Letters 64–70

AMBROSE to Simplician, greeting.

1. The Division of the Sacrificial Blood

You have indicated to me that you were moved, when you were reading, as to what it means that Moses, after the sacrifice had been offered, and the peace-offerings immolated to the Lord, sent half the blood into bowls, and poured the other half upon the altar. But why is it that you yourself hesitate, and inquire of us; when you have traversed the whole world for the sake of faith and of acquiring divine knowledge, and have devoted the whole time of this life to daily reading in nightly and daily turns, embracing with a keen mind even things intelligible, as one who is accustomed to show how far even the books of philosophy stray from the truth, and how empty most of them are, so that the speech of the writers in their writings has failed sooner than their life did.

2. Blood Divided Between Moral and Mystical Wisdom

Nevertheless, because the exchange of discourse, like that of money, is of great use, and from it the greatest profit of trade is prepared for common benefit, I cannot keep silent how marvelous is this division of blood. For part of it seems to signify the moral discipline of wisdom, part the mystical. That which is sent into the bowls is moral: that which is poured upon the altar is mystical; because by divine gift and a certain inspiration it is infused into human minds, so that they may perceive things fitting and full of faith concerning God.

3. Apostles and Prophets Speak by Revelation

Indeed, those who have spoken of his majesty and of heavenly things, whether apostles or holy prophets, have dared to speak only from revelation shown to them. Whence Paul testifies in his epistle both that he was caught up into paradise, and that he heard words which it is not lawful for a man to utter: Stephen also saw the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God: and David the prophet saw him sitting. For what shall I say of Moses, of whom Scripture says that there arose no more a prophet in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face, in all the signs and wonders which he did in the land of Egypt?

4. Christ as the Wisdom Poured Out to God

The mystical, then, is poured out to God, who by the splendor of divine wisdom, of which he is father and begetter, kindles the vigor of the soul and illumines the mind. But the Wisdom of God is Christ, upon whose breast John was reclining, so that it might be shown that he had drunk in the divine mysteries from that principal and secret source of wisdom. Indeed he himself, conscious of the gift, wrote this, he who feared to claim for himself, and to assign to his own genius, what he had received. But the Lord himself also said to the apostles, opening his mouth: Receive the Holy Spirit; by which he declared that he was the one who had said to Moses: I will open thy mouth, and instruct thee what thou oughtest to say. Therefore this divine wisdom, ineffable, unmixed and incorrupt, pours out its grace upon the souls of the saints, and reveals knowledge, that they may behold its glory.

5. The Bowls as the Senses of the Body

But that moral discipline of wisdom is what is sent into the bowls, and is perceived and drawn from them. The bowls, then, are receptacles of the senses. The bowls are the two eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the mouth also, and the other parts fitted for this office; for the eyes receive and minister sight, the ears hearing, the nostrils smell, the mouth taste, and the rest. Into these bowls that Word, in whom is the principate of priesthood or of prophecy, pours out the portions of his blood, that he may vivify and animate the irrational portions, and make them rational.

6. Moses Pours Blood on Altar and Bowls

Indeed, when he had enumerated the precepts of the Law and announced them to the people, being about to speak thereafter the theory of that intelligible ark of the testimony, or of the candlestick, or of the censer, he immolated victims and poured libations, pouring one part of the blood upon the sacred altars, and pouring the other part into the bowls.

7. The Word Divides Soul and Virtue

There is made, then, a division of that mystical, that is, of the divine and moral wisdom. For the Λόγος is a divider of souls and of virtues: and the λόγος, the word of God, is powerful and sharp, which passes through and penetrates even to the division of the soul, and distinguishes and divides the virtues also; whose minister Moses, by the division of the blood, distinguished the kinds of virtues.

8. Christ Prefigured as the Peace Offering

And because nothing in the Law is announced above the rest except the coming of Christ, and his passion is prefigured; see whether this is not the peace-offering victim which the Word, God, offered in himself, and immolated in his own body: which first taught moral discipline in the Gospel, but also in the Law, and showed it in his own patience and in the very act and work itself, pouring, as it were into bowls, so into our morals and senses, a certain substance and the very vital elements of wisdom, by which he vivified the minds of men unto the seed-plot of virtue, and the institutes of piety: then, approaching the altar, he poured out the blood of his victim.

9. Wisdom Mixes Her Wine in the Bowl

And so, whether you accept this in this manner, a pious meaning, as I think, or whether you prefer it according to Solomon, it comes to the same thing equally, that because Moses the prophet sent blood into the bowls, you may recognize that this is the blood of which it is written, that wisdom mixed her wine in the bowl, saying that they should leave folly, and seek wisdom. From the bowl, then, wisdom is drawn, discipline is drawn, understanding is drawn, correction is drawn, amendment of life is drawn, temperance of morals and counsels is drawn, the grace of piety, the increase of virtue, the fountain of abundance.

10. The Blood on the Altar Cleanses Sin

But as for that which he pours upon the altar, so that you may understand, indeed, the cleansing of the world, the remission of all sins. For he pours out that blood at the altar as a victim to blot out the sins of many. For the Lamb is the victim, but the Lamb not of irrational nature, but of divine power, of whom it was said: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. For he not only cleansed the sins of all by his blood, but also endowed them with divine power. Does it not seem to you that he poured out his blood, from whose side, above that very altar of the passion, water and blood ran? Farewell, and love us with a father's affection, as you do.

AMBROSE to Romulus.

1. Introducing the Question of the Golden Calf

That the kind of letter was invented for this reason, that there might be a certain conversation for us with those absent, is not in doubt: but this is made more beautiful by use and example, if frequent and pleasant addresses are exchanged between parent and children; so that among those separated in body a certain image of presence may truly be conveyed: for by these offices love grows, just as it is increased by your letters to me, or mine to you.

But I have begun to experience this much more richly in your recent letters of affection, by which you thought I should be consulted as to what it means that Aaron took gold from the people who demanded gods to be made for them, and that the head of a calf was shaped from that gold, or why Moses was so harshly indignant as to command each man to rise with the sword against the death of his neighbor For it is a great thing that no loss creep in upon the absent, not only of sweetness, but also of exchange and generous knowledge. What, then, I feel about this, since you ask, I will say more in the spirit of conferring than of expounding.

2. Aaron Melts Gold Into a Calf's Head

When Moses was receiving the law on Mount Sinai, the people were with Aaron the priest; and although often prone to fault, yet as long as the law was being given, he is not recorded to have gone astray into sacrilege. But when the divine oracle fell silent, sin crept in, so that they asked that gods be made for them. Compelled, Aaron asked for their rings and the women's earrings; and having received them he cast them into the fire, and a calf's head was cast.

3. Taking the Rings and Earrings for Sacrilege

Neither can we altogether excuse the priest, nor do we dare condemn him. Yet he was not without prudence in taking away the rings and earrings of the Jews; for those who were plotting sacrilege could have neither the seal of faith, nor ornaments for their ears. Indeed the patriarch Jacob also hid the earrings along with the images of the nations, when he hid them at Shechem, so that no one might hear the superstitions of the gentiles. And he said fittingly: "Take off the rings and the golden earrings, which are the earrings of your wives"; not that he was leaving aside the earrings of the men, but that he was showing that the men had none. Fittingly too the earrings are taken away from the women, lest Eve again hear the serpent's voice.

4. The Calf's Head Foreshadows Jeroboam's Idolatry

And therefore, because they had heard sacrilege, when their earrings were melted down, an image of sacrilege was cast; for one who hears evil is wont to cast sacrilege. Why the head of a calf came out, the sequel teaches: because it signified what was to come, that Jeroboam in a later time would introduce this kind of sacrilege, so that the Hebrew people would worship golden calves; or else because all faithlessness is like the savagery and stupidity of a beast.

5. Moses Breaks the Tablets and Crushes the Calf

Stirred by indignation at this deed, Moses broke the tablets, and crushed the calf's head, and reduced it to powder, so as to abolish every trace of impiety. For the first tablets were broken, so that second ones might be prepared, by which, through the preaching of the Gospel, faithlessness was crushed and vanished. Thus Moses scattered that Egyptian arrogance, and pressed down its self-exalting height by the authority of the eternal law. Whence David also says: "And the Lord shall break the cedars of Lebanon, and shall crush them like a calf of Lebanon".

6. Death Swallowed Up in Victory

Thus the people swallowed up all faithlessness and pride, lest impiety and arrogance should swallow up the people. For it is better that each one prevail over the flesh and its vices, lest it be said of him that death which prevails devoured him, but rather let it be said: "Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" And it was said of the Lord: "He shall drink of the brook in the way"; because he took vinegar, that he might swallow up the temptations of all.

7. Piety Preferred Above Ties of Kinship

But that he caused neighbors to be slain by neighbors, sons by parents, brothers by brothers, is an evident precept, that religion is to be preferred to kinship, and piety to nearness of blood: for that is true piety which sets divine things before human, and things eternal before things temporal. Whence Moses himself said to the sons of Levi: "Whoever is ready for the Lord, let him come to me." And he said to them: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: let each man put his sword upon his thigh, and pass through" (Exod.32:27); so that by contemplation and love of divine reverence every affection of kinship might be destroyed. And three thousand men are recorded as slain, nor are we moved by envy at the number; because it is better that all be freed by the punishment of a few, than that vengeance be taken on all. Nor indeed does anything seem harsh in requital for an offense against heaven.

8. The Levites as Ministers Who Spare No Kin

Indeed, for this office are chosen ministries more holy than the rest, those of the Levites, whose portion is God: for they do not know how to spare their own, who know nothing as their own; since for the holy, God is all things. He too is a true Levite, avenger and punisher, who slays the flesh that he may preserve the spirit; such was he who said: "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection". But what is so near as the flesh to the soul? What so near as the passions of the body? These the good Levite slays in himself with the spiritual sword, which is the word of God, sharp and powerful on both edges.

9. The Sword of the Spirit and Restrained Speech

There is also a sword of the spirit, which pierces through the soul, as was said to Mary: "And a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed". Is not the flesh joined to the soul by a certain brotherly fellowship? Is not speech too akin and near to our mind? When therefore we restrain speech, lest by much talking we fall into sin, we break the right of kinship, and dissolve the bond of brotherly nearness; the soul too separates from itself, by rational vigor, its own irrational part as though it were a kinsman.

10. Moses Turns Away Divine Wrath by This Teaching

Thus therefore Moses taught the people to rise up against their neighbors, by whom faith would be recalled, and virtue hindered; so that whatever in us was astray from virtue, confounded with errors, entangled with vices, might be cut away. By this instruction of the people he deserved not only to soften the divine indignation and turn away offense, but even to win favor.

11. Closing Thoughts Inviting a Better Opinion

According to our capacity therefore, since you asked our opinion, we have expressed it. If you yourself have anything better, share it with us; that from you and from us we may learn what is rather to be chosen and followed. Farewell, and love us as a son; since we too love you.

Ambrose to Simplician, greeting.

1. Aaron's Counsel Approved Over Moses's Own

How great each one is in his own office ought to be shown by an example, the reading of which rightly moved you: that Moses, than whom none saw God more openly, nor did there arise again in Israel a prophet who saw God face to face as Moses did; he who was continually with the Lord for forty days and nights, when he received the Law on the mountain; he, I say, to whom God gave the words he should speak, is found to have approved his brother Aaron's counsel rather than his own. Was there then any man more prudent and instructed than Moses? And yet we read that Aaron himself afterward erred, along with Miriam, concerning the person of the Ethiopian woman.

2. Moses as Prophet, Aaron as Priest

But examine this very matter diligently, where Moses outweighs in knowledge, where Aaron in counsel. Moses is the great prophet, who said of Christ: "You shall hear him as you have heard me". And of whom the Lord himself said: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe though one rose from the dead". Therefore in the matter of prophecy Moses is preferred, as a prophet; but where the matter, the office, and the duty of priesthood is concerned, Aaron is preferred, as a priest. Let us then treat this very passage.

3. The Sin Offering and Aaron's Answer to Moses

A goat had been sacrificed for sin, and offered as a holocaust. Moses afterward sought it, and it had been burned: and Moses was angry with the sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, who remained, saying: "Why did you not eat what was sacrificed for sin in the holy place? Since it is most holy, I gave it you to eat, that you might take away the sin of the Synagogue; and it was to be eaten within, as was commanded me," he said. When Aaron then saw him angry, he answered him calmly: "If today they had offered their holocausts for their sin before the Lord, and such things had befallen me; should I eat what was offered for sin today? Would it please the Lord?" And Moses heard, and it pleased him. Let us consider what these things signify.

4. The Rarity of True Confession and Penance

To sin not at all belongs to God alone; it is the part of the wise to amend, to correct a fault, and to perform penance for sin. Yet this is difficult in this life of men. For what is so rare as to find a man who convicts himself, and condemns his own deed? Rare, therefore, is confession of sin, rare is penance, rare among men the assertion of his own word against himself. For nature resists, and shame resists: nature, because all are under sin; and he who bears flesh is liable to fault. Therefore the nature of the flesh and the allurement of the world resist innocence and integrity. Shame also resists; because each one blushes to confess his own fault, while he thinks more of the present than of the future.

5. Why Iniquity Is Swift and Penance Slow

Moses was eager to find a soul empty of sin, that it might lay aside the spoils of error, and depart bare of fault without any shame of itself; but he did not find one, because a swift irrational impulse forestalls it quickly, and a certain flame of very rapid motion feeds upon the soul, and burns up its innocence; for present things outweigh future ones, and violent things outweigh moderate ones, and many outweigh better ones, and pleasant things outweigh serious ones, and soft things outweigh harsh ones, and joyful things outweigh sad ones, and enticing things outweigh stricter ones, and hasty things outweigh slower ones. For iniquity is swift, which suggests occasions for doing harm; because "swift are its feet to shed blood"; but virtue is slow and altogether a lingerer, judging beforehand, and examining what is to be attempted. Thus the mind is the watcher of its own counsels, and first examines what is fitting and honorable: but iniquity forestalls thought by the deed.

Sluggish therefore and bashful is penance; because it is pressed down and called back by shame at present things; for it looks only to future things, whose hope is late, whose fruit is slower, and therefore its very petition is slower.

6. Aaron on the Prudence Required of Priests

Amid these strivings of hope and virtue, shamelessness runs ahead, and penance is shut out by the appearance of present things, and its affection is as it were burned up, and this kind of regard is abolished. The Law seeks it and does not find it; for it has been scorched by the heat and smoke of iniquity, and a certain indignation of the law is stirred. Moses says that penance ought to have been consumed in the holy of holies, and rebukes the priests as too slack. Aaron answers that priestly judgment ought to be provident, and that this office should not be lightly committed to a diseased conscience, lest the error become worse than the former. For in a foul vessel oil or wine is easily corrupted and made worse.

7. The Uselessness of Feigned Repentance

But how could sin be burned up where the fire was strange, and this in the sight of the Lord, to whom even hidden things are known? Can it please the Lord, if someone, while still involved in iniquities, and holding injustice enclosed in his heart, says he is doing penance? It is as if a sick man should pretend himself well, and grow more sick; because the pretense of health can do him no good, since it is only shadowed forth in word, and supported by no aid of real strength.

8. Strange Fire as a Figure of Sinful Desire

Strange fire, then, is lust; strange fire is every burning of unjust desire; strange fire is every ardor of avarice. By this fire no one is cleansed, but consumed. For where this strange fire is, if anyone offers himself in the sight of the Lord, the heavenly fire consumes him, as it did Abihu and Nadab, whom the heavenly fire burned up together with the offerings that had been made for sin upon the holy altars.

Whoever therefore wishes to cleanse his sin, let him remove strange fire from himself. Let him offer himself to that fire alone, which burns the fault, not the man.

9. The Fire of Christ That Heals Sinners

What this fire is, hear him who says that Jesus baptizes in the Holy Spirit and fire. This is the fire that dried up the flowing blood of the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years. This is he who took away the sin of Zacchaeus, who said that he would give half of his goods to the poor, and if he had taken anything from anyone, would restore it fourfold. This is the fire that wiped away the fault of the thief; for he is a consuming fire, who said to him: "Today you shall be with me in paradise". Those therefore he healed, in whom he found a simple and pure confession, nothing malicious, nothing fraudulent.

10. Judas and the Failure of Despairing Repentance

Finally Judas could not reach the remedy, though he said: "I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood"; because he was rolling strange fire in his breast, which inflamed him to the noose. He was unworthy of remedy, because he did not turn and groan in the inmost part of his mind, nor did he perform penance diligently; for the Lord Jesus is of such great mercy that he would have granted pardon even to him, had he awaited the mercy of Christ.

11. Priests Cannot Feed on a Deceitful Offering

This fault, then, the priests do not take away, nor the sin of him who offers himself in deceit, and is still bent on wrongdoing. For they cannot feast on that which is full of fraud, and has within it the scar of the serpent; for the food of the priest is in the remission of sins. Whence Christ, the prince of priests, says: "My food is to do the will of my Father who is in heaven". And what is the will of God, but this: "When you have turned and groaned, then shall you be saved"? In that deceitful man, therefore, there is no food. Finally, he cannot even grasp the sweetness of the feast, in whom conscience is not sincere and pure; for the bitterness of fraud overspreads the sweetness of feasting, and an evil conscience does not permit penance to refresh and feed the guilty soul.

12. The Burnt Goat as a Figure of Insincere Sacrifice

Therefore such feeling, such petition, such penitence is not for the use or pleasure of priests. And deservedly that goat, which was offered as a holocaust for sin, since it was not a sincere sacrifice, was burnt; because in its sacrifice alien fire was found. Therefore the sacrifice was not pleasing and acceptable to God; for nothing is acceptable, unless it has been proved in the riches of sincerity and truth.

13. The Two Goats: Sacrifice and Dismissal

For this reason also elsewhere you read of two goats, one on which fell the lot of the Lord, the other the lot of dismissal; the one on which fell the lot of the Lord to be offered and immolated for sin: but the one on which fell the lot of dismissal, to be sent away into the desert; that it might take upon itself the iniquities of the people, or of some sinner For as there are two in the field, and one of them shall be taken, and the other left; so there are two goats, one which is useful for sacrifice, the other which is sent away into the desert. This latter is of no use, neither to be eaten nor feasted upon by the sons of the priests. For as of those things which are food, that which is good is eaten: that which is useless or bad, is thrown away; so also we call good works "feasting" works, because they are for eating.

14. The Desert Goat and the Sabbath Rest as Feasting

It will not therefore please the Lord, if the priest eats a sacrifice in which there is deceit of offering, not the sincerity of a diligent confession. And therefore that goat is to be sent away into the desert, where our fathers erred, they erred therein, and could not arrive at the land of resurrection, but their memory perished from the land. Finally, hear what the feasting works are: And the sabbaths of the land shall be for food to you. For rest in God is a feasting and refreshing thing, which produces tranquillity of soul. Whence let us also rest even in speech. Farewell, and love us, as you love; for we love you.

I will make the heaven brazen, and the earth iron.

Ambrose to Romulus.

1. The Meaning of a Brazen Heaven and Iron Earth

Since you are in the country, I marvel by what reasoning you have thought it necessary to inquire of me why God said: I will make the heaven brazen, and the earth iron. For the very appearance of the field, and the present fertility, can teach us how great is the clemency of the air, and the indulgence of heaven, when God deigns to give abundance: but when there is sterility, how everything is as it were closed up, the air made thick, so that it may be thought to have hardened into the rigor of bronze. Whence elsewhere you have it that in the days of Elijah heaven was closed for three years and six months.

2. How Heaven and Earth Become Hostile to Growth

It is signified therefore that a closed brazen heaven denies to the lands the use of itself. The earth also is iron, when it refuses increase, and excludes from the fruitful field, with a hostile hardness, as it were, the seeds cast into it, which it is wont to cherish in the bosom of a coaxing mother. For when does iron bear fruit? When does bronze relax its showers?

3. Famine as Punishment for Impiety

By these things then He threatens a pitiable famine to the impious, so that those who do not know how to show filial devotion to the common Lord and Father of all may be deprived of the nourishment of paternal indulgence; let the heaven be brazen to them, the air congealed and hardened into the rigor of metal, let the earth be iron to them, not knowing its offspring, so that what generally poverty produces, it may sow discords. For those who lack food resort to plunder; that they may relieve their hunger at the expense of others.

4. War as Harvest and the Promise of Bread

Now if the offense of those dwelling in such a state be such that wars are brought upon them by divine visitation, truly the earth is iron, bristling with harvests of weapons, and bare of its own fruits, fruitful unto punishment, sterile unto nourishment. But where is abundance? Behold, I will rain bread for you, says the Lord. Farewell, and love us; for we love you.

Ambrose to Irenaeus, greeting.

1. The Law Against Wearing the Other Sex's Garments

You have reported to me, as a son, that some have asked of you what it means that the Law so severely calls unclean those who use garments of the other sex, whether men, that is, or women; for thus it is written: The thing of a man shall not be upon a woman, neither shall a man be clothed with a woman's garment; because everyone who does this is unclean before the Lord.

2. Nature's Distinction Between Man and Woman

And if you truly examine it, it is unfitting, which nature herself also abhors. For why do you not wish to appear to be what you were born? Why do you assume for yourself an alien appearance? Why do you feign to be a woman, or you, a woman, a man? Nature clothes each sex with its own garments. Finally, diverse is the use, diverse the color, the movement, the gait, diverse the strength, diverse the voice in man and woman.

3. Sex Distinguished by Nature Among Animals

But also among the rest of the animal kind, one is the appearance of the lion, another of the lioness, one is their force, another their sound: one of the bull, another of the heifer. In deer also, as much as the sex differs, so much does the form differ; so that you can distinguish them even at a distance. In birds indeed the comparison, as to clothing, is even closer between them and men; for in them the natural garments themselves distinguish the sex. Male peacocks are beautiful, the females are not likewise adorned with the varied grace of feathers. Pheasants too have diverse color, which distinguishes the difference of sex. What of chicks? How canorous is the voice of the cock, performing his solemn office of arousing and singing in nightly turns? Do these creatures change their appearance? Why do we desire to change ours?

4. Greek Fashions and the Shame of a Feigned Sex

And indeed it has crept in, by Greek custom, that women use garments cut short, as it were, in a more masculine fashion. Yet let it be that they seem to imitate the nature of the better sex; why do men wish to feign the appearance of the lesser sex? A lie is shameful even in word, much more in dress. Finally, in temples, where there is a lie of faith, there is also a lie of nature. There it is thought a sacred thing for men to assume women's garments and feminine gesture. Whence the Law says that every man who has put on a woman's garment is unclean before the Lord.

5. The Law Applied to Conduct, Not Only Dress

But I think that He spoke not so much of clothing, as of morals, or of our usages and actions, wherein one conduct befits a man, another a woman. Whence also the Apostle says, as an interpreter of the Law: Let your women keep silence in the churches. For it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as the Law also says. But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. And to Timothy: Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man.

6. Effeminate Customs Excused Only by Barbarian Habit

How unseemly it is for a man to do women's works! Let them, then, also bear children, let them be in labor, who curl their hair like women. And yet women are veiled, these men go to war. But indeed those who follow ancestral customs may have some excuse, but nonetheless barbaric ones, such as the Persians, the Goths, the Armenians: yet nature is greater than country.

7. Paul on Hair as Glory or Shame

What shall we say of others, who think this ought to be diverted into luxury: to have curled and bejeweled attendants in service, while they themselves grow a long beard, and let those others wear loose hair? Deservedly chastity is not preserved there, where the distinction of sex is not maintained; wherein there are evident teachings of nature, the Apostle saying: Is it becoming that a woman pray to God unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man indeed nourish his hair, it is a shame to him; but if a woman have hair, it is a glory to her; since indeed hair has been given to her for a covering. These are the things which you should report to those who inquire. Farewell, and love us as a son; for we love you as parents.

Ambrose to Horontianus.

1. Prophecy of the Church's Advance and the Soul's Fall

The Prophets indeed announced the future congregation of the Gentiles, and the building up of the Church; but nevertheless, since in the Church there is not only the continual advance of strong souls, but also the falling and again the conversion of weak ones: therefore we can gather from the prophetic books how either that illustrious and strong soul proceeds without any stumbling, or the weaker one falls, or, having fallen, repairs and reforms its step.

2. Micah and the Conversion of the Fallen Soul

Therefore, just as in the Song of Songs we read of the continuous advances of that blessed soul, so in Micah, from whom our discourse of the prophet has arisen, let us consider the conversion of the fallen. For it was not idly that this moved you: And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, which was said by this prophet. For how can it be a house of fury, where Christ was born? For the names of places express this, but they illustrate the mysteries of the workings.

3. The Meaning of Micah's Name and Lineage

And first let us consider what interpretation Micah has in Latin. It signifies, "Who is from God": or, as we find elsewhere, "Who is this, son of Morasthi," that is, of the heir. But who is heir, except the Son of God, who says: All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and since he himself was heir, he willed that we be co-heirs? Deservedly, "who is this," not one of the people, but chosen unto the grace of God, in whom the Holy Spirit speaks, who began to prophesy in the days of Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, kings of Juda. By which order the progress of the vision is signified; for it comes from evil kings to the times of a good king.

4. The Squalid Tower of a Fallen Soul

And therefore, since the soul afflicted under evil kings labored before, it seems necessary to consider what progress of its conversion it has. It had been destroyed as though weaker, and all its defense had become a road for passers-by, and an incursion of passions, dissolved by luxury, and worn away by delights, and cast off from the face of the Lord: Its tower had become squalid, which was set, as we read in the song of Isaiah, in the middle of a flourishing vineyard. For a tower grows squalid, when the vine withers, and the sheep of it strays: but when the greenness of the vine, or the sheep, returns, it shines again; for nothing is more squalid than iniquity, nothing more splendid than justice.

5. The Soul Rebuked and the Bent Woman Healed

To this tower the sheep is recalled, when the soul is recalled from its fall, and in that sheep the kingdom of Christ returns, which is the beginning: for he himself is the beginning and the end, or the beginning of salvation; but nevertheless it is first rebuked, because it has erred so gravely, and it is said to it: Why have you known evils? Was there not a king for you? That is, you had a king, who might rule you, and protect you, you ought not to have strayed from the path of justice, nor to have abandoned the ways of the Lord, who gave you rational senses. Where were your thoughts, where your counsels, by which you could have foreseen injustice, and by the vigor implanted in you, driven off iniquities? Why have pains taken hold of you as of a woman in labor; that you might labor to bring forth iniquities, and bear injustices?

For there is no greater pain than that which wounds the conscience with the blade of sin: nor is any burden heavier, than the load of sins, and the weight of crimes. It presses down the soul, bends it even to the ground, so that it cannot raise itself up. Grievous, my son, grievous exceedingly are the weights of transgressions. Finally, that woman in the Gospel, who was bent double, presenting the likeness of the laboring soul, could be raised up by Christ alone.

6. Labor Pains That Bring Forth Patience and Hope

To this soul, then, it is said: Act manfully, and draw near, O daughter of Sion, that you may bring forth. For the pains of one in labor work tribulation, tribulation patience, patience proof, proof hope, and hope does not confound forever. At the same time everything that is contrary to good morals is driven out and expelled; lest its lingering seeds should sprout into shrubs, and germinate again into new offspring.

7. Crushing the Soul's Passions to Yield Fruit

Nor is it without purpose that horns and hooves are given to it; that it may crush all the sheaves of the threshing floor, like a calf of Lebanon. For unless the sheaves are crushed, and the chaff winnowed, the inner fruits cannot appear or be freed. Let the soul, then, advancing, first crush and shake off the superfluities of its passions; that it may be able to display its fruits in the very crop. How great are the adversities that hinder good births! These must first be uprooted; lest the fruitful sowings of the soul be destroyed by them.

8. The Rod of Fatherly Correction

Then also the provident counselor of the soul foresees this, that he may enclose it within its own desires, and shut in its cravings, lest it delight in them. For the corrections of a parent are useful, who does not spare the rod; that he may render the soul of his son obedient to salutary precepts. For the rod visits, as we read: I will visit their iniquities with a rod. Thus he who strikes the cheek of the Israelite soul with a rod trains it to the discipline of patience by the Lord's correction.

For no one ought to despair, whoever is rebuked and corrected; for he who loves his son, corrects him. Let no one distrust the remedy.

9. Bethlehem: From House of Fury to House of Bread

Behold, where there was a house of one seeing fury, there is a house of bread: where cruelty was, there is piety: where the punishment of the innocent was, there is the redemption of all, as it is written: And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Prince in Israel. Bethlehem is the house of bread, Ephrata the house of one seeing fury. This is what the interpretation of these names holds. In Bethlehem Christ was born of Mary: and that same Bethlehem was also Ephrata. In the house of fury, therefore, Christ was born: and therefore it is now no longer the house of fury, but the house of bread, because he who came down from heaven received the bread. But the house of one seeing fury is Ephrata; because there Herod, while seeking Christ, decided to slay the little children; whence a voice was heard in Rama, of Rachel weeping for her sons.

10. Rachel's Death and the Birth of Benjamin

But now let no one fear, because that rest which David was seeking was heard of in Ephrata, was found in the fields of the wood. Then it was still a wood, a gathering of the nations: but after it believed in Christ, it was made fruitful, because it received the fruit of the blessed womb. Rachel therefore died in giving birth; because even then, as it were the wife of the patriarch, she saw the fury of Herod, who spared not even the tiniest age. At the same time, because in Ephrata she bore Benjamin, superior in appearance, but inferior in mystery, namely Paul, who before he was born gave his mother no small pains, whose sons he was persecuting. And there she died and was buried; that we, having died and been buried together with Christ, might rise again in the Church. Hence also, by another interpretation, Ephrata is signified as either made fruitful, or filled with fruits.

11. Reconciling Micah and Matthew on Bethlehem

Here, however, that is, in the prophetic book, we find ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ, that is, thou art among the fewer. But in Matthew: And thou Bethlehem, house of Judah, art not among the fewest. There it is the house of Judah, here the house of Ephrata: in which there is a discrepancy of words, not of meaning. For interior Judea also saw the fury, and exterior Judea endured it. And it is among the fewer; because few are they who enter into the house of bread by the narrow way. And it is not among the fewest, that is, of those advancing, which did not recognize Christ. Nor is that least which is the house of blessing, and the receptacle of divine grace: and yet in this it is least, in that anyone who confers something on Christ seems to be conferring it. And whoever seeks the Church, seeks Christ; for in any of the least, Christ is either wounded or honored, according to what he himself said: For what you did to one of these least, you did to me.

12. Rachel's Burial as a Type of the Church

That this same Bethlehem is that which is Ephrata, the reading of Genesis teaches, where it says: And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrata, that is Bethlehem. In the way was the burial of holy Rachel, who was a type of the Church, so that those passing by might say: The blessing of the Lord be upon you; and: They shall come, they shall come with exultation.

13. Every Faithful Soul as a House of Bread

Every soul, therefore, that receives that bread coming down from heaven, is a house of bread, that is, of the bread of Christ, which, having the bread of heaven dwelling in it, is nourished by its firmness, and strengthened in heart. Whence Paul also says: For we are all one bread. Every faithful soul is Bethlehem, just as it is called Jerusalem, having the peace and tranquility of the higher Jerusalem, which is in heaven. The true bread is he who, broken and crumbled, satisfied all.

14. A Fifth Tradition on the Name Bethlehem

A fifth tradition, moreover, gives: House of bread. For "Beth" is house, "leem" is said to be bread. Concerning the traditions of others, on account of Jewish perfidy, lest they should refute themselves, we suppose they either passed it over, or it was removed by others.

15. Bethlehem of Judah in the Book of Judges

That Bethlehem is also of the tribe of Judah, the reading in the book of Judges teaches, that that Levite man took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah, and his concubine was angry with him, and returned to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah (Judges XIX, 2).

16. The Church's Fruitfulness Through Christ's Coming

Christ having gone forth from the days of the age; for then the age begins for us, when the day of salvation, and the going forth to run the way, was given to Israel.

Until the time of her that is in labor. To whom Christ comes, fecundity comes, birth comes; just as it came to the Church, which bore more children than she who had sons: and she bore seven, that is, lawful, tranquil, peaceable ones. The soul, then, begins to conceive, and Christ begins to be formed in her, who has received his coming, and is fed on his riches; so that nothing may be lacking to her, so that other souls also, seeing her, may return to the way of salvation.

17. Peace Proved Through Temptation

And there shall be peace to it, but it cannot be proved except by temptations. For then its peace and tranquility will be reckoned; when it shall have excluded vain thoughts, or suppressed them, when it has tamed all the movements of arising passions, when straits, persecution, famine, danger, sword have grown frequent. Then, it says, there shall be peace; because in all these things we overcome on account of him who loved us, since we are confident in him that neither death, nor the force of temptations shall tear us away from his charity and separate us. Then, therefore, he will give temptations, so that the just may be proved. And the Lord indeed gives temptations with this will, that he wills no one to be deceived: but because many of the weak are overcome by temptations, those who are strong are proved.

18. The Soul's Rest Like a Lion's Whelp

Then there shall be dew to them from the Lord, then rest: then the soul of the just shall be as a lion's whelp among the folds of the flocks. Which I would not hesitate to refer to Christ by an evangelical example; because he himself said: Then the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. For his chariots shall be crushed, namely the irrational impulses and motions of this body; that shall be quieted: Without were fightings, within were fears; but everywhere, that is, within and without, there shall be tranquility: and there shall be none to answer and resist good will; because the obedience of the flesh, the wall of partition having been taken away, when both shall have become one, shall abolish all discords.

19. The Weak Soul's Failure to Do Justice

But if any weak soul, like that Israel according to the flesh, should stagger, and be somewhat separated by persecutions, being troubled, from that charity of Christ, it is rebuked and reproved as faithless, as ungrateful, as unbelieving, which, having been freed from the vanities of the age, has fallen back by looking to them: from which not gifts, not sacrifices of bulls, but only that it should know the good, that it should do justice, was demanded. It has been declared to thee (it says), O man, what is good, or what the Lord requires of thee, but to do judgment and justice, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk with thy Lord. But because that weaker soul did not keep these things, therefore the Lord says: Woe is me, for I am become as one who gathers stubble at harvest, and as a grape-gleaning in the vintage? Hearing this, therefore, the prophet, in whom God was speaking, says to that soul: Woe is me, O soul!

Because it is not full of fear from the earth. Or if the Lord himself says it, pitying the punishments to come for sins, and groaning for our errors.

20. The Soul's Hope Amid the Flesh's Enmity

The soul, hearing these things, that it will gather no fruits of its seeds, will find, the harvest lost, no security of itself, will press the olive, and will not have the anointing of gladness, nor drink the wine of joy. Recognizing also, in the works of the flesh, all things full of blood, full of deceit, of frauds, of fallacy, feigned duties of piety, contrived pretenses, and all those in the house as enemies to itself; and therefore that the movements of its own nearest body are to be guarded against, which are grievous adversaries of our soul; it turns, and begins to hope in God, and understanding that the flesh is truly its enemy, says to it: Rejoice not over me, my enemy, because I have fallen: but I shall rise again; for if I sit in darkness, the Lord will enlighten me.

21. Bearing the Lord's Wrath Until Justified

Considering also that some power was exulting over it, which resisted it, lest it should follow the better way; and pressing hard upon it, because it had been delivered over to the destruction of the flesh; that it might be worn down by various evils, which either were decreed by the Lord for the payment of sins, or by the wicked one out of envy at its conversion; that he might call back the afflicted soul to himself, it says further: I will bear the wrath of the Lord; who either chastises the fallen, or has given thee the power of afflicting: because I have sinned, I will bear it nevertheless, until he himself justify my cause. For unless I have confessed, and paid the penalties of my iniquities, I shall not be able to be justified.

But when I shall have been justified, paying double for my sins: He will bring forth my judgment, setting aside his indignation; because satisfaction has been made to the sentence. He will bring me forth to the light, that I may see his justice, and behold his delight. My enemy shall see this light of my reconciliation, that is, the wickedness of the devil; and she shall be covered with confusion, who now says: Where is the Lord thy God? She shall see in me his mercy, she shall see his piety.

22. Guarding Against Despair in Adversity

And therefore let us not listen to him, when we are in any adversities of the world; when there is either pain of the body, or the loss of children, or of other relations: let us not, I say, listen to him saying: Where is the Lord thy God? Then his temptations are to be guarded against, when heavy pain presses, then he strives to turn away the sick soul.

23. Rejoicing in God's Mercy That Covers Sin

Therefore the soul which has not listened to him lying in wait for it, afterward seeing the wonders of God, seeing itself in heaven, but the devil crawling like a serpent on the ground, shall rejoice, saying: Who is a God like thee, taking away sins, and passing over iniquities? Who wast not mindful of thy indignation: but as in the sea didst sink all our iniquities, like Egyptian lead, and hast returned to mercy of thine own will, which thou hast bestowed with a twofold gift, remitting sins, and hiding them, according to what is written: Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered! For some things thou dost wash away by the blood of thy Son, others thou dost grant to us; that by good works and confessions we may cover our errors. What, then, it says: Taking away sins, pertains to remission; because he takes them away completely, so that there are none of which he will be mindful.

But what it says: Passing over iniquities; is because, when we confess our falls, and overshadow them with the fruit of good work, they are referred back onto the author of the guilt, and the instigator of the sin. For what else does one who confesses guilt do, but prove himself led astray by the deceit and malice of the opposing spiritual wickedness?

24. Baptism as the Drowning of Former Sins

In this, then, that soul gives thanks; because the Lord both takes away sins, and passes over iniquities, and sinks them in the depth of the sea. Which can also be referred to baptism, in which the Egyptian is submerged, the Hebrew rises again: and by which, through depth of wisdom, and abundance of good works, former sins are covered, through the riches of the mercy of our God, who, mindful of his promise, which he had given to Abraham, did not suffer the soul that is his heir to perish.

25. A Closing Exhortation to Persevere in Ministry

And that soul indeed is thus called back. But thou, son, who from the first flower of thy boyhood art heir of the Church, which has received thee and holds thee, persevere in thy purpose, mindful of the grace of God and the gift which thou hast received through the laying on of my hands; so that in this rank also, as in the sacred ministry, thou mayst show thy faith and diligence, and await the reward of the Lord Jesus. Farewell, and love us as a son; for we love thee.