1. I HAVE been for some time sure of what I now read for the first
time, and I know well by his merits him whom my eyes have not seen.
I grieve that the one event should have happened, I rejoice that the
other has ensued; I should have wished that the one had not happened
in my lifetime, but it was my hope that after the death of that holy
man this alone would ensue, as it ought. So now we have you, once
the disciple, now the successor of Acholius of blessed memory, the
inheritor alike of his rank and of his grace. This is a great merit,
my brother. I congratulate you that there was not a moment’s doubt who
should be the successor of so great a man. It is a great task too, my
brother, to have taken upon you the burden of so great a name, a name
of such weight, of such a scale. In you we look for Acholius, and as he
was in your affections, so in your ministry is required a copy of his
virtue, of his holy life, his vigorous mind in that decrepit body.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. xii. 2.
2. I have seen him, I confess: my seeing him is due to his merits:
I saw him in such sort in the body as to believe him to be out of the
body: I saw the image of him who, knowing not whether it was in the
body or out of the body, saw himself transported to Paradise. With
such rapid speed had he traversed every region, Constantinople, Achaia,
Epirus, and Italy, that younger men could not keep pace with him. Men
of stronger bodies yielded to him, knowing that he was free from the
shackles of the body, so that he used it more as a covering than as
an instrument, at all events that it was his slave not his helpmate,
for he had so trained his body that he crucified the world in it, and
himself to the world.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xii. 48.
Sidenote: 2 Chron. ix. 21.
Sidenote: Ps. lxviii. 14.
3. Blessed is the Lord, and blessed was His youth which He passed in
the tabernacle of the God of Jacob, abiding in a monastery, in which,
when sought after by His parents and relations He said, _Who is My
mother, and who are My brethren?_ I know not father, nor mother, nor
brethren, save those _who hear the Word of God, and do it_. Blessed
also were his maturer years, wherein he was elected to the chief
priesthood, having given proof of his virtue by a long service. He
came like David to restore peace to the people. He came like that ship
bringing with him spiritual treasure, and cedar wood, and precious
stones, and those _silver wings of a dove_, with which, lying _in the
midst of the lots_, she slept the sleep of tranquillity and peace.
Sidenote: Cant. v. 2.
Sidenote: Gen. xxviii. 13.
4. For even the sleep of the saints is operative, as it is written,
_I sleep, but my heart waketh_, and as holy Jacob saw in sleep divine
mysteries, which waking he saw not, even a passage opened for the
saints between earth and heaven, and the Lord regarding him and
promising to him the possession of that land. Thus by a brief sleep
he attained that which his successors afterwards won by great toil.
The sleep of the saints is free from all bodily pleasures, from all
perturbation of mind, it brings tranquillity to the mind and peace to
the soul, so that, freed from the fetters of the body, it raises itself
aloft, and is united to Christ.
Sidenote: Wisd. iv. 9.
5. This sleep is the life of the saints, the life which holy Acholius
lived, whose old age was also blest. That old age is truly venerable
which is hoary not with gray hairs but in good deeds; for those hoar
hairs are reverent which belong to the soul, whose works and thoughts
are, as it were, white and shining. For what is true old age, but that
unspotted life, which lasts not for days or months but for ages, whose
continuance is without end, whose length of years is without weakness?
For the longer it lives the stronger it waxes; the longer its life
lasts the more vigorously does it grow unto a perfect man.
Sidenote: Isa. lx. 8.
Sidenote: 2 Chron. ix. 21.
6. May God then approve you his successor not only in honor but also in
conversation, and may He deign to establish you in His highest grace,
that the people may flock to you also, and you may say often, _Who
are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves with their young?_ Let
them come also as the ships of Tarshish, and take in corn which the
true Solomon gives, even twenty measures of wheat. Let them receive the
oil and wisdom of Solomon, and let there be peace between thee and thy
people, and keep thou the covenant of peace. Brother, farewell: love me,
for I too love you.
LETTER XVII.
A.D. 384.
THIS letter was addressed to the Emperor Valentinian the 2nd
at the time when a deputation from the Senate at Rome, headed
by Symmachus, were seeking to obtain from him the restoration
of the statue and altar of Victory. The facts relating to
this statue form so important a page in the history of the
gradual suppression of paganism in the Empire, that it may be
well to give a brief outline of them, especially as this and
the following letter, and the ‘Memorial of Symmachus’ which
accompanies them, contain several allusions to them. Constantius
2nd, son of Constantine, when at Rome in 356 A.D., ordered the
statue of Victory which stood in the senate-house, ‘a majestic
female standing on a globe, with flowing garments, expanded
wings, and a crown of laurel in her outstretched hand’ (Gibbon,
ch. xxviii.) and the altar which stood before it, at which
the senators were sworn, to be removed, as an offence to the
Christians. The altar was restored by Julian, along with the
other disused symbols and rites of paganism. It was tolerated
by Valentinian 1st, who probably did not venture at once to
overthrow Julian’s work, (see Memorial of Symmachus § 7, 8)
though S. Ambrose (Lett. xvii. § 16) rhetorically represents him
as pleading that he was not aware of its being there, and that
no one had complained to him of its presence. It was once more
removed by Gratian, (see Lett. xvii. § 16.) The pagan party in
the Senate then made great efforts to procure its restoration.
Gibbon (ch. xxviii. note 13.) enumerates four successive
deputations sent by them with this object, ‘the first, A.D. 382,
to Gratian, who refused them audience, the second, A.D. 384,
to Valentinian, the third, A.D. 388, to Theodosius, the fourth,
A.D. 392, to Valentinian.’ The two letters of S. Ambrose and the
Memorial of Symmachus refer to the second of these deputations.
In this first one he presses on the Emperor his duty and
responsibility as a Christian Emperor, urges that the heathens
have deprived themselves of any equitable claim by their
persecution of the Christians in former times; asserts that the
petition is only that of a minority of the Senate, just as had
been the case years before, when they applied to Gratian. He
then asks for a copy of the Memorial, in order to answer it in
full, and warns Valentinian that he will find no Bishop to admit
him to any share in Christian worship if he inflicts this insult
on their faith, and reminds him of his brother and father, who
would rise from the grave to reproach him.
Though called Letters, these two documents are rather
state-papers. S. Ambrose himself in the latter speaks of the
former as a ‘libellus,’ the term usually applied to petitions
or memorials.
BISHOP AMBROSE TO THE MOST BLESSED PRINCE AND
CHRISTIAN EMPEROR VALENTINIAN.
Sidenote: Ps. xcvi. 5.
1. AS all who are under the dominion of Rome are enlisted to serve you,
the emperors and kings of the earth, so you yourselves are enlisted to
serve Almighty God and our holy Faith. For safety cannot be unperilled,
save when every man is a sincere worshipper of the true God, the God
of the Christians, who governs all things; for He is the only true God,
and is to be worshipped by the inmost spirit. _As for all the gods of
the heathen, they are but idols_, as the Scripture saith.
2. Now he that is the soldier of this, the true God, and worships Him
in his inmost spirit, offers to Him no insincere or lukewarm service,
but a zealous faith and devotion. At any rate no one ought to give
his consent to the worship of idols and the observance of profane
ceremonies. For no man can deceive God, before Whom all the secrets of
the heart are manifest.
3. Seeing then, most Christian Emperor, that not only faith, but the
very zeal and care and devotion of faith, is due from you to God, I
wonder how some men can have conceived the thought that it was your
duty to command the restoration of altars to the gods of the Gentiles,
and to bestow money for the purposes of profane sacrifices. For if you
give what has long been appropriated to the emperor’s privy purse or
the city treasury[64], you will seem to be giving out of what is your
own rather than refunding to others what belongs to them.
4. The men who now complain of their losses are those who never spared
our blood, and have even laid in ruins the very structures of our
Churches. The men who ask for privileges are they who denied to us by
the late law of Julian[65] the common right of speaking and teaching,
privileges too whereby even Christians have often been deceived, for by
these means they sought to entrap some persons, either unawares or else
by the desire to avoid the burthen of public duties. And since all men
have not courage, many even under Christian Emperors have lapsed.
5. Even had these things never been repeated, I could have proved
that your authority ought to have abolished them, but now that they
have been severally forbidden by many previous Emperors and abolished
at Rome in the interests of the true Faith by your Majesty’s brother
Gratian of illustrious memory, and abolished by a formal rescript,
do not, I beseech you, pluck up again these Christian ordinances,
nor rescind your brother’s injunctions. In civil matters, if ought
is decreed, no man considers that it should be overthrown, and shall
a religious precept be trampled on?
6. Let no man beguile your youth; if he be a heathen who asks this of
you, let him not ensnare your mind in the bonds of his own superstition,
rather his very zeal ought to admonish you with what ardour you ought
to defend the true Faith, when he with all the warmth of truth defends
falsehood. I myself urge you to shew deference to the merits of
illustrious men; but it is certain that God ought to be obeyed above
all.
7. When we have to consult on military matters we should look for
the opinion of one who is versed in war, and follow his counsel; when
we treat of religion God is to be considered. No man is injured by
Almighty God being preferred before him. He may keep his own opinion,
you do not constrain any man to worship against his will, and your
Majesty ought to have the same liberty, and every one should be content
to be unable to extort from the Emperor, what it would be a hardship
for the Emperor to desire to extort from him. The very heathen are wont
to be displeased by a double-minded man, for every man ought boldly to
defend the faith of his own heart, and to maintain his purpose.
8. But if any who call themselves Christians conceive that you
should make such a decree, let not bare words affect your mind, let
not idle names deceive you. Whoever persuades to this, or decrees
it, offers sacrifice to the gods. Yet it is more tolerable that one
should sacrifice than that all should fall. Here the whole Senate of
Christians is in danger.
9. If at the present day, (which God forbid) an heathen Emperor were
to erect an altar to false gods, and compel the Christians to assemble
there, in order for them to be present at the sacrifice, so that the
breath and mouth of the faithful might be tainted with ashes from
the altar, with sparks from the sacrilege, with smoke from the pile,
and should force them to vote in a house in which the members were
sworn at the altar of an idol, (for on this account it is that they
maintain that an altar should be set up, namely, that every one should
consult for the public weal, under the obligation of what they consider
its sanctity, although the majority of the Senate now consists of
Christians,) if this, I say, were the case, Christians would consider
themselves persecuted, if they were compelled by such an alternative to
come to the assembly, and indeed it is often by violence that they are
compelled to come: shall Christians then in _your_ reign be compelled
to swear on the altar? What is an oath, but an acknowledgement of the
divine power of him whom you call upon to attest your truthfulness? Is
it in _your_ reign that the request and demand is made, that you bid an
altar to be erected, and money expended on profane sacrifices?
10. But this cannot be decreed without sacrilege, and so I beg you not
to decree or order it, nor to subscribe any such decree. I appeal to
your faith as a minister of Christ; all the Bishops would have appealed
with me, had not this report which has reached men’s ears that such a
thing was either propounded in your Council or petitioned for by the
Senate, been so sudden and incredible. But let it not be said that the
Senate have petitioned for this; a few heathen have usurped the name of
all. For nearly two years ago on an attempt of this kind, holy Damasus
the Bishop of the Roman Church, chosen by the judgment of God, sent me
a document which the Christian senators in large numbers had presented,
declaring that they gave no commission of the sort, that they did not
agree or consent to such petitions of the heathen, and they threatened
that they would not come either publicly or privately to the Senate
if such a decree was made. Is it worthy of your reign, that is of a
Christian reign, that Christian senators should be deprived of their
dignity, that the profane wishes of the heathen may be carried into
effect? This document I sent to your Majesty’s brother[66], and it
proves that the Senate gave no commission to the deputies about the
expenses of superstition.
11. But perhaps it may be said, Why then were they not present in
the Senate, when these things were brought forward? They say plainly
enough what they wish, by not being present; they have said enough in
addressing your Majesty. And yet we need not wonder if they who will
not concede to your Majesty the liberty of refusing to command that
which you do not approve, or of maintaining your own opinion, should
deprive private men at Rome of the right of resistance.
12. Remembering then the commission so lately laid upon me, I again
appeal your own faith, I appeal to your own sentiments, not to give
your answer in accordance with this heathen petition, or sign your name
to such an answer, for it would be sacrilegious. Consult him who is
your Excellency’s father, the Emperor Theodosius, to whom you have been
wont to refer in all causes of importance; and nothing can be graver
than religion, more exalted than faith.
13. Were this a civil matter, the right of reply would be reserved
for the opposing party: it is a matter of religion, and I, as Bishop,
appeal to you, I request to be furnished with a copy of the Memorial
which has been sent, that I may answer more at large; and so let
your Majesty’s father be consulted on the whole matter and vouchsafe
a gracious answer. Assuredly should the decree be different, we as
Bishops cannot quietly permit and connive at it; it will indeed be in
your power to come to the Church, but there you will either not find a
priest, or you will find one purposed to resist.
Sidenote: S. Luke xvi. 13.
14. What answer will you give to the priest when he says to you,
‘the Church seeks not your gifts, because you have adorned the heathen
temples with gifts; the Altar of Christ rejects your gifts, because
you have erected altars to idols, for it was your word, your hand, your
signature, your act: the Lord Jesus refuses and repels your service,
because you have served idols, for He has said to you, _Ye cannot serve
two masters_? The Virgins dedicated to God enjoy no privileges from you,
and do the vestal Virgins claim them? What do you want of the priests
of God, when you have preferred to them the profane petitions of the
heathen? We cannot enter into fellowship with the errors of others.’
15. What will you answer to this charge? That it is a boyish error?
Every age is perfect in Christ, and fulfilled with God. No childhood in
faith can be admitted; for children confronted with their persecutors
have boldly confessed Christ.
16. What answer will you make to your brother? Will he not say to
you, ‘I would not believe myself conquered, for I left you Emperor,
I regretted not to die, because you were my successor, I grieved not
that I was withdrawn from power, because I believed that my edicts,
specially those concerning religion, would continue for ever. These
were the memorials of piety and virtue which I had erected, these
trophies of victory over the world, these the spoils of the devil,
of the adversary of all, which I had offered up, and in which lies
eternal victory. What more could an enemy have deprived me of? You have
abrogated my decrees; an act which even he who took up arms against
me[67] has not yet committed. Now am I pierced with a more deadly
weapon, in that my brother has annulled my ordinances. Your acts tend
to the injury of my better part, for while the one destroys my body
the other destroys my good name. Now are my laws repealed, repealed too
(which makes it more painful) by your adherents and by mine; that very
thing which even my enemies had praised in me is repealed. If you have
willingly acquiesced, you have condemned the Faith which I held, if you
have yielded reluctantly, you have betrayed your own. And so, what is a
still heavier calamity, I incur danger in your person also.’
17. What answer will you make to your father[68], who with still
greater grief will address you, saying: ‘You have judged very wrongly
of me, my son, in supposing that I could have winked at the heathen.
No man ever informed me that there was an altar in the Roman Senate
house[69]; never could I have believed such a crime as that heathen
sacrifices should be performed in that common council of Christians
and heathens, that is to say, that the heathen should triumph in the
presence of Christians, and Christians should be compelled against
their wills to be present at sacrifices. Many and various were the
crimes committed during my reign, those that were discovered I punished,
and if any man escaped unnoticed, is it just to say that I approved
that which no one informed me of? You have judged most wrongly of
me, if you suppose that a foreign superstition and not my own faith
preserved to me the empire.’
18. Wherefore, your Majesty, seeing that if you make any such decree,
you will injure, first God, and next your father and brother, I beseech
you to do that which you know will be profitable to your salvation in
the sight of God.