Indeed I grieve that there is such regard for falsehood, such neglect for truth; that most men are ashamed to appear more attentive to the most sacred religion, not considering the voice of Him who says: Whoever shall be ashamed of me before men, of him shall I also be ashamed before my Father who is in heaven. But Moses was not ashamed, who, though received into the royal household, thought the reproach of Christ to be preferred to the treasures of Egypt. David was not ashamed, who danced before the Ark of the testimony in the sight of all the people. Isaiah was not ashamed, who went naked and barefoot among the peoples, proclaiming heavenly oracles.

5. David's Sacred Dance Before the Ark

What indeed is so unseemly to visible sight as to bend oneself into theatrical gestures, and to soften one's limbs with womanish practice? Wanton dancing is the companion of delights and the mockery of luxury. What of that which he himself sang, saying: All ye nations, clap your hands? Surely, if we consider bodily things, we might think, as though mixed in among womanish dances, that he claps his hands and applauds with a shameful sound. For of Ezekiel too it was said: Clap your hand, and stamp your foot.

6. Michal's Rebuke and David's Reply

But these things which, viewed with bodily eyes, seem shameful, are to be revered in the contemplation of most sacred religion; so that those who reprehend them draw their own souls into the snares of reprehension. Finally, Michal reproved David as he danced, and said to him: How honored today was the king of Israel, in that he was uncovered today before the eyes of his handmaids! And David answered her: I will play before the Lord, who chose me before your father, and before all his house, that He might appoint me king over His people Israel. And I will play before the Lord, and I will yet be uncovered thus, and I will be vile in your eyes, and honored with the maidservants of whom you said I was uncovered.

7. David's Humility and Michal's Barrenness

David, therefore, did not blush at womanish opinions, nor was he ashamed to endure reproaches among women for the sake of religious obedience. For he, His servant, was playing before the Lord; and therefore he pleased all the more, because he humbled himself thus before God, that he set the royal dignity beneath, and offered God the lowest service, as it were of a little slave. Finally, she who reproved such dancing, condemned to sterility, gave no royal offspring, lest she produce the proud: and, what is true, she obtained no succession of her own posterity and merits.

8. The Gospel's Figure of Spiritual Dancing

But if anyone still doubts, let him receive the Gospel testimony; for the Son of God said: We have sung to you, and you have not danced. The Jews therefore were left behind, who did not dance, who did not know how to clap their hands: the Gentiles were admitted, who gave a spiritual applause to God. For the fool folds his hands, and devours his own flesh, that is, he entangled himself in bodily affairs, and devoured his own flesh, like a prevailing death; and therefore he will not find eternal life: but the wise man, lifting up his works, that they may shine before his Father who is in heaven, did not consume, but raised up his own flesh even unto the grace of the resurrection. This is the glorious dance of the wise man, which David danced; and therefore he ascended by the sublimity of spiritual dancing even to the throne of Christ, that he might see and hear the Lord saying to his Lord: Sit at my right hand.

9. Turning to Isaiah's Prophetic Nakedness

Therefore, if you judge that this interpretation of dancing has occurred to us not absurdly, do not yet desist from the labor of reading; that you may also review with me concerning Isaiah, which is well known to you, that he was stripped bare not for mockery, but most gloriously, in the sight of the peoples running to meet him, inasmuch as he re-echoed with his own mouth the oracles of the Lord.

10. The Question of Isaiah's Shame

But perhaps someone may say: Was it not then shameful, that a naked man should go about entirely among the peoples; since both the male and the female sex would meet him? Did not the sight itself offend the eyes of all, and especially of the women? Do not we ourselves generally feel shame at seeing ourselves naked? Finally, therefore, men's genitals are covered with garments, lest they strike the gaze and sight of onlookers with a deformed spectacle.

11. Isaiah's Nakedness as a Sign of Captivity

I too grant this: but consider what the figure of this deed is, or what such a sight portends; namely, that in this way the boys of the Jews and the virgins will walk naked, led into captivity: As my servant Isaiah, He says, goes naked and unshod. He could indeed have expressed this in words, but preferred to sharpen it by example; that the sight itself might strike more horror, and that what they abhorred in the body of the prophet, they might dread for themselves. In which, then, is the graver horror of shamefulness, in the body of the prophet, or in the sin of the faithless, which by its own merits fell into so great a calamity of captivity?

12. Adam, Noah, and Joseph on Shame

What if there were nothing shameful in the prophetic body? For he attended not to bodily things, but to spiritual things. For in the ecstasy of mind he does not say: I will hear what I shall speak; but, what God shall speak in me. Nor did he heed whether he was naked or clothed. Finally, Adam before sin was naked, but he did not know himself to be naked, because he was clothed with virtues: but after he committed sin, he saw himself naked, and covered himself. Noah was naked, but he did not blush, because he was full of gladness and spiritual joy. Finally, he who laughed at him as naked, himself remained subject to perpetual reproach of shamefulness.

But Joseph, lest he be shamefully exposed, left his garment behind, and fled naked. Who then was shameful, she who kept another's garment, or he who stripped off his own?

13. Stephen's Vision Parallels Isaiah's Detachment

But that it may be more fully clear that the prophets do not gaze upon themselves, nor upon what is near their feet, but upon heavenly things: Stephen was being stoned, and he saw the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God: and therefore he did not feel the blows of the stones, he did not regard the wounds of his body; but his eyes were fixed on Christ, he clung to Him. So also Isaiah did not look upon himself as naked, but offered himself as the instrument of the divine voice; that he might bring forth what God spoke in him.

14. Abraham's Obedience Versus Sarah's Doubt

But grant that he did see himself; could he refuse to do what he was commanded? Could he judge shameful what God commanded? Sarah, because she laughed, was convicted of unbelief: Abraham was praised, because he did not hesitate at the word of God; and was granted the greatest reward, because, at God's bidding, he believed that even a parricide could piously be done.

15. The History Behind Isaiah's Sign Against Egypt

Here then what shame could there be for the prophet, where one thing was being done, and another figured? The Jews, on account of their own sins, forsaken by the Lord God, had begun to be conquered by their adversaries, and wished to ally themselves with the Egyptians; that they might have their aid against the Assyrians, whereas they ought rather to have returned to the faith, if they had taken good counsel. The Lord, angered, signifies that they cherish a vain hope, who thought the offense against the Lord could be lightened by a greater sin; since those very ones in whose aid the people of the Jews trusted were to be conquered: this according to the history.

16. The Golden Calf as a Figure of Luxury

Now that figure means that he who trusts in the Egyptians is he who is given over to luxury, enslaved to wantonness. But no one commits himself to luxury, save one who departs from the precepts of the true God. Now when anyone has begun to live luxuriously, he begins to deviate from the true faith. Thus he commits two very great crimes, the reproaches of the flesh, and the sacrileges of the mind. Therefore he who does not follow the Lord his God plunges himself into luxury and lust, into the pestiferous passions of the body. But he who has plunged and immersed himself in such wallowings falls into the snares of perfidy: For the people sat down to eat and drink, and demanded that gods be made for them. Whence the Lord teaches that he who has given his soul to these two kinds of wickedness is stripped of his garment—not of a woolen vestment, but of living virtue; whose clothing is not temporal, but eternal. Farewell, and love us; for we love you.

Ambrose to Bishop Severus.

1. Jacob the Presbyter Settles in Campania

Setting out from the farthest bay of Persia, our brother and fellow-presbyter Jacob has chosen for his rest the shores of Campania, and your pleasant places. You perceive in what spots he has presumed to be able to secure for himself a security as it were free from the storms of this world, where after long labors he might spend the remainder of his life.

2. The Tranquility of a Remote Shore

For your remote shore, being removed not only from dangers, but also from every tumult, pours tranquility into the senses, and carries minds over from the terrible and savage surges of cares to an honorable quiet; so that this thing common to all seems especially to suit and agree with you, which David says of the holy Church: He himself founded her upon the seas, and prepared her upon the rivers. For indeed a mind free from the incursions of barbarians and the bitterness of battles has leisure for prayers, serves God, attends to the things that are the Lord's, and cherishes those things which belong to peace and tranquility.

3. Ambrose's Life Amid War and Danger

We, however, exposed to the movements of the barbarians and to the storms of wars, are tossed about in the midst of the strait of every trouble, and for these labors and dangers we gather heavier dangers for the life to come. Whence that prophetic word seems to be sung concerning us: For my labors I saw the tabernacles of the Ethiopians.

4. Reflections on Age and Bodily Darkness

For indeed in the darkness of this world, by which the truth of the future perfection is overshadowed; since I have already reached my fifty-third year, placed in this body, in which for so long now we have endured such heavy groanings, how do we not pitch our tents in the tabernacles of the Ethiopians, and dwell with the inhabitants of Madian? Who, because of the consciousness of their dark deed, dread to be judged even by a mortal man: For the spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is judged by no one. Farewell, brother, and love us, as you do; for we love you.