Sidenote: 1 Cor. xv. 32.
1. I WOULD fain always, beloved brethren, send you tidings of
joys, sincere as you are in love and peace, so that by means
of the mutual interchange of letters we might be pleased by the
tidings of your welfare[211]. Our ancient Adversary however[212]
does not suffer us to be free from his attacks, he who is a
liar from the beginning, the enemy of truth, envious of man, in
order to deceive whom he first deceived himself, the adversary
of chastity, the teacher of sensuality, who is fed by cruelty,
punished by abstinence, who hates fasts, asserting, as his
followers also give out, that they are superfluous, having no
hope of things to come, obnoxious to the censure of the Apostle,
_Let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die_.
2. O miserable boldness, O craft of a desperate mind! Already
was this unknown language of heresy spreading through the Church
like a cancer, seeking to fill the breast, and plunge the whole
man in destruction: and unless the Lord of Sabaoth had broken
through the snare which they had laid, the public exhibition
of so much evil and hypocrisy would have led to ruin the hearts
of many simple ones, for the human mind is easily drawn aside
towards evil, choosing rather to fly through open space, than to
travel with pain along the narrow way.
Sidenote: S. Matt. vii. 15, 16.
3. Wherefore it was very necessary, most dearly beloved, to
commend what has been done here to your notice and consideration,
lest through the ignorance of any priest, the Church might
be infected by the contagion of these most wicked men who are
breaking in upon it under a religious pretext, as it is written
and the Lord has said, _Many come to you in sheeps’ clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves; ye shall know them by
their fruits_.
Sidenote: Ps. xi. 2.
These are they who under a mean garb boast themselves as
Christians, that walking under the semblance of piety they
may enter the house of prayer and utter the words of wily
disputation, _that they may privily shoot at them which are
true of heart_, and, seducing them from Catholic truth, may draw
them over, after the example of Satan, to the madness of their
own doctrines, beguiling the simplicity of the flock.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xxii. 12.
4. And indeed from the times of the Apostles up to now we have
heard and known by experience of many malignant heresies, but
the sacred truth of the Church has never been assailed by the
barking of such dogs as those who have now suddenly broken
in upon us, with the doctrines of unbelief fully sprouted,
enemies of the faith; who by the fruit of their works have
betrayed whose disciples they are. For while other heretics
misunderstanding single points have proposed to bear away and
abstract from the Divine system of teaching, these men, _not
having on a wedding garment_, wound the Catholics, perverting,
as I have said, the continuity of the New and Old Testament, and
interpreting it in a diabolical spirit, have by their alluring
and false arguments already begun to ruin some Christians, and
to make them associates of their madness, not keeping within
themselves the poison of their iniquity: but some of their
chosen ones have betrayed their blasphemies by writing rash
discourse, which the rage of a desperate mind has led them
openly to publish, favouring, as it does, the cause of the
Heathens.
5. But of their madness I suddenly received intelligence by
means of a shocking writing which certain faithful Christians,
men of high rank, and signal piety, caused to be conveyed to
me, unworthy as I am, in order that the opposition of these
men to the Divine Law might be detected by the discernment of
the Clergy and repressed by a spiritual sentence. Assuredly
we receive without scorn the vows of those marriages which we
assist at with the veil[213], but virgins, for whose existence
marriage is necessary, as being devoted to God, we honour more
highly.
Sidenote: Gal. i. 8.
6. Having therefore held an assembly of my clergy it became
clear that their sentiments were contrary to our doctrine, that
is, to the Christian law. Therefore, following the Apostolic
precept, we, seeing that they were _preaching another Gospel
than that which we received_, have excommunicated them. Know
therefore that it was the unanimous sentence of us all, as
well of the presbyters and deacons as of the other clergy, that
Jovinian, Auxentius, Genialis, Germinator, Felix, Prontinus[214],
Martianus, Januarius, and Ingeniosus, who were discovered to
be the promoters of the new heresy and blasphemy, should be
condemned by the Divine sentence and our judgment, and remain
in perpetual exclusion from the Church.
7. Nothing doubting that your Holiness will observe the
aforesaid decree, I have sent you this Epistle by my brethren
and fellow-priests, Crescens, Leopardus and Alexander, that
they, with a fervent spirit, may perform a religious and faithful
service.
LETTER XLII.
A.D. 389.
IN this, their reply to Siricius, drawn up in all probability by
S. Ambrose himself, the Council of Milan thank him for his care,
and announce that they have followed his example and condemned
Jovinian and his followers in the same way. They dwell upon his
errors, particularly on his disparagement of virginity, on his
denial of the virginity of our Lord’s Mother, on his contempt
of widowhood, and of fasting, and condemn him as a follower of
Manes. They argue in especial detail against his argument with
regard to the Virgin Mary, which differs from that of Helvidius
and other assailants of the ἀεὶ πάρθενος.
TO THEIR LORD, THEIR DEARLY BELOVED BROTHER, POPE SIRICIUS,
AMBROSE, SABINUS, BASSANIUS, AND THE REST SEND GREETING.
♦1. IN your Holiness’ Letter we recognized the vigilance of a good
shepherd, for you faithfully guard the door which has been entrusted
to you, and with pious solicitude watch over the fold of Christ, being
worthy to be heard and followed by the sheep of the Lord. Knowing
therefore the lambs of Christ, you will easily discover the wolves,
and meet them as a wary shepherd, so as to keep them from scattering
the Lord’s flock by their unbelieving life and dismal barking.
2. We praise you for this, our Lord and brother dearly beloved,
and join in cordial commendations of it. Nor are we surprised that
the Lord’s flock was terrified at the rage of wolves in whom they
recognized not the voice of Christ. For it is a savage barking to shew
no reverence to virginity, observe no rule of chastity, to seek to
place every thing on a level, to abolish the different degrees of merit,
and to introduce a certain meagreness in heavenly rewards, as if Christ
had only one palm to bestow, and there was no copious diversity in His
rewards.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xix. 5.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. vii. 38.
Sidenote: Ib. 34.
3. They pretend that they are giving honour to marriage. But what
praise can rightly be given to marriage if no distinction is paid to
virginity? We do not deny that marriage was hallowed by Christ, for the
Divine words say, _And they twain shall be one flesh_, and one spirit,
but our birth precedes our calling, and the mystery of the Divine
operation is much more excellent than the remedy of human frailty. A
good wife is deservedly praised, but a pious virgin is more properly
preferred, for the Apostle says, _He that giveth his virgin in marriage
doeth well, but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better; for
the one careth for the things of the Lord, the other for the things
of the world_. The one is bound by the chains of marriage, the other
is free from chains; the one is under the Law, the other under Grace.
Marriage is good, for thereby the means of continuing the human race
has been devised, but virginity is better, for thereby the heritage of
the heavenly kingdom is regained, and the mode of attaining to heavenly
rewards discovered. By a woman care entered the world; by a virgin
salvation was brought to pass. Lastly, Christ chose virginity as His
own special gift, and displayed the grace of chastity, thus making an
exhibition of that in His own person which in His Mother He had made
the object of His choice.
Sidenote: Isa. xliii. 19.
Sidenote: S. Matt. i. 23.
4. How great is the madness of their dismal barkings, that the same
persons should say that Christ could not be born of a virgin, and yet
assert that women, after having given birth to human pledges, remain
virgins? Does Christ grant to others what, as they assert, He could not
grant to Himself? But He, although He took on Him our flesh, although
He was made man that He might redeem man, and recal him from death,
still, as being God, came upon earth in an extraordinary way, that as
He had said, _Behold I make all things new_, so also He might be born
of an immaculate virgin, and be believed to be, as it is written, _God
with us_. But from their perverse ways they are induced to say ‘She was
a virgin when she conceived, but not a virgin when she brought forth.’
Could she then conceive as a virgin, and yet not be able to bring forth
as a virgin, when conception always precedes, and birth follows?
Sidenote: S. Luke i. 37.
Sidenote: Ib. 34.
Sidenote: Ib. 38.
5. But if they will not believe the doctrines of the Clergy, let them
believe the oracles of Christ, let them believe the admonitions of
Angels who say, _For with God nothing shall be impossible_. Let them
give credit to the Creed of the Apostles, which the Roman Church has
always kept and preserved undefiled. Mary heard the voice of the Angel,
and she who before had said _How shall this be?_ not asking from want
of faith in the mode of generation, afterwards replied, _Behold the
handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word_. This is
the virgin who conceived, this the virgin who brought forth a Son. For
thus it is written, _Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son_;
declaring not only that she should conceive as a virgin, but also that
she bring forth as a virgin.
Sidenote: Ezek. xliv. 1, 2.
Sidenote: S. Matt. iii. 15.
Sidenote: Ezek. xliv. 2.
6. But what is that _gate of the sanctuary_, that _outward gate which
looketh towards the East, which remains shut, and no man_, it is said,
_shall enter in by it but the Lord, the God of Israel_. Is not Mary
this gate, by whom the Saviour entered into the world? This is the
gate of righteousness, as He Himself said, _Suffer us to fulfil all
righteousness_. Blessed Mary is the gate, whereof it is written that
_the Lord hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut_ after
birth; for as a virgin she both conceived and brought forth.
Sidenote: Ps. cxiv. 3.
Sidenote: Exod. xvii. 6.
Sidenote: Ib. xiv. 22.
Sidenote: Numb. xx. 11.
Sidenote: 2 Kings vi. 6.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xiv. 26.
Sidenote: Is. xix. 20, 21.
Sidenote: Exod. xv. 20.
7. But why should it be incredible that Mary, contrary to the usage
of natural birth, should bring forth and yet remain a virgin; when
contrary to the usage of nature, the sea saw and fled, and the floods
of Jordan retired to their source. It should not exceed our belief
that a virgin should bring forth, when we read that a rock poured forth
water, and the waves of the sea were gathered up like a wall. Nor need
it, again, exceed our belief that a man should be born of a virgin,
when a running stream gushed forth from the rock, when iron swam upon
the waters, and a man walked upon them. If therefore the waves carried
a man, could not a virgin bring forth a man? But what man? Him of Whom
we read, _The Lord shall send them a Man Who shall deliver them; and
the Lord shall be known to Egypt_. Wherefore in the old Testament a
Hebrew virgin led the people through the sea, in the New Testament
a royal virgin was elected to be a heavenly abode for our salvation.
Sidenote: S. Luke ii. 36, 37.
8. But what more? let us also subjoin the praises of widowhood, since
in the Gospel next after that most illustrious birth from a virgin,
comes the widow Anna; she who _had lived with an husband seven years
from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four
years, which departed not from the temple, but served with fastings
and prayers night and day_.
9. And fitting it is that these men should despise widowhood, which
is wont to keep fasts, for they regret that they should have been
mortified by these for any time, and avenge the wrong they inflicted
on themselves, and by daily banquets and habits of luxury seek to ward
off the pain of abstinence. They do nothing more rightly than in thus
condemning themselves out of their own mouth.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. ix. 27.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. vi. 5.
Sidenote: Col. ii. 20. sqq.
10. But they even fear lest their former fasting should be reckoned
against them. Let them choose whichever they like: if they ever fasted,
let them repent of their good work, if never, let them confess their
own intemperance and luxury. And so they assert that Paul was a teacher
of excess. But who can be a teacher of temperance if he was a teacher
of excess, _who chastised his body and brought it into subjection_,
and recorded his performance of the service he owed to Christ by many
fastings; and this not for the purpose of praising himself and his
doings, but that he might teach us, what example to follow. Did he
then teach excess who said, _Why, as though living in the world, are
ye subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste not, handle not, which all
are to perish with the using_; who also says, _Not in indulgence of the
body, not in any honour to the satisfying and love of the flesh, not in
the lusts of error; but in the Spirit by Whom we are renewed_.
Sidenote: Ps. lxix. 10.
Sidenote: Gen. iii. 7.
Sidenote: Jonah iii. 5.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xvii. 21.
11. If what the Apostle has said is not enough, let them hear the
Prophet saying, _I chastened myself with fasting_. He therefore who
fasts not is uncovered and naked and exposed to wounds. And if Adam had
clothed himself with fasting he would not have been found to be naked.
Nineveh delivered itself from death by fasting. And the Lord Himself
says, _This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting_.
12. But why need we say more to our master and teacher? seeing that
these persons have now paid the worthy price of their perfidy, who have
on this account come even hither, that no place might remain where they
were not condemned; who have proved themselves to be truly Manichees,
by not believing that He came forth from a virgin. What madness is this,
almost equal to that of the modern Jews? If He is not believed so to
have come, neither is He believed to have taken upon Him our flesh,
therefore He was seen only in figure, He was crucified only in figure.
But He was crucified for us in truth, He is in truth our Redeemer.
13. He is a Manichee who denies the truth, who denies that Christ came
in the flesh; and therefore the remission of sins is not their’s; but
it is the impiety of the Manichees which both the most merciful Emperor
has abhorred[215], and all who saw them have fled from as a plague.
Witnesses thereof are our brethren and fellow-presbyters, Crescens,
Leopardus, and Alexander, fervent in the Holy Spirit, by whose means
they have been exposed to common execration, and driven as fugitives
from the city of Milan.
14. Wherefore you are to know that Jovinian, Auxentius, Germinator,
Felix, Plotinus, Genialis, Martianus, Januarius and Ingeniosus,
whom your Holiness has condemned, have also, in accordance with your
judgment, been condemned by ourselves.
May our Almighty God keep you in safety and prosperity, Lord and
brother most beloved.
Here follows the subscription.
I Eventius[216], Bishop, salute your Holiness in the Lord, and have
subscribed this Epistle.
MAXIMUS, Bishop.
FELIX, Bishop.
BASSIANUS, Bishop.
THEODORUS, Bishop.
CONSTANTIUS, Bishop.
By command of my lord Geminianus Bishop, and in his presence, I Aper,
Presbyter, have subscribed.
Eustasius, Bishop, and all the Orders have subscribed.