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| Letter XLI: To Marcellina on the Same.
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Letter XLI.
St. Ambrose in this letter to his sister continues the
account of the matters contained in his letter to Theodosius, and of a
sermon which he subsequently delivered before the Emperor, with the
result that the Emperor, when St. Ambrose refused to offer the
Sacrifice before receiving a promise that the objectionable order
should be revoked, yielded.
The Brother to His Sister.
1. You were good enough to write me word that your
holiness was still anxious, because I had written that I was so, so
that I am surprised that you did not receive my letter in which I wrote
word that satisfaction had been granted me. For when it was
reported that a synagogue of the Jews and a conventicle of the
Valentinians had been burnt by Christians at the instigation of the
bishop, an order was made while I was at Aquileia, that the synagogue
should be rebuilt, and the monks punished who had burnt the Valentinian
building. Then since I gained little by frequent endeavours, I
wrote and sent a letter to the Emperor, and when he went to church I
delivered this discourse.
2. In the book of the prophet it is
written: “Take to thyself the rod of an almond
tree.”3571
We ought
to consider why the Lord said this to the prophet, for it was not
written without a purpose, since in the Pentateuch too we read that the
almond rod of Aaron the priest, after being long laid up,
blossomed.
For the
Lord seems to signify by the rod that the prophetic or priestly
authority ought to be straightforward, and to advise not so much what
is pleasant as what is expedient.
3. And so the prophet is bidden to take an almond
rod, because the fruit of this tree is bitter in its rind, hard in its
shell, and inside it is pleasant, that after its likeness the prophet
should set forth things bitter and hard, and should not fear to
proclaim harsh things. Likewise also the priest; for his
teaching, though for a time it may seem bitter to some, and like
Aaron’s rod be long laid up in the ears of dissemblers, yet after
a time, when it is thought to have dried up, it blossoms.
4. Wherefore also the Apostle says:
“What will ye, shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and in
the spirit of gentleness?”3572
First he made mention of the rod, and like the almond rod struck those
who were wandering, that he might afterwards comfort them in the spirit
of meekness. And so meekness restored him whom the rod had
deprived of the heavenly sacraments. And to his disciple he gave
similar injunctions, saying: “Reprove, beseech,
rebuke.”3573
Two of
these are hard, one is gentle, but they are hard only that they may
soften; for as to suffering from excess of gall, bitter food or drink
seems sweet, and on the other hand sweet food is bitter, so where the
mind is wounded it grows worse under the influence of pleasurable
flattery, and again is made sound by the bitterness of
correction.
5. Let thus much be gathered from the
passage of the prophet, and let us now consider what the lesson from
the Gospel contains: “One of the Pharisees invited the Lord
Jesus to eat with him, and He entered into the Pharisee’s house
and sat down. And behold a woman, who was a sinner in the city,
when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house,
brought an alabaster box of ointment, and standing behind at His feet,
began to wash His feet with her tears.” And then he read as
far as this place: “Thy faith hath saved thee, go in
peace.”3574
How
simple, I went on to say, is this Gospel lesson in words, how deep in
its counsels! And so because the words are those of the
“Great Counsellor,”3575
let us
consider their depth.
6. Our Lord Jesus Christ judged that men could
more readily be bound and led on to do the things that are right by
kindness than by fear, and that love avails more than dread for
correction. And so, when He came, being born of a Virgin, He sent
forth His grace, that sin might be forgiven in baptism in order to make
us more grateful to Himself. Then if we repay Him by services
befitting men who are grateful, He has declared in this woman that
there will be a reward for this grace itself to all men. For if
He had forgiven only our original debt, He would have seemed more
cautious than merciful, and more careful for our correction than
magnificent in His rewards. It is only the cunning of a narrow
mind that tries to entice, but it is fitting for God that those whom He
has invited by grace He should lead on by increase of that grace.
And so He first bestows on us a gift by baptism, and afterwards gives
more abundantly to those who serve Him faithfully. So, then, the
benefits of Christ are both incentives and rewards of virtue.
7. And let no one be startled at the word
“creditor.”3576
We were
before under a hard creditor, who was not to be satisfied and paid to
the full but by the death of the debtor. The Lord Jesus came, He
saw us bound by a heavy debt. No one could pay his debt with the
patrimony of his innocence. I could have nothing of my own
wherewith to free myself. He gave to me a new kind of
acquittance, changing my creditor because I had nothing wherewith to
pay my debt. But it was sin, not nature, which had made us
debtors, for we had contracted heavy debts by our sins, that we who had
been free should be bound, for he is a debtor who received any of his
creditor’s money. Now sin is of the devil; that wicked one
has, as it were, these riches in his possession. For as the
riches of Christ are virtues, so crimes are the wealth of the
devil. He had reduced the human race to perpetual captivity by
the heavy debt of inherited liability, which our debt-laden ancestor
had transmitted to his posterity by inheritance. The Lord Jesus
came, He offered His death for the death of all, He poured out His
Blood for the blood of all.
8. So, then, we have changed our creditor,
not escaped wholly, or rather we have escaped, for the debt remains but
the interest is cancelled, for the Lord Jesus said, “To those who
are in bonds, Come out, and to those who are in prison, Go
forth;”3577
so your sins
are forgiven. All, then, are forgiven, nor is there any one whom
He has not loosed. For thus it is written, that He has
forgiven “all
transgressions, doing away the handwriting of the ordinance that was
against us.”3578
Why,
then, do we hold the bonds of others, and desire to exact the debts of
others, while we enjoy our own remission? He who forgave all,
required of all that what every one remembers to have been forgiven to
himself, he also should forgive others.
9. Take care that you do not begin to be in
a worse case as creditor than as debtor, like the man in the
Gospel,3579
to whom his
lord forgave all his debt, and who afterwards began to exact from his
fellow-servant that which he himself had not paid, for which reason his
master being angry, exacted from him, with the bitterest reproaches,
that which he had before forgiven him. Let us, therefore, take
heed lest this happen to us, that by not forgiving that which is due to
ourselves, we should incur the payment of what has been forgiven us,
for thus is it written in the words of the Lord Jesus: “So
shall My Father, Which is in heaven, do also unto you, if ye from your
hearts forgive not every one his brother.”3580
Let us, then, forgive few things
to whom many have been forgiven, and understand that the more we
forgive the more acceptable shall we be to God, for we are the more
well pleasing to God, the more we have been forgiven.
10. And, finally, the Pharisee, when the
Lord asked him, “which of them loved him most,”3581
answered, “I suppose that he to
whom he forgave most.” And the Lord replied, “Thou
hast judged rightly.”3582
The
judgment of the Pharisee is praised, but his affection is blamed.
He judges well concerning others, but does not himself believe that
which he thinks well of in the case of others. You hear a Jew
praising the discipline of the Church, extolling its true grace,
honouring the priests of the Church; if you exhort him to believe he
refuses, and so follows not himself that which he praises in us.
His praise, then, is not full, because Christ said to him:
“Thou hast rightly judged,” for Cain also offered rightly,
but did not divide rightly, and therefore God said to him:
“If thou offerest rightly, but dividest not rightly, thou hast
sinned, be still.”3583
So,
then, this man offered rightly, for he judges that Christ ought to be
more loved by Christians, because He has forgiven us many sins; but he
divided not rightly, because he thought that He could be ignorant of
the sins of men Who forgave the sins of men.
11. And, therefore, He said to Simon:
“Thou seest this woman. I entered into thine house, and thou
gavest Me no water for My feet, but she hath washed My feet with her
tears.”3584
We are
all the one body of Christ, the head of which is God, and we are the
members; some perchance eyes, as the prophets; others teeth, as the
apostles, who have passed the food of the Gospel preached into our
breasts, and rightly is it written: “His eyes shall be
bright with wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.”3585
And His hands are they who are
seen to carry out good works, His belly are they who distribute the
strength of nourishment on the poor. So, too, some are His feet,
and would that I might be worthy to be His heel! He, then, pours
water upon the feet of Christ, who forgives the very lowest their
offences, and while delivering those of low estate, yet is washing the
feet of Christ.
12. And he pours water upon the feet of Christ,
who purifies his conscience from the defilement of sin, for Christ
walks in the breast of each. Take heed, then, not to have your
conscience polluted, and so to begin to defile the feet of
Christ. Take heed lest He encounter a thorn of wickedness in you,
whereby as He walks in you His heel may be wounded. For this was
why the Pharisee gave no water for the feet of Christ, that he had not
a soul pure from the filth of unbelief. For how could he cleanse
his conscience who had not received the water of Christ? But the
Church both has this water and has tears. For faith which mourns
over former sins is wont to guard against fresh ones. Therefore,
Simon the Pharisee, who had no water, had also, of course, no
tears. For how should he have tears who had no penitence?
For since he believed not in Christ he had no tears. For if he
had had them he would have washed his eyes, that he might see Christ,
Whom, though he sat at meat with Him, he saw not. For had he seen
Him, he would not have doubted of His power.
13. The Pharisee had no hair, inasmuch as he could
not recognize the Nazarite; the Church had hair, and she sought the
Nazarite. Hairs are counted as amongst the superfluities of the
body, but if they be anointed, they give forth a good odour, and are an
ornament to the head; if they be not anointed with oil, are a
burden. So, too, riches are a burden if you know not how to use
them, and sprinkle them not with the odour of Christ. But if you
nourish the poor,
if you wash their
wounds and wipe away their filth, you have indeed wiped the feet of
Christ.
14. “Thou gavest Me no kiss, but she
from the time she came in hath not ceased to kiss My
feet.”3586
A kiss
is the sign of love. Whence, then, can a Jew have a kiss, seeing
he has not known peace, nor received peace from Christ when He
said: “My peace I give you, My peace I leave
you.”3587
The
Synagogue has not a kiss, but the Church has, who waited for Him, who
loved Him, who said: “Let Him kiss me with the kisses of
His mouth.”3588
For
by His kisses she wished gradually to quench the burning of that long
desire, which had grown with looking for the coming of the Lord, and to
satisfy her thirst by this gift. And so the holy prophet says:
“Thou shalt open my mouth, and it shall declare Thy
praise.”3589
He,
then, who praises the Lord Jesus kisses Him, he who praises Him
undoubtedly believes. Finally, David himself says: “I
believed, therefore have I spoken;”3590
and before: “Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, and
let me sing of Thy glory.”3591
15. And the same Scripture teaches you
concerning the infusion of special grace, that he kisses Christ who
receives the Spirit, where the holy prophet says: “I opened
my mouth and drew in the Spirit.”3592
He, then, kisses Christ who
confesses Him: “For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.”3593
He,
again, kisses the feet of Christ who, when reading the Gospel,
recognizes the acts of the Lord Jesus, and admires them with pious
affection, and so piously he kisses, as it were, the footprints of the
Lord Jesus as He walks. We kiss Christ, then, with the kiss of
communion: “Let him that readeth
understand.”3594
16. Whence should the Jew have this
kiss? For he who believed in His coming, believed not in His
Passion. For how can he believe that He has suffered Whom he
believes not to have come? The Pharisee, then, had no kiss except
perchance that of the traitor Judas. But neither had Judas the
kiss; and so when he wished to show to the Jews that kiss which he had
promised as the sign of betrayal, the Lord said to him:
“Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a
kiss?”3595
that is, you,
who have not the love marked by the kiss, offer a kiss. You offer
a kiss who know not the mystery of the kiss. It is not the kiss
of the lips which is sought for, but that of the heart and
soul.
17. But you say, he kissed the Lord.
Yes, he kissed Him indeed with his lips. The Jewish people has
this kiss, and therefore it is said: “This people honoureth
Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”3596
So, then, he who has not faith and
charity has not the kiss, for by a kiss the strength of love is
impressed. When love is not, faith is not, and affection is not,
what sweetness can there be in kisses?
18. But the Church ceases not to kiss the
feet of Christ, and therefore in the Song of Songs she desires not one
but many kisses,3597
and like Holy
Mary she is intent upon all His sayings, and receives all His words
when the Gospel or the Prophets are read, and “keeps all His
sayings in her heart.”3598
So,
then, the Church alone has kisses as a bride, for a kiss is as it were
a pledge of espousals and the prerogative of wedlock. Whence
should the Jew have kisses, who believes not in the Bridegroom?
Whence should the Jew have kisses, who knows not that the Bridegroom is
come?
19. And not only has he no kisses, but neither has
he oil wherewith to anoint the feet of Christ, for if he had oil he
would certainly, before now, soften his own neck.
Moses says: “This people is
stiff-necked,”3599
and the Lord
says that the priest and the Levite passed by, and neither of them
poured oil or wine into the wounds of him who had been wounded by
robbers;3600
for they had
nothing to pour in, since if they had had oil they would have poured it
into their own wounds. But Isaiah declares: “They
cannot apply ointment nor oil nor bandage.”3601
20. But the Church has oil wherewith she
dresses the wounds of her children, lest the hardness of the wound
spread deeply; she has oil which she has received secretly. With
this oil Asher washed his feet as it is written: “A blessed
son is Asher, and he shall be acceptable to his brothers, and shall dip
his feet in oil.”3602
With this
oil, then, the Church anoints the necks of her children, that they may
take up the yoke of Christ; with this oil she anointed the Martyrs,
that she might cleanse them from the dust of this world; with this oil
she anointed the Confessors, that they might not yield to their
labours, nor sink down through weariness;
that they might not be overcome by the heat of
this world; and she anointed them in order to refresh them with the
spiritual oil.
21. The Synagogue has not this oil, inasmuch
as she has not the olive, and understood not that dove which brought
back the olive branch after the deluge.3603
For that Dove descended afterwards
when Christ was baptized, and abode upon Him, as John testified in the
Gospel, saying: “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove, and He abode upon Him.”3604
But how could he see the Dove, who
saw not Him, upon Whom the Spirit descended like a dove?
22. The Church, then, both washes the feet of
Christ and wipes them with her hair, and anoints them with oil, and
pours ointment upon them, because not only does she care for the
wounded and cherish the weary, but also sprinkles them with the sweet
odour of grace; and pours forth the same grace not only on the rich and
powerful, but also on men of lowly estate. She weighs all with
equal balance, gathers all in the same bosom, and cherishes them in the
same lap.
23. Christ died once, and was buried once,
and nevertheless He wills that ointment should daily be poured on His
feet. What, then, are those feet of Christ on which we pour
ointment? The feet of Christ are they of whom He Himself
says: “What ye have done to one of the least of these ye
have done to Me.”3605
These feet
that woman in the Gospel refreshes, these feet she bedews with her
tears; when sin is forgiven to the lowliest, guilt is washed away, and
pardon granted. These feet he kisses, who loves even the lowest
of the holy people. These feet he anoints with ointment, who
imparts the kindness of his gentleness even to the weaker. In
these the martyrs, in these the apostles, in these the Lord Jesus
Himself declares that He is honoured.
24. You see how ready to teach the Lord is,
that He may by His own example provoke you to piety, for He is ready to
teach when He rebukes. So when accusing the Jews, He says:
“O My people, what have I done to thee, or wherein have I
troubled thee, or wherein have I wearied thee? Answer Me.
Is it because I brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and delivered
thee from the house of bondage?” adding: “And I sent
before thy face Moses and Aaron and Miriam.”3606
Remember what Balaam conceived
against thee,3607
seeking the aid
of magic art, but I suffered him not to hurt thee. Thou wast
indeed weighed down an exile in foreign lands, thou wast oppressed with
heavy burdens. I sent before thy face Moses and Aaron and Miriam,
and he who spoiled the exile was first spoiled himself. Thou who
hadst lost what was thine, didst obtain that which was another’s,
being freed from the enemies who were hedging thee in, and safe in the
midst of the waters thou sawest the destruction of thine enemies, when
the same waves which surrounded and carried thee on thy way, pouring
back, drowned the enemy.3608
Did I
not, when food was lacking to thee passing through the desert, supply a
rain of food, and nourishment around thee, whithersoever thou
wentest? Did I not, after subduing all thine enemies, bring thee
into the region of Eshcol?3609
Did I not
deliver up thee Sihon, King of the Amorites3610
(that is, the proud one, the leader of them that provoked thee)?
Did I not deliver up to thee alive the King of Ai,3611
whom after the ancient curse thou didst
condemn to be fastened to the wood and raised upon the cross? Why
should I speak of the troops of the five kings which were
slain3612
in endeavouring to deny thee the land
given to thee? And now what is required of thee in return for all
this, but to do judgment and justice, to love mercy, and to be ready to
walk with the Lord thy God?3613
25. And what was His expostulation by Nathan
the prophet to King David himself, that pious and gentle man? I,
He said, chose thee the youngest of thy brethren, I filled thee with
the spirit of meekness, I anointed thee king by the hand of
Samuel,3614
in whom I and
My Name dwelt. Having removed that former king, whom an evil
spirit stirred up to persecute the priests of the Lord, I made thee
triumph after exile. I set upon thy throne of thy seed one not
more an heir than a colleague. I made even strangers subject to
thee, that they who attacked might serve thee, and wilt thou deliver My
servants into the power of My enemies, and wilt thou take away that
which was My servant’s, whereby both thyself wilt be branded with
sin, and My adversaries will have whereof to rejoice.
26. Wherefore, O Emperor, that I may now address
my words not only about you, but to you, since you observe how severely
the Lord is wont to censure, see that the more glorious you are become,
the more utterly you submit to your Maker. For it is
written: “When the Lord thy God shall
have brought thee into a strange land,
and thou shalt eat the fruits of others, say not, My power and my
righteousness hath given me this, for the Lord thy God hath given it to
thee;”3615
for Christ in
His mercy hath conferred it on thee, and therefore, in love for His
body, that is, the Church, give water for His feet, kiss His feet, so
that you may not only pardon those who have been taken in sin, but also
by your peaceableness restore them to concord, and give them
rest. Pour ointment upon His feet that the whole house in which
Christ sits may be filled with thy ointment, and all that sit with Him
may rejoice in thy fragrance, that is, honour the lowest, so that the
angels may rejoice in their forgiveness, as over one sinner that
repenteth,3616
the apostles
may be glad, the prophets be filled with delight. For the eyes
cannot say to the hand: “We have no need of thee, nor the
head to the feet, Ye are not necessary to me.”3617
So, since all are necessary,
guard the whole body of the Lord Jesus, that He also by His heavenly
condescension may preserve your kingdom.
27. When I came down from the pulpit, he said to
me: “You spoke about me.” I replied:
“I dealt with matters intended for your benefit.”
Then he said: “I had indeed decided too harshly about the
repairing of the synagogue by the bishop, but that has been
rectified. The monks commit many crimes.” Then
Timasius the general began to be over-vehement against the monks, and I
answered him: “With the Emperor I deal as is fitting,
because I know that he has the fear of God, but with you, who speak so
roughly, one must deal otherwise.”
28. Then, after standing for some time, I said to
the Emperor: “Let me offer for you without anxiety, set my
mind at ease.” As he continued sitting and nodded, but did
not give an open promise, and I remained standing, he said that he
would amend the edict. I went on at once to say that he must end
the whole investigation, lest the Count should use the opportunity of
the investigation to do any injury to the Christians. He promised
that it should be so. I said to him, “I act on your
promise,” and repeated, “I act on your
promise.” “Act,” he said, “on my
promise.” And so I went to the altar, whither I should not
have gone unless he had given me a distinct promise. And indeed
so great was the grace attending the offering, that I felt myself that
that favour granted by the Emperor was very acceptable to our God, and
that the divine presence was not wanting. And so everything was
done as I wished. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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