The Patrologia Latina · Volume XIV
The Six Days of Creation
Volume 14 opens Ambrose of Milan, the governor acclaimed bishop by a shout from the crowd: his Hexaemeron on the six days of creation, the treatises on the patriarchs from Paradise to Joseph, his preaching against the greed of the rich, the Expositions of Twelve Psalms, and the Life written by his own secretary. We are translating every one into English.
About this volume
The governor who became a Doctor of the Church
In 374 AD the Roman governor at Milan walked into a riotous episcopal election to keep the peace and walked out bishop-elect, acclaimed by the crowd while still unbaptized. Ambrose gave his wealth to the poor, learned his theology from the Greeks, and became the most powerful churchman of his age — the bishop who faced down empresses and emperors, invented congregational hymn-singing during a siege of his own basilica, and baptized Augustine. This first of his volumes carries the great exegetical works: the Hexaemeron, nine homilies on the six days of creation built on Basil the Great, and the treatises that walk the book of Genesis patriarch by patriarch — Paradise, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the blessings of the twelve.
With them stand the moral homilies that made his preaching famous — On Naboth against the greed of the rich, On Tobias against usury, On Elijah and Fasting — the four books on Job and David, the two apologies of David, and the Expositions of Twelve Psalms collected from his preaching after his death. The volume closes with the Life of Ambrose written at Augustine’s request by Paulinus, the deacon who had served as his secretary and stood at his deathbed.
As across the whole project, we translate the original works only, in fresh English, and give them away free to read.
Where to start
Three to begin with
The creation
Hexaemeron
Hexaemeron
Nine homilies on the six days of creation — Basil’s Greek masterpiece reborn in Latin by the bishop of Milan.
Read →The thunder
On Naboth
De Nabuthe Jezraelita
“The earth was made for all, rich and poor alike” — the sermon against greed that still gets quoted sixteen centuries on.
Read →The witness
The Life of Saint Ambrose
Vita Sancti Ambrosii
Written at Augustine’s request by Paulinus, the secretary who stood at Ambrose’s deathbed.
Read →The contents
22 works
Each is a fresh English translation from the Latin, free to read online, in the order Migne printed them.
- 01
The Life of Saint Ambrose, by Paulinus of Milan Vita Sancti Ambrosii
Ambrose's secretary Paulinus recounts the bishop's life, from the bee-swarm omen over his cradle to his death and posthumous miracles, written at Augustine's request.
56 ch. Read free → - 02
The Anonymous Life and Character of Saint Ambrose Vita et Institutum Sancti Ambrosii
An anonymous later compilation recounting Ambrose's election as bishop and his dealings with the emperors Valentinian, Maximus, and Theodosius, including the Thessalonica penance.
33 ch. Read free → - 03
Selected Testimonies of the Ancients concerning Saint Ambrose Selecta Veterum Testimonia de Sancto Ambrosio
A compiled anthology of testimonies to Ambrose of Milan from Basil, Jerome, Augustine, and other ancient and medieval writers across eight centuries.
14 ch. Read free → - 04
The Hexaemeron, or Six Days of Creation Hexaemeron
Ambrose of Milan's sermon cycle on the six days of Genesis, moving from the cosmos down to the wonders of the human body.
73 ch. Read free → - 05
On Paradise De Paradiso
Ambrose reads Eden allegorically, tracing paradise's four rivers to the four cardinal virtues and the fall to the soul's struggle between mind, sense, and delight.
15 ch. Read free → - 06
Cain and Abel De Cain et Abel
Ambrose reads Cain and Abel as two opposing dispositions of the soul: one claiming credit for itself, the other giving thanks to God.
20 ch. Read free → - 07
On Noah and the Ark De Noe et Arca
Ambrose reads Noah's ark, plank by plank, as a figure of the human body and the soul's passage from temptation to virtue.
34 ch. Read free → - 08
Fragment of a Book on Noah's Ark Fragmentum Libri de Arca Noe
A single surviving paragraph from a lost treatise on Noah's Ark, arguing that Christ alone was born free of Adam's guilt.
1 min Read free → - 09
On Abraham De Abraham
Ambrose reads the life of Abraham twice over, first as a moral pattern to imitate, then as a figure of the soul's ascent to God.
189 ch. Read free → - 10
Isaac, or the Soul De Isaac et Anima
Ambrose reads Isaac and Rebecca, and the Song of Songs, as a figure for the soul's courtship by the divine Word.
8 ch. Read free → - 11
On the Good of Death De Bono Mortis
Ambrose's treatise arguing that death, rightly understood as the soul's release from the body, is not an evil but a good.
12 ch. Read free → - 12
On the Flight from the World De Fuga Saeculi
Ambrose reads the Old Testament's cities of refuge as a map for fleeing worldly entanglement toward God.
9 ch. Read free → - 13
Jacob and the Happy Life De Jacob et Vita Beata
Ambrose defines the blessed life as virtue beyond fortune's reach, then finds it proved in Jacob's trials and the Maccabean martyrs.
20 ch. Read free → - 14
On Joseph the Patriarch De Joseph Patriarcha
Ambrose reads the story of Joseph in Genesis as both a mirror of chastity and forgiveness and a hidden prophecy of Christ.
14 ch. Read free → - 15
On the Blessings of the Patriarchs De Benedictionibus Patriarcharum
Ambrose reads Jacob's deathbed blessings on his twelve sons as prophecies of Christ, tracing each patriarch's name to a mystery of the Gospel.
12 ch. Read free → - 16
On Elijah and Fasting De Elia et Jejunio
A sermon on Elijah's fasting broadens into a sweeping survey of biblical fasters and a vivid satire of Roman banqueting and drunkenness.
22 ch. Read free → - 17
On Naboth De Nabuthe Jezraelita
Ambrose's sermon on Ahab's murder of Naboth for his vineyard, a searing indictment of greed, hoarding, and the rich man's contempt for the poor.
17 ch. Read free → - 18
On Tobias De Tobia
A moral treatise using the patriarch Tobias's mercy and honesty to mount a sustained scriptural attack on the practice of lending at interest.
24 ch. Read free → - 19
On the Prayer of Job and David De Interpellatione Job et David
Ambrose reads the laments of Job and David as a single meditation on suffering, the prosperity of the wicked, and hope beyond this life.
34 ch. Read free → - 20
The Apology of David Apologia Prophetae David
Ambrose defends the sinning King David, reading his fall with Bathsheba and Uriah as a hidden figure of Christ, the Church, and the sacrament of baptism.
17 ch. Read free → - 21
The Second Apology of David Apologia Altera Prophetae David
A sermon defending David's adultery from Psalm 50's title, reading his fall and Nathan's rebuke as prophecy of Christ and the Church.
12 ch. Read free → - 22
Expositions on Twelve Psalms Enarrationes in Psalmos Duodecim
Ambrose's sermon-commentaries on twelve individual psalms, opening with his celebrated preface in praise of the Psalter and its power to heal and instruct the soul.
343 ch. Read free →
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