Gratian (emperor 367-83 A.D.)
THE LIFE OF ST. AMBROSE OF MILAN
Chapter I
You
exhort, venerable father Augustine, that, as the blessed men Athanasius the bishop and
Jerome the priest have adorned by their pen the lives of the saints, Paul and Anthony, who
lived in the desert, as, also, Severus the servant of God eulogized the life of the
venerable Martin, Bishop of the Church at Tours, that I in like manner adorn by my pen the
life of blessed Ambrose, Bishop of the Church at Milan. But, as I realize that I am not
the equal in worth of such great men, so also I know that I am inferior to them in speech.
However, since I regard it as unreasonable to decline your request, those things which I
have learned from the most trustworthy men who were with him before me, and especially
from his own venerable sister, Marcellina, or what things I myself saw when I was with
him, or what I have learned from those who have related that they had seen him in widely
separated provinces after his death, or what things were written to him when his death was
still unknown, I, aided by your prayers and by the worth of so great a man, shall write
down, even though in simple language, briefly and to the point, so that, even if my
writing offend the mind of the reader, its brevity may provoke a reading. Nor shall I
envelop the truth with word pictures, for, although a writer may seek pomp and elegance, a
reader may miss the awareness of great virtues, since he child had been placed in a cradle
in his father's courtyard naturally does not consider the trappings and processions of
words more than the virtue of deeds and the grace of the Holy Spirit. For we recognize
that wayfarers, when they are thirsty, consider water more pleasing, though it trickles in
a tiny brook, than the streams of a gushing fountain whose abundant supply they cannot
find at the time of their thirst.So, too, barley bread is sometimes sweet even to those
who are accustomed to vomit up the abundance of daily banquets with their hundred-fold
succession of, dishes. Again, to those who
admire the charms of cultivated gardens wild flowers are occasionally attractive.
Therefore, I
beseech all of you in whose hands this book will be turned to accept as true the things
which we tell. Nor should anyone think that, out of eager devotion, I have related
anything which lacks support. How much better it is to say nothing at all than to bring
forward something false, since we know that 'we shall render an account of all our
words." I should not doubt that, even if all things are not known by all men,
different facts are known by different people, and those things are well known to some
which I myself, to a lesser degree, also have been able to hear and see. Therefore,
I shall begin my story with the day of his birth, in order that the divine grace which was
characteristic of the man from his infancy may be well known.
Chapter 2
Therefore,
it came to pass that our Ambrose was born while his father, Ambrose, was administering the
prefccture ship of the Gallic provinces. On one occasion, when the child had been placed
in a cradle in his father's courtyard and was asleep with his mouth open, a swarm of bees
suddenly approached. and covered his face, so that they were continually flying in and out
of his mouth. His father, who was strolling nearby with his wife and daughter, watched
with fatherly affection to see in what way this miracle would terminate. Meanwhile he
restrained the maid from driving away the bees, for she had accepted the responsibility of
feeding the child and was anxious lest they harm him. But, after a while, the bees flew
away and rose so high in the air that they could in no way be seen by human eyes. The
father, terrified by this event, said: If this child lives, he will be something great.
For, even then, the Lord was acting during the infancy of his servant in order that what
was written might be fulfilled: Well-ordered words are as a honey-comb. For that swarm of
bees was implanting the honey-combs of his later works, which would proclaim the heavenly
gifts and direct the minds of men from earthly to heavenly things. Later, indeed, when he
had become a young man and had established himself in the city of Rome with his widowed
mother and his sister who had made a vow of virginity together with another girl
companion, whose sister Candida is likewise of the same profession and is now an old woman
living in Carthage, upon seeing the hands of bishops being kissed by someone of the
household, his sister or his mother, he jokingly used to offer his right hand, saying that
she ought to do this for him, also, since he probably would become a bishop. For there was
speaking. in him the Holy Spirit who was nurturing him for the episcopacy, but she
used to spurn the proposal, saying he was but a youth and did not know what he was saying.
After he had been taught in the liberal disciplines, he left the city and began his public
career in the court of the practorian prefect. So well did he plead his cases here that he
was chosen by the illustrious Probus, then the praetorian prefect, to be his
adviser. After this, he received consular rank so as to govern the province of
Liguria and Aernilia. And then he came to Milan.
Chapter 3
About the
same time, after the death of Auxentius, a bishop of the Arian heresy who retained
possession of the church after Dionysius the Confessor, of blessed memory, was sent into
exile, when the people were about to revolt in seeking a bishop, Ambrose had the task of
putting down the revolt. So he went to the church. And when he was addressing the people,
the voice of a child among the people is said to have called out suddenly: 'Ambrose
bishop.' At the sound of this voice, the mouths of all the people joined in the cry:
'Ambrose bishop.' Thus, those who a while before were disagreeing most violently, because
both the Arians and the Catholics wished the other side to be defeated and their own
candidate to be. consecrated bishop, suddenly agreed on this one with miraculous and
unbelievable harmony.
And when he
realized this, he left the church and had a tribunal prepared for himself indeed, he
mounted higher steps because he would soon become a bishop. Then, contrary to his usual
behavior, he ordered tortures to be inflicted on people. Although he did this, the people
none the less kept shouting: Your sin be upon us. But these people did not then shout as
did the people of the Jews for the Jews by their words shed the Lord's blood, saying: His
blood be upon us, but these, knowing that he was a catechumen, were assuring him with a
confident voice the remission of all his sins through the divine grace of baptism. Then,
in a disturbed state of mind, he returned home and wanted to declare himself a
philosopher, but he was about to become a true philosopher of Christ, since, in despising
the pomp of this world, he was about to follow the footsteps of the fisherman who brought
people to Christ not by a show of words but by simple language and by the reasonableness
of the true doctrine. For they, having been sent without wallet, without staff, converted
even philosophers. But, when he was restrained from making this profession, he had public
women come to him openly for this one purpose, that, when the people saw this, they would
recall their intention. Thc fact was, however, the people kept crying out more and more:
'Your sin be upon us.'
When he saw
that nothing could accomplish his intention, he prepared his flight and left the city at
midnight. Since he intended to make his way to Ticinum, he was discovered the next morning
at the gate of the city of Milan which is called Roman. For God, who was preparing a
strong support for His Catholic Church against His enemies and a tower of David against
the face of Damascus, that is, the perfidy of the heretics, checked his flight. And when
he had been found and was held in custody by the people, a report was sent to the most
kind emperor, then Valentinian, who with very great joy realized the fact that the judges
he sent out were being sought for the episcopacy. Probus the prefect rejoiced similarly,
because his word was fulfilled in Ambrose, for he had said to him as he set out, when his
orders were given to him as is the custom: 'Go, act not as judge, but as a bishop.'
And so,
while the result of the report was pending, he again attempted flight and for some time
concealed himself on the estate of a certain honorable Leontinus. But, when the answer to
the report came, he was handed over by this same Leontinus. For the order had been given
to the deputy to insist on carrying out the. matter, and, since he wished to fulfill the
injunctions, he warned all by a published edict that, if they wished to take counsel for
themselves and their property, they should hand over the man. Therefore, when he was
handed over and had been taken to Milan and was aware of the will of God concerning
himself and that he could no longer resist, he demanded that he should be baptized only by
a Catholic bishop. For he was carefully guarding against the heresy of the Arians. Thus,
when he was baptized, he is said to have fulfilled all the ecclesiastical offices, so that
he was consecrated bishop on the eighth day with the greatest favor and joy on the part of
all. Some years after his consecration he went to Rome, to his own estate, and there found
the holy maiden mentioned above, to whom he used to offer his hand, in the home with his
sister, just as he had left, for now his mother was dead. And when she kissed his hand, he
smilingly said to her: "See, as I used to say to you, you are kissing the hand of a
bishop!"
About this
same time, when he was invited to the home of a very noble lady across the Tiber that he
might offer the Holy Sacrifice in her home, a certain woman caretaker of a bath, who was
confined to her couch as a paralytic, on learning that a bishop of the Lord was in the
neighborhood, had herself carried in a little seat to the very home to which he had been
invited and there touched his garments as he prayed and placed his hands upon her. And
when she fondly kissed them, her health was restored and she began to walk, so that there
was fulfilled that saying of the Lord to the Apostle: 'For you shall do greater things
than these believing in my name." Yet, just as this miraculous cure was wonderful,
so, also, it was not hidden; for I learned of it in this very district many years later on
the authority of holy men when I was in the city.
When he came
to Sirmium to consecrate Anemius bishop, there by the power of Justina, empress at the
time, and by an assembled multitude he was about to be driven from the church, so that an
Arian bishop might be consecrated in that very church not by him, but by the heretics.
But, when he had seated himself on the tribunal, caring nothing for a woman's
disturbances, one of the girls of the Arian sect, more impudent than the rest, mounting
the tribunal and taking hold of the bishop's vestment, since she wished to drag him to the
group of women so that they might beat him and drive him from the church, heard him say,
as the bishop himself used to relate: 'Even if I am unworthy of so great a bishopric, it
is not fitting that you or your kind lay hands on any bishop of whatever sort. Thus you
ought to fear God's judgment, lest something happen to you.' What happened confirmed this
warning, for, on another day, he conducted her dead to her grave, repaying insult with
kindness. And this deed instilled no light fear in his adversaries and gave great peace to
the Catholic Church at the bishop's consecration.
Chapter 4
And so,
when he had consecrated a Catholic bishop, he returned to Milan and there sustained many
plots of a woman, the above-mentioned Justina. For, by offering offices and honors, she
was stirring up the people against the holy man. The weak were taken in by these promises,
for the promised tribuneships and divers other positions of rank to those who would snatch
him from his church and take him into exile. Although many tried to do this, but were not
able, since God was his protector, one more wretched than the rest, Euthyrnius; by name,
was aroused to such fury that he arranged a house for himself next to the church and
placed a wagon in the same building in order that he might more easily seize the man, put
him in the cart, and carry him into exile. 'But his iniquity came down upon his own
head," after a year to the very day on which he planned to snatch away Ambrose, he
himself was placed on the same cart and sent away into exile from that same house,
doubtless reflecting that this had been turned upon him by the just judgment of God,
namely, that he was being sent into exile on the very cart which he himself had prepared
for the bishop. And to him the bishop rendered not a very little consolation, for he gave
him expenses and other things which were necessary.
But this
public admission of the man's worth checked neither the woman's fury nor the madness of
the insane Arians, for, inflamed with greater madness, they tried to break into the
Portian Basilica. Even an army under arms was ordered to guard the doors of the building,
that no one might dare to enter the Catholic church. But the Lord, who usually gives
triumphs to His Church over its adversaries, turned the hearts of the soldiers to the
defense of His Church, so that, having turned their shields, they kept watch over the
doors of the church and did not allow the Catholic people to leave, but in no way kept
them from entering the church. More than this, the soldiers who had been sent were not
satisfied with this, but also acclaimed the Catholic faith equally with the congregation.
On this occasion, antiphons, hymns, and virgils first began to be practised in the church
at Milan, And the devotion to this custom remains even to this very day, not only in the
church, but through almost all the provinces of the West.
Chapter 5
About the
same time, the holy martyrs Protase and Gervase revealed themselves to the bishop. For
they had been placed in the basilica in which there are today the bodies of the martyrs
Nabor and Felix. The holy martyrs Nabor and Felix were visited very often, while the names
as well as the sepulchres of Gervase and Protase were unknown, and to such an extent that
all walked over their sepulchres who wished to approach the grates by which the sepulchres
of the holy martyrs Nabor and Felix were protected from harm. But, when the bodies of the
holy martyrs were raised and placed on biers, the diseases of many were shown to have been
healed. Even a blind man, Severus by name, who even now piously serves in the same
basilica which is called the Ambrosian, into which the bodies of the martyrs were taken,
when he touched their garments, received his sight immediately., Likewise, bodies
possessed by unclean spirits returned to their homes with the greatest gratitude after
they had been healed. And as by these beneficent works of the martyrs the faith of the
Catholic Church increased, so did the heresy or the Arians decrease.
Finally,
after this event, the persecution which was incited by the fury of Justina, to the end
that the bishop be driven from his church, began to abate. Yet, within the palace a great
number of Arians who sided with Justina ridiculed such grace of God as the Lord Jesus
deigned to confer upon His Catholic Church by the merits of its martyrs. And they claimed
that the venerable man Ambrose had by means of money prepared men to state falsely that
they were troubled by unclean spirits and to say that they were tortured by him just as by
the martyrs. But the Arians said this with a Jewish expression -- being, indeed, like them
-- for the Jews used to say of the Lord that: 'By Beelzebub, the prince of devils, He
casts out devils." But the Arians were speaking of the martyrs and of the
bishop of the Lord to the effect that not by the grace of God which was manifested in them
were the unclean spirits driven out, but that they received money to declare falsely that
they were tortured. For the devils used to say: 'We know that you are
martyrs,' but the Arians: 'We do not know that you are martyrs.' For we read
this also in the Gospel, where the devils said to the Lord: 'We know you, since you are
the Son of God," and the Jews said: 'But as for this man, we do not know where He is
from." This is not to be taken as the testimony of the devils, but as their
confession; and so it is that the Arians and the Jews are more wretched in that they deny
what the devils confess.
But God, who
usually increases grace for His Church, did not long suffer His saints to be insulted.
Thus, one of the number, suddenly possessed by an unclean spirit, began to cry out that
those were tortured as he himself was tortured who denied the martyrs or who did not
believe the unity of the Trinity as Ambrose was teaching. But they, confused by this
statement, although they ought to have been converted and to have done penance worthy of
such confession, killed the man by immersing him in a pond, thus adding murder to heresy;
for a fitting urgency led them to this end. Indeed, the holy bishop Ambrose, having become
a man of greater humility, preserved the grace given him by the Lord and increased daily
in faith and in love before God and man.
About the
same time, there was a certain man of the Arian heresy, violent beyond measure as a
disputant and harsh and immovable as regards the Catholic faith. This man was in the
church one day during a sermon by the bishop. Later, he himself related that he saw an
angel there, speaking into the ears of the bishop as he preached, so that the bishop
seemed to be proclaiming to the people the words of the angel. By this sight he was
converted, and the faith which he formerly attacked he himself now began to defend.
There were
also at that time two chamberlains of Gratian, the emperor, who were of the Arian heresy.
These two proposed to the bishop a question to be discussed, promising that they would be
present the next day at the Portian Basilica to hear it. The question was one concerning
the Incarnation of the Lord. But, on the next day, the two miserable men, filled with
swollen haughtiness, unmindful of their promises, despising God in the person of His
bishop, without any consideration for the injury done the waiting people, and unmindful
also of the words of the Lord: 'But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in
me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be
drowned in the depths of the a drive, and left the city and the waiting bishop and the
people in their places in the church, I shudder at this insolence as I relate its end, for
they suddenly were thrown headlong from the were handed carriage and lost their
lives. Their bodies were handed over for burial. But the holy Ambrose, since he did not
know what had happened and since he was not able to hold the people any longer, ascended
the tribunal and began to deliver a sermon on the very question which had been proposed,
saying: 'Brethren, I wish that my debt be paid, but I do not find my creditors of
yesterday and the other things which are written in the book entitled, On the
Incarnation of the Lord.
Gratian (emperor 367-83 A.D.)
Magnus Maximus (usurper 383-388 A.D.)
Chapter 6
Thus,
when the Emperor Gratian had been killed, he undertook a second embassy to Maximus to
recover the body. And whoever wishes to learn how firmly he dealt with him will discover
this by reading the letter of this legation which was handed to Valentinian the younger.
But I have decided that the insertion of the letter here would constitute a departure from
our promise, lest the prolixity of the letter, if inserted, bother the reader. Indeed, he
restrained Maximus from receiving Communion, admonishing him to do penance, worthy of the
blood of his master which he had shed, and, what is more serious', of an innocent man, if
he wished to receive any consideration before God. But, when he refused with a haughty
spirit to do penance, he lost not only future but present safety as well, and the kingdom
which tic had seized after the fashion of a woman he put aside in fear, and then admitted
that he had been the procurator, not the emperor, of the state.
After the
death of Justina, when a certain soothsayer, Innocent by name, but not in deed, was being
tormented by the judge during a trial for his offenses, he began to make confession of
something other than was being sought. He exclaimed that he was suffering greater torments
from the angel who was protecting Ambrose, because, in the time of Justina, to arouse. the
hatred of the people against the bishop, he had gone to the very top of the church and had
performed sacrifices at midnight. But, the more insistently and unceasingly he carried on
his evil practices, the more did the love of the people for the Catholic faith and for the
bishop of the Lord increase. He admitted that he had also sent demons to kill him, but
that the demons had reported that they not only could in no way approach him; further,
they could not even get to the doors of the house in which the bishop was staying, because
a fierce fire protected the entire building, so that, although they were a distance away,
they were burned. He then terminated the wiles by which he thought he could effect
something against the bishop of the Lord. Another had come even to his bedchamber with a
sword to slay the bishop, but, having raised his hand with drawn sword, he stood fixed,
with his right hand stiffened. And when he acknowledged that he had been sent by Justina,
the right arm which had been stiffened when it was raised for the evil deed was restored
by the confession.
About the
same time, when the illustrious man, Probus, had sent to the bishop his servant, a
secretary, who was being troubled by an unclean spirit, the demon went out of the servant
as he left the city, for he feared to be brought into the holy man's presence. And it
happened that, as long as the boy was in Milan at the bishop's house, no influence of the
demon appeared in him, but, when he had set out from Milan and come again toward the city,
the same evil spirit which formerly possessed him began to vex him again. And when the
evil spirit was asked by the exorcists why he had not appeared in the servant while he
remained at Milan, he said that he had feared Ambrose and had thus withdrawn for a time,
and had waited in that place where he had withdrawn from the servant until he should come
back and that upon his return he had re-entered the vessel which he had left.
Theodosius I (379-395 A.D.)
Chapter 7
When
Maximus was executed and Emperor Theodosius was at Milan, and Bishop Ambrose was at
Aquileia, in a certain fortified city in a section of the East, a Jewish synagogue and a
grove of the Valentinians were destroyed by fire, because the Jews, or certainly the
Valentinians, kept scoffiing at the Christian monks for, indeed, the, Valentinian heresy
worships thirty gods. Now, an Eastern count sent a report of the action to the emperor,
who, when he had received the report, straightway ordered that the synagogue be rebuilt by
the bishop of the region and that fitting punishment be meted out to the monks. When the
tone of this order reached the cars of the holy man, Bishop Ambrose, he directed a letter
to the emperor, since he could not at the time go in person. In this letter he requested
him to rccall this order which he had issued, and to grant him an audience. And he added
that, if he were not worthy to be heard by him, neither would he be worthy to be heard by
the Lord in his behalf, nor would any one to whom he might entrust his prayers and
promises; also, that he was prepared to undergo death for such a cause, lest by his
failure in duty he make the emperor an apostate. For the emperor had given such unjust
orders against the Church.
Moreover,
after he had returned to Milan, he preached on this very topic in the presence of the
people, and the emperor was present in the church at the time. In this sermon he
introduced the person of the Lord as speaking to the emperor: "I made you
emperor from the lowest; I handed over to you the army of your enemy; I gave to you the
supplies which he had prepared for his own army against you; I reduced your enemy into our
power; I established one of your sons on the throne of the empire; I caused you to triumph
without difficulty-and do you give triumphs over me to my enemies?" And the
emperor said to him as he was descending the pulpit: "You spoke against us today,
Bishop." But the bishop replied that he had not spoken against him, but for
him. Then the emperor, "Indeed, I issued a stern order against the bishop
concerning the rebuilding of the synagogue. Moreover, the monks must be punished." A
like report was given by the counts who were present. But to these the bishop
replied: "I am dealing with the emperor now; with you I must deal later."
And so he secured the recall of those orders which had been issued, but not until he
declared that he was unwilling to approach the altar unless the emperor gave assurance
that he ought to go on. The bishop said to him: "Do I act, then, with your promise of
compliance?" "Go on," said the emperor, "with my
promise." When this promise had been repeated, the bishop then freely performed
the divine mysteries. These facts, moreover, are written in the letter which he wrote to
his sister, in which he inserted the sermon which he delivered that same day about the
staff of the nut tree which is reported to have been seen by the Prophet Jeremias.
About the
same time, because of the city of Thessalonica, much distress came upon the bishop when he
had discovered that the city had almost been destroyed. The emperor had promised him that
he would grant pardon to the citizens of the above-mentioncd city, but, because of
the secret negotiations of the officers with the emperor and without the knowledge of the
bishop, the city was put to the sword for more than an hour and very many innocent persons
were slain. When the bishop learned that this had been done, he denied the emperor the
privilege of entering the church, and he deemed him unworthy of the fellowship of the
Church and of partaking of the sacraments, until he should do public penance. But the
emperor made the assertion to him that David had committed adultery and homicide as well.
To which the bishop replied: 'Since you have followed him in sinning, follow him in making
correction.' When the most recipient emperor heard these words, he so took it to heart
that he did not shudder at public penance, and the progress of this correction prepared
him for a favorable victory.
About the
same time, two most powerful and most wise men of the Persians came to Milan to the famous
bishop, bringing with them very many questions with which to probe his wisdom. And they
discoursed with him from the first hour of the day to the third hour of the night, and
then, amazed, took their departure. And to prove that they had not come for any other
reason than to gain a better knowledge of the man whom they had known only by report, the
next day, bidding farewell to the emperor, they set out for the city of Rome, wishing
there to become acquainted with the power of the illustrious man, Probus. And when they
had gained this knowledge, they returned to their native land.
Chapter 8
When
Theodosius had departed from Italy and was established in Constantinople, a delegation in
the name of the Senate was dispatched to Emperor Valentinian in Gaul by Symmachus, at that
time prefect of the city, about the restoration of the altar of Victory and the
maintenance of the sacred rites. When the bishop learned of this, sending a complaint to
the emperor, he demanded that copies of the report be sent to him, adding that he himself
would reply to these in behalf of his own position. And when -this report was received, he
wrote a most remarkable refutation, so that Symmachus, although a very eloquent man, never
ventured a reply. After Valentinian, of honored memory, had died in the city of Vienna,
which is a city of the Gauls, Eugenius acceded to the imperial power. Not long after the
beginning of his rule, at the requests of Flavian, the prefect, and of Count Abrogast, he
conceded the restoration of the altar of Victory and the maintenance of its ceremonies,
forgetful of his own faith and of the fact that Valentinian, of honored memory, while yet
a young man, had denied similar requests.
The goddess Victory holding a shield with
an effigy of Basilius, consul in 480 A.D.
Now, when
the bishop had learned this, he left the city of Milan to which Eugenius was coming in
haste and moved on to Bologna, and from there he journeyed on as far as Faventia. When he
had spent some days there, at the invitation of the Florentines, he continued his journey
to Tuscia, avoiding the sight of the impious man, for he had no fear of the emperor.
On the contrary, he sent a letter to him in which he prompted his conscience, and I think
that a few of the many remarks from it ought to be inserted here: 'Even though the
imperial power is great, consider, Emperor, how great God is: He sees the hearts of all;
He seeks into the inner conscience; He knows all things before they occur; He knows the
hidden thoughts of your heart. You do not suffer yourself to be deceived, and do you wish
to hide from God? Did nothing suggest itself to your mind? If they were acting so
persistently, was it not your duty, Emperor, to resist more persistently for the
veneration of the most high, the true, and the living God, and to deny what was harmful to
the holy law? And again: Therefore, since I am bound by my words before God and men, I
thought that I had no other course of action, that no other was fitting, except that I
take thought for myself, since I was not able to do so for you.
And so,
while he was in the above-mentioned city Of the Florentines, he stayed in the home of the
formerly, illustrious Decens, for he also was a Christian man. Now, this man's son,
Pansopius by name, though still a mere lad, was troubled with an unclean spirit. Although
he had been healed by frequent prayers and by the laying-on of the hands of the bishop
himself, yet, some days later, the lad was seized by a sudden attack and died. As his
mother was very devout and full of faith and the fear of God, she took the child from the
upper to the lower part of the house and placed him on the bishop's couch-he was absent at
the time. When the bishop returned and found the body on his couch, he had compassion on
the mother. And when he thought upon her faith, like Elisha of old he placed himself upon
the child's body and prayed so that him whorn he found dead he returned alive to his
mother. He also wrote a booklet for this lad, so that later he might by reading
become acquainted with what he could not know by reason of his tender years. However, he
did not mention this good deed in his writings, but why he declined to do so is not ours
to judge.
In the same
city he also established a church, in which he placed the relics of the martyrs Vitalis
and Agricola, whose bodies he had raised in the city of Bologna. There, the bodies of the
martyrs had been buried among the bodies of the Jews, and this would not have become known
had not the holy martyrs revealed themselves to the bishop of that church. And when they
were placed under the altar which was in the same basilica, there was great joy and
exultation in the hearts of the entire flock, but punishment for the demons as they
confessed the merits of the martyrs.
About the
same time, Count Abrogast prepared war against his people, the Franks, and in an
engagement he routed a considerable force. With the remainder he made peace. But when, at
a banquet, he was asked by the princes of his nation whether he knew Ambrose, he replied
that he did know him and was loved by him and had frequently dined with him. Then they
said to him: 'Thus do you conquer, O Count, because you are loved by that man who says to
the sun: Stand, and it stands." This fact I have recorded here that those who read
may know of what fame the holy man was even among unlettered tribes. For we also know this
from the report of a certain youth of Abrogast, who was a devout young man and was present
at the time. At the time when these things were spoken, he was also cupbearer.
Then he set
out from the district of Tuscia and returned to Milan. For Eugenius already had set
out against Theodosius. There he waited the arrival of the Christian emperor, secure in
the power of God, knowing that He would not hand over to unjust men the one who believes
in Him, nor would He let fall the rod of sinners on the lot of the just, lest the just
stretch forth their hands to iniquity.'
Flavius Eugenius (usurper, 392-394)
For Count
Abrogast and Flavian the prefect had promised at the time, as they were leaving Milan,
that, when they had returned, they would make a stable of the basilica of the church at
Milan and would examine the clerics for military service. But men, when they become unduly
confident of their demons and 'open their mouths in blasphemy against God," are to be
pitied, for they have deprived themselves of hope of victory. The cause of the disturbance
was this. The gifts of the emperor who had taken part in the sacrilege were spurned by the
Church and the fellowship of praying with the Church had not been granted him. But the
Lord who protects His Church cast His judgment from heaven, and delivered complete victory
to the devout emperor, Theodosius. Thus, when Eugenius and his followers were crushed and
he received the emperor's letters, Ambrose had no greater care than to intercede for those
whom he discovered to be accused. But, first, he made his request to the emperor in
writing and sent by a deacon. Then, after John, at that time a tribune and a secretary but
now a prefect, had been sent to protect those who fled to the church, he himself went to
Aquileia to speak in their behalf. And for them pardon was easily gained, since the
Christian emperor testified that he had been saved through his merits and intercessions.
Therefore,
he returned from the city of Aquileia, arriving one day before the emperor. And
Theodosius, emperor of most gracious memory, did not live long after his sons were
received into the Church and entrusted to the bishop. Ambrose survived the emperor almost
three years. In this time he raised and transferred to the Basilica of the Apostles, which
is at the Roman Gate, the body of St. Nazarius the martyr which had been buried in a
garden outside the city. Indeed, we saw in the grave in which the body of the martyr was
lying (but when he suffered we cannot learn to the present day) the blood of the martyr as
fresh as if it had been poured forth the same day. His head also had been severed by
impious men, yet it was so complete and intact with its hairs and beard that it seemed to
us that at the very time in which it was being raised it had been washed and placed there
in the sepulchre. But, why is this to be marveled at, when the Lord formerly promised --
this in the Gospel: 'Not a hair of their head shall perish'?' Moreover, we were filled
with so striking an odor as surpassed the sweetness of all perfumes.
When the
body of the martyr was raised and placed on a litter, we straightway went with the holy
bishop to pray at the grave of the holy martyr Celsus, who was buried in the same garden.
However, we discovered that he had never prayed in that place before. And this was the
sign of a newly discovered martyr: if the holy bishop had gone to pray at a place to which
he had not been before. We know, however, from the guardians of the place that it had been
handed down from generation to generation of their people not to depart from there because
great treasures had been buried in that very place-and truly great treasures, which
neither rust nor moth consume nor do thieves dig through to and steal, because their
guardian is Christ and their dwelling is the court of heaven, for whom to live was Christ
and to die was gain. Thereupon, the body of the martyr was taken to the Basilica of the
Apostles, where a short time before the relics of the holy Apostles had been deposited
with very great devotion on the part of all. And on this occasion, when the bishop was
preaching, one of the crowd, who was filled with an unclean spirit, began to cry out that
he was being tortured by Ambrose. But Ambrose, turning to him said: 'Be silent, demon.
Ambrose is not torturing you, but the faith of the saints and your own envy, since you see
men ascending to the place whence you were cast down, for Ambrose does not know how to be
puffed up.' And when he had said this, the one who was crying out became silent and,
prostrate on the ground, no longer made disturbing noise.
Honorius, son of Theodosius (emperor, 395-423
A.D.)
About the
same time, when the emperor Honorius during his consulship was making a public display of
Libyan wild animals in the city of Milan, and while the people were assembling for the
show, permission was given the soldiers who had then been sent Count Stilicho at the
request of Eusebius the prefect to carry a certain Cresconius from the church by force.
But, when he took refuge at the altar of the Lord, the holy bishop with the clerics who
were present at the time gathered around to defend him: But the multitude of soldiers,
whose leaders were of the Arian heresy, prevailed over the the few and, after snatching
Cresconius away, they returned to the amphitheatre in an exultant mood, giving great
sorrow to the Church. The bishop, prostrate before the altar of the Lord, long lamented
the action. But, just when the soldiers had returned and reported to those who had sent
them, the leopards were loosed and sprang with one movement to the very place where those
who were celebrating a triumph over the Church were seated, and they left them seriously
wounded. When Count Stilicho saw this he was so moved with repentance that for many days
he made amends to the bishop and even loosed unharmed the one who had been snatched away.
But, because he was guilty of the most serious crimes and could not be corrected
otherwise, he sent him into exile, but soon thereafter he was granted pardon.
On one
occasion, when he was going to the palace and we were following him out of official duty,
it happened that a certain man lost his footing and fell sprawling to the ground.
Theodulus, who was then a secretary, though afterwards he governed the church at Mutina in
a most praiseworthy manner, was laughing at the mishap, whereupon the bishop turned and
said to him: 'And you who stand, see to it that you do not fall." When he said this,
he who laughed at the fall of another at once lamented his own.
About this
time, Frigitil, a certain queen of the Marcomanni, when she heard of the fame of the man
from a certain Christian who by chance had come to her from Italy and was conversing with
her, believed in Christ. For she recognized him as Christ's servant, and, sending gifts to
thc Church through her envoys, she asked that she be informed in his own writing as to
what she ought to believe. And to her he wrote a most noteworthy letter in the form of a
catechism, in which, also, he urged her to persuade her husband to keep peace with the
Romans. When she had received the letter, she persuaded her husband to entrust himself,
along with his people, to the Romans. When she came to Milan, she grieved very much for
the holy bishop whom she had hastened to meet but did not find, for he had already
departed this life,
In the time
of Gratian, to go back a little, when Ambrose came to the palace of Macedonius, master of
the offices at the time, to intercede for a certain man, and had found the doors shut by
order of the above-mentioned official and did not succeed in entering, he said: 'And you
indeed shall come to the church, and finding the doors closed, you will not find an
entrance.' And this happened. For, upon the death of Gratian, Macedonius, fleeing to the
church, was unable to find an entrance, although the doors were open.
Chapter 9
Moreover,
the venerable bishop himself was a man of much fasting, of many virgils, and of deeds,
also, chastising his body by daily denials. It was his habit never to take breakfast
except on the day of Sabbath and the Lord's Day, or when the feast days of the most
celebrated saints occurred. His zeal in, prayer was great night and day, nor did he shun
the task of writing books with his own hand, except when his body was afflicted with some
infirmity. He also had solicitude for all the Churches, as well as great zeal and
constancy in intervening among them. He was equally courageous in discharging Church
affairs, to such an extent that the duties which he alone had been accustomed to perform
with respect to the catechumens, these same duties five bishops after the time of his
death were scarcely able to perform. In like manner he was very solicitous for the poor
and for prisoners. At the time when he was consecrated bishop, all the gold and silver
which he might have had for himself he gave to the Church and to the poor. Further, the
estates which he had, after retaining the portion for his sister, he gave to the Church,
having retained for himself nothing which here he might call his own, so that as a lightly
clad and unencumbered soldier he might follow Jesus Christ, 'who, being rich became poor
for our sakes, that through His poverty we might be rich."
'He rejoiced
also with those that rejoiced and wept with those that wept." For, as often as anyone
confessed his sins to him to receive a penance, he so wept that he forced the penitent to
weep. Thus did he seem to himself to be in a similar state with the penitent. But, cases
of crime which used to be confessed to him he spoke of to no one save to the Lord alone,
with whom he interceded, leaving a good example for future bishops to be intercessors with
God rather than accusers with men. For, also according to the Apostle, with respect to a
man of this sort, 'charity is to be con. firmed," because he is his own accuser who,
instead of waiting, anticipates his accuser, so as to lighten his own sin by confession,
lest he have something which his adversary may accuse. And for this reason, Scripture
says: 'The just is first accuser of himself." For he snatches away the voice of his
adversary and, by the confession of his own sins, breaks to pieces, as it were, the teeth
prepared for the prey of hostile accusation. In so doing he gives honor to God, to whom
all things are naked, and who wishes the life rather than the death of the sinner.'
Indeed, to the penitent himself con. fession alone does not suffice, unless correction of
the deed follows, with the result that the penitent does not continue to do deeds which
demand repentance, He should even humble his soul just as holy David, who, when he heard
from the Prophet: 'Your sin is pardoned,"' became more humble in the correction of
his sin, so that 'he did cat ashes like bread and mingled his drink with weeping."
He used to
weep most bitterly whenever, by chance, announcement was made to him of the death of a
holy bishop, and to such an extent that we tried to console him, ignorant though we were
of the deep devotion of the man and also ignorant as to why be was so weeping. And to us
he used to make such reply, that he was not weeping because the one who had been announced
as dead had departed, but because it was difficult to find a man who was deemed worthy of
the highest dignity of the episcopacy. Moreover, he himself foretold his own death, saying
that he would be with us until Easter. And this he surely merited by reason of his praying
to the Lord that he might be free to depart hence earlier.
For he used
to lament vehemently when he saw that avarice, the root of all evils, which cannot be
decreased by abundance or lack, was increasing more and more in men. Especially was this
so in those who had been placed in positions of authority. And to such an extent was this
true that for him the task of putting a stop to it was most trying, for all things were
being- upset for gain. At first, this condition brought upon Italy every kind of evil.
Thereafter, there was a trend to a worse state of affairs. And what shall I add, if it so
works its fury in persons of the sort who usually simulate the cases of sons of relatives,
to make excuses in sins, since it actually has taken hold of very many, even of celibates,
both priests and deacons, whose portion is God, to such an extent that even they practice
it. And woe to us wretched ones, for not even at the end of the world are we so
aroused that we wish to be set free from so heavy a yoke of slavery which descends even to
the depths of hell, 'that we may make for ourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity,
that they may receive us into everlasting dwellings." Yet, blessed is he who, when he
is once converted and has broken his chains and put off the yoke of such domination, shall
take and dash his little ones against the rock," that is, he shall dash all his
thoughts against Christ, who, according to the Apostle, is 'the rock"' which destroys
all who are dashed against it, while it remains intact and does not make him guilty, but
rather innocent, who has dashed against it the less desirable intentions of a wicked mind.
For, only thus can one say confidently: 'The Lord is my portion." For, to whom there
is nothing in this world, to him in truth is Christ the portion, and, despising these
paltry things, he will receive much, and in particular shall possess life
everlasting."
A few days
before he was confined to his couch, when he was dictating the forty-third psalm, with me
carefully taking it down, a fire like a small shield suddenly covered his head, and little
by little entered his mouth, just as a person enters his home. After this, his face turned
white as snow, but soon regained its usual appearance. When this happened, I was
exceedingly scared and was unable to write down what he was saying until the vision itself
had passed. At the time, he was speaking of the testimony of the sacred Scriptures which I
remembered very well. For he left off writing and dictating that day, since, indeed, he
was unable to finish that psalm. I, you may be sure, straightway reported what I had seen
to the honorable deacon Castus, under whose care I was then living. But he, filled with
the grace of God, pointed out to me from the passage of the Acts of the Apostles that I
had seen in the bishop the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Some days
before, when Count Stilicho's servant had been troubled with a demon, but, now cured, was
staying in the Ambrosian Basilica upon the recommendation of his master, he was reported
to be forging letters of the tribunate to such an extent that men who were going to their
assignments were detained. And this report was freely believed. But, when Count Stilicho
discovered the character of his servant, he did not wish to punish him. At the bishop's
intervention, he even dismissed the men who had been deceived, but he made complaint to
the bishop concerning him. Then the holy man, when he was leaving the Ambrosian Basilica,
caused the servant to be sought out and brought to him. And when he had questioned him and
had found him to be the author of so great a crime, he said: 'It is fitting that he be
handed over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, in order that no one hereafter may
dare become guilty of such deed.' And at the very moment before the bishop completed the
statement, the unclean spirit seized upon the man and began to tear him to pieces, so that
we were filled with fear and wonderment at the sight, and in no small measure. Indeed, we
saw that many in those days were cleansed of the unclean spirits by laying on of his hands
and at his word.
About the
same time, when Nicentius, one of the tribune and notary class, who was so crippled by
pain in his feet that he was rarely seen in public, had approached the altar to receive
the sacraments and had cried out when the bishop accidently stepped on his foot, he heard
the bishop say: 'Go, and be well henceforth.' And at the time of the bishop's departure
from this world, he testified with tears that his feet had pained him no more.
Chapter 10
But after
these days, when he had ordained a bishop of the Church at Ticinum, he was taken ill, and,
because of this, since he was being kept in bed for very many days, Count Stilicho is
reported to have said that, if so great a man should depart this life, ruin would threaten
Italy. Accordingly, having summoned to himself the nobles of the city, whom he knew were
loved by the bishop, he threatened them to some extent and then with flattering words
persuaded them to go to the holy bishop and induce him to beg of the Lord an extension of
life for himself. But, when he heard this from them, he replied: 'I have not so lived
among you that I am ashamed to live, nor do I fear to die, because we have a good Lord.'
During this
time, when Castus, Polemius, Vcnerius, and Felix, who were then deacons, were together in
the farth. est part of the portico in which he was lying and were conversing with one
another in a voice so suppressed that they scarcely could hear one another as to who
should be ordained bishop after his death, and when they spoke the name of holy
Simplicianus, Bishop Ambrose, as if he were taking part in the discussion, although he was
lying far from them, exclaimed three times approvingly: 'Old, but good! For Simplicianus
was of mature age. And when they heard this noise they fled, thoroughly frightened. Yet,
when he had died, none other succeeded him in the episcopacy except him whom the bishop
designated by a triple expression as a good old man. And to this Simplicianus, Venerius,
whom I have just mentioned, was successor. Felix, indeed, even to this time governs the
church at Bologna. Castus, moreover, and Polemius, having been nourished by Ambrose, good
fruits of a good tree, are performing the office of deacon in the church at Milan.
In the same
place in which he was lying, as we have learned from a report of St. Bassianus, bishop of
the church at Lodi, for he himself had heard it from St. Ambrose, when he was praying with
this St. Bassianus, he observed that the Lord Jesus had approached him and was smiling
upon him. And not many days later he was taken away from us. On the very day of his
departure to the Lord he prayed with arms stretched out in the form of a cross, from about
eleventh hour of day until the hour in which he breathed the forth his spirit. We truly
saw that his lips were moving, but we did not hear his voice. Honoratius, also, bishop of
the church at Vercelli, having composed himself for rest in the upper part of the house,
heard the voice of one calling him a third time, saying to him: 'Arise, hasten, for now he
is about to depart.' And he went down and offered the holy man the Body of the Lord, which
he. received, and, as soon as he had swallowed it, he breathed forth his spirit, bearing
with him a good Viaticum so that his soul, more re freshed by this Food, now rejoices in
the company of angels according to whose life he lived on earth, and the company of Elias;
for as Elias never feared to speak to kings or to any potentates, so neither did he fear
to speak for fear of God.
Thereafter,
his body was carried to the greater church the hour before the dawn in which he died and
was there the same night on which we kept the vigil of Easter. And a great many baptized
infants saw him when they were coming from the font, so that some said they saw him
sitting on the throne in the sanctuary, while others indicated with their fingers to their
parents that they saw him walking, but they, although they looked, were not able to see
him, because they did not have pure eyes. There also were very many who related that they
had seen a star over his body. But, as it began to dawn on the Lord's Day, after the
divine rites had been performed, when his body was being lifted up to be carried from the
church to the Ambrosian Basilica in which it was placed, a crowd of demons there cried out
that they were being tortured by him, and so loudly that their wailings could not be
endured. And this grace of the bishop remains not only in that place but even in a great
many provinces even to this day. Crowds of men and women also threw their hankerchiefs and
sashes so that the body of the holy man might be touched by them in some way. For those
taking part in the obsequies formed an innumerable crowd; men, women, and children of
every rank and of all ages, not only Christians, but also Jews and pagans. However, the
group of those who had been baptized led the procession, because of their greater grace.
On the very
day on which he died, as is indicated by the text of the letter which was received by the
venerable Simplicianus, his successor, and which was sent from the East to Ambrose
himself-the letter being kept even till now in the monastery at Milan he appeared to
certain holy men, praying with them and laying hands on them. And the letter which was
sent carries a date, and when we read it, we discovered that it was the day on which he
died.
In Tuscia,
too, in the district of Florence where the holy man Zenobius is now bishop, Ambrose,
because he had promised that he would visit more frequently those seeking him, was seen
praying at the altar which is in the Ambrosian Basilica he built. This we learned from the
report of the holy Bishop Zenobius himself. In the same house in which he stayed while
refusing to see Eugenius, at the time when Rodagaisus was besieging the above-mentioned
city, when the citizens had despaired of their safety, he also appeared to a certain man
and promised that safety would come to them the following day. When this report was
received, the spirits of the citizens were revived. And the next day, upon the
arrival of Count Stilicho with an army, victory was gained over the enemy. These facts we
know from the report of Pansophia, a devout woman, the mother of the boy, Pansophius.
Holding his
staff in his right hand, he also appeared in a night vision to Mascezel, who was
despairing of his own safety as well as the safety of his army which he was leading
against Gildo. And when Mascezel threw himself at the holy man's feet, the old man, for in
this guise Ambrose appeared to him, striking the ground three times, said: 'Here, here,
here,' signifying the place, and he gave understanding to Mascezel, for he had adjudged
him worthy of the visita. tion, that he might know that in the very place in which he had
seen the holy bishop of the Lord he would gain a victory the third day. Therefore, he
opened battle with assurance and completed it. We, however, stationed in Milan, learned
this from the report of Mascezel himself. For, in this province in which we are now
stationed and are writing, he told this very happening to many bishops. But even to these
reports we have thought it safer to add in this book the things known also to us.
Also at
Milan we received with deepest devotion the remains of the martyrs, Sisinius and
Alexander, who in our time, that is, after the death of Ambrose, gained the crown of
martyrdom in the pagan persecutions in the regions of Anauni. At this time, there came a
certain blind man, who, by touching the coffin in which the remains of the saints were
being carried, that same day received sight. From his report we learned that in a vision
he had seen a ship approaching the shore, in which were a great number of men clothed in
white, when, as they were disembarking he asked one of the crowd to learn who the men
were, he found that they were Ambrose and his companions. And upon hearing the name
Ambrose, when he was praying that he might receive his sight, he heard from Ambrose:
'Proceed to Milan and contact my brothers who are about to go there' (indicating the day),
'and you will receive sight.' The man was, as he himself said, from the Dalmatian coast.
And he further declared that., he had not came to the city before he met with the remains
of the saints on the highway, at which time he still lacked sight, but upon touching the
bier he began to see.
Chapter 11
Thus,
having noted these facts, I do not regard it a gerious matter if we exceed a little the
bounds of our promise, in order that we may point out that the word of the Lord which He
has spoken through the mouth of the holy prophets has been fulfilled: 'The man that
sitteth against his brother and detracteth him in private will I persecute." And
again: 'Love not to detract, lest you be destroyed," so that whosoever by chance has
been a victim of this habit, when he has read in what manner vengeance has been taken
against those who dared detract from the holy man, he himself in company with others may
be corrected.
Now, a
certain Donatus, an African by race, yet a presbyter of the church at Milan, was suddenly
inflicted with a serious wound. At the time, he was attending a banquet at which were some
military men of devout nature, who spurried his scurrilous speech and turned from him when
he disparaged the memory of Ambrose. From the very spot in which the wound struck him down
he was raised by unfriendly hands and placed on a couch, and from there was carried
straight to his grave. Again, in the city of Carthage I went for a meal to the house of
the deacon Fortunatus, a brother of the venerable Bishop Aurelius. Vincentius, Bishop of
Colositanum, Muranus, Bishop of Bolita, as well as other bishops and deacons were also
present. When, on this occasion Bishop Muranus was disparaging Ambrose, I mentioned to him
the fate of the above-mentioned presbyter, and this story concerning another he confirmed
by his own early departure. For, from the very place in which he was lying, when he
suddenly had been struck by a huge wound, he was carried to bed by unfriendly hands. And
thence, being taken back to the house. in which he had been entertained, he brought his
last day to a close. Such was the end of those defaming Ambrose, so that those who were
present and saw it were struck with awe.
I therefore
exhort and implore every man who reads this book to imitate the life of Ambrose, to praise
the grace of God and to shun the voices of detractors, if, indeed, he wishes to have
fellowship with Ambrose in the resurrection of life rather than to undergo with those
detractors a punishment which a wise man avoids.
I ask also
your Blessedness, father Augustine, with all the saints who invoke the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ in truth, to deign to pray for me, the most lowly and sinful Paulinus, so
that, although in gaining grace I am not worthy to have fellowship with so great a man,
having gained pardon for my sins, I may have the reward of escaping punishment.