Part 3

3. I have made my statement, proved my case. I am forced to assail you with that expression; no ordinary weapon, but one which will hit home[8]. You certainly shewed alarm; but see now that I am not so much grieved but that I can be playful about it. Hereafter however you must not excuse yourself, though your present excuse is to be a profitable one to me. Yet it were an ill judgment of you, and of me no better, to suppose that your absence is to be compensated by presents, or that I am to be bought off by them. Farewell: love me, as I do you.

LETTER IV. A.D. 380.

FELIX having replied to the preceding letter, S. Ambrose responds in the same affectionate style, rejoicing in the prospect of their meeting, asking meanwhile the prayers of Felix, and promising his own. He ends by praising Felix for ‘fighting the good fight of faith,’ and assures him of help and blessing.

AMBROSE TO FELIX, HEALTH.

1. ALTHOUGH not in a good state of bodily health, I derived no little alleviation from the perusal of words from a heart so congenial to my own, being refreshed by your discourse as by some soothing potion[9]; and also by your announcement that the day memorable for us both was at hand, that whereon you took on yourself the office of the high-priesthood of which I was just then speaking with my brother Bassianus[10]. For having begun to speak of the dedication of the Church which he had built in the name of the Apostles, we were led to the subject, for he said that he earnestly desired the company of your Holiness.

2. Wherefore I introduced the mention of your birthday[11], as being on the first of November, and that it was (if I mistook not) close at hand, and to be celebrated on the following day, so that after that it would yield you no excuse. So I made a promise on your behalf; for you too have liberty to do the same as regards me; I made a promise to him, and exacted one for myself: for I feel assured you will be present, because you ought to be. It will not therefore be so much my promise that will bind you, as your own purpose, having resolved to do that which you ought. You see then it was rather my knowledge of you, than any rash confidence which induced me to give this pledge to my brother. Come then, lest you put two bishops to shame; yourself for not coming, me for having promised unadvisedly.

3. But we will remember your birthday in our prayers, and do you not forget us in yours. Our spirit shall accompany you; do you also, when you enter the second Tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies, do as we do, and carry us also in with you.

When in spirit you burn incense on the golden censer, forget us not; for it is the one which is in the second Tabernacle, and from which your prayer, full of wisdom, is directed to heaven as incense.

Sidenote: Heb. ix. 4.

Sidenote: Col. i. 15.

Sidenote: Exod. xxv. 22.

Sidenote: Ps. lxxviii. 2.

4. There is the _Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold_; that is, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the Wisdom of God. There is _the golden pot that had manna_, the depository, namely, of spiritual nutriment, and the store-place of divine knowledge. There is _the rod of Aaron_, the symbol of priestly grace. Before, it had withered, but it _budded_ again in Christ. There are _the Cherubim_ over the tables of the Covenant, that is, the knowledge of the sacred Lessons. There is the _Mercy-seat_, over which on high is God the Word, _the Image of the invisible God_, Who says to thee, _I will commune with thee from above the Mercy-seat, between the two Cherubim_, for He speaks thus with us, that we may understand His saying, or because He speaks things not earthly but spiritual, as He saith, _I will open My mouth in a parable_. For where Christ is, there are all things, there is His doctrine, there the remission of sins, there grace, there the separation of the living and the dead.

Sidenote: Numb. xvi. 48.

5. Aaron indeed once stood in the midst, interposing himself to prevent death passing over to the hosts of the living from the carcases of the dead. But He, as the Word, ever stands within each of us, although we see Him not, and separates the faculties of our reason from the carcase of our deadly passions and pestilential thoughts. He standeth as He Who came into the world to blunt the sting of death, to stop its devouring jaws, to give to the living an eternity of grace, to the dead a resurrection.

Sidenote: Deut. xv. 8.

6. In His service you are warring a good warfare, His deposit you keep, His money you lend out at interest, as it is written, _Thou shalt lend unto many nations_; the good interest of spiritual grace, which the Lord when He comes will exact with usury; and when He finds that you have dispensed it well, He will give you for few things, many things. Then shall I reap most delightful fruit, in that my judgment of you is approved; the ordination which you received by the imposition of my hands and the benediction in the Name of the Lord Jesus will not be blamed. Work therefore a good work, that in that day you may receive a reward, and we may rest together, I in you and you in me.

Sidenote: S. Luke x. 2.

7. _Plenteous is the harvest_ of Christ, _but the labourers few_, and helpers are difficult to be found. So it was of old, but the Lord is powerful, Who will _send labourers into His harvest_. Without doubt among the ranks of the people of Comum[12] very many have already begun to believe by your ministry, and through your teaching have received the word of God. But He Who gave those who believe will also give them that will help: whereby all occasion will be removed for excusing yourself for your postponed visit, and thus also the grace of your presence will be more frequently shed around me.

Farewell: continue to love us, as you do.

LETTER V.

AMBROSE TO SYAGRIUS.

LETTER VI.

AMBROSE TO SYAGRIUS.

[To complete the character of S. Ambrose as shewn in his Letters, these will be printed at the end of the volume, but, on account of their subject, in the original Latin.]

LETTER VII. 381 A.D.

THE Justus to whom this letter and the following are addressed is in all probability S. Justus Bishop of Lyons, who is mentioned below as one of the Bishops who took part in the Council of Aquileia: that he was a Bishop is implied by S. Ambrose addressing him as ‘brother.’ The letter contains a mystical interpretation of the half-shekel of redemption, (Exodus xxx. 12. sqq.) and of the didrachma and stater of our Lord’s miracle of the piece of money in the fish’s mouth, and of the penny of the tribute money. The date given in the margin depends on the truth of the hypothesis that Justus is the Bishop of Lyons. Of him it is recorded that he did not return to his See after the Council of Aquileia, but became a monk in the deserts of Egypt. See Newman’s Fleury vol. 1, p. 25.

AMBROSE TO JUSTUS, HEALTH.

♦1. YOUR question, my brother, as to the meaning of that shekel, half of which the Hebrew is commanded to offer for the redemption of the soul, is an excellent admonition to us to direct our intercourse by letter and our converse while at a distance to the interpretation of the heavenly oracles. For what can more unite us than to converse concerning the things of God?

Sidenote: S. Luke xv. 8, 9.

Sidenote: S. Matt. vi. 22.

2. Now the half of the shekel is a _piece of silver_, and the redemption of the soul is faith; faith therefore is that _piece of silver_ which the _woman_ in the Gospel, as we read, having _lost, diligently seeks for, lighting a candle and sweeping the house; and when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbours_, bidding them _rejoice with her for that she has found the piece of silver which she had lost_. For great is the loss of the soul, if a man lose his faith, or that grace which by means of faith he had obtained to himself. Do thou therefore _light thy candle. Thy light is thine eye_; that is, the inward eye of the mind. Do thou light this candle, which is fed by spiritual oil, and _gives light to thy whole house_. Seek that _piece of silver_, the redemption of thy soul, which he that loses is troubled, he that finds rejoices.

Sidenote: Prov. xiii. 8.

Sidenote: Exod. xxx. 12–15.

3. Mercy too is the redemption of the soul; for the redemption of a man’s soul are his riches, by which he shews mercy, and expending them, relieves the poor. Wherefore faith, grace, and mercy, are the redemption of the soul, which is purchased by a piece of silver, that is, by the full price of a larger sum. For thus it is written in the words of the Lord to Moses: _When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel and thou shalt appoint it for the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls._

4. Did then both the rich man who offered more, and the poor who had less, fail so much, if this half shekel consisted in money and had not hidden excellencies? Whence we are to understand that this half shekel is not material but spiritual, having to be paid by all and rated equally.

Sidenote: Ib. xvi. 17, 18.

5. Again as to heavenly food (for the food and delight of heavenly nutriment is wisdom, whereon they feed in Paradise, the unfailing food of the soul, called in the Divine Word manna) the distribution of this was, we read, so made to each soul as to be equally divided. For they who gathered most and they who gathered least, all gathered according to the direction of Moses; and they made an omer the measure, and it did not exceed to him who gathered much nor fall short to him who gathered little. For each man, according to the number of souls who were with him in the tent, gathered for each an omer, that is, being interpreted, a measure of wine.

Sidenote: Eccles. vii. 16.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. xii. 7–9.

6. Now this is the measure of wisdom, which if it be above measure is hurtful, as it is written, _Make not thyself over-wise_. And Paul has taught that the division of grace is according to measure, saying, _The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, to one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge_, [to another the faith of wisdom by the spirit of knowledge][13] _by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit_, and that this grace is given according to the will of the Spirit. In that He divides, He shews His equity, in that He divides as He will, His power. Or He may will to bestow that upon each which He knows will be profitable.

Sidenote: Ps. civ. 15.

Sidenote: Prov. ix. 2.

7. An omer then is a measure, and a measure of wine, _which maketh glad the heart of man_. For what is the joy of the heart but the draughts of wisdom? This is that _wine_ which _Wisdom_ hath _mingled_ in a cup, and given us to drink, that we may receive to ourselves temperance and prudence, that wine which should be so equally transfused through all the senses and thoughts and all the emotions which are within this our house, that we may know how to abound to all and to be wanting to none.

8. More fully also it may be understood of the Blood of Christ, to Whose grace nothing can be added nor taken away. Whether you take little or drink much, to all the measure of Redemption is perfect.

Sidenote: Exod. xii. 4.

Sidenote: S. Matt. x. 30.

9. The Passover too of the Lord, that is, the lamb, the fathers are ordered so to eat, that it might be according to the number of their souls, neither more nor less; that more should not be given to some, and less to others, but that it should be according to the number of their souls, lest the stronger should take more and the weaker less. For the grace, the gift, the redemption is distributed equally to all. And there ought not to be too many, lest any go away defrauded of his hope and redemption. Now there are too many, when any are beyond the number, for the saints are all _numbered, and the hairs of their heads_; for _the Lord knoweth them that are His_. Neither can there be too few, lest any be too weak to receive the greatness of the grace.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. vi. 16.

10. Wherefore He hath commanded all to bring an equal faith and devotion to the Pasch of the Lord, that is, to the Passover. For it is the Pasch, when the mind lays down its senseless passion, and puts on good compassion, that it may suffer together with Christ, and take His Passover into itself, so as that He may _dwell in_ it, _and walk in_ it, _and may_ become _its God_. Thus grace is equal in all, but virtue is diverse in each. Let each then take that portion which fits his strength, that neither the stronger may lack nor the weaker be burthened.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xx. 10.

Sidenote: 2 Tim. iv. 8.

11. This you have in the Gospel; for the same wages are paid to all the labourers in the vineyard; but few attain to the prize, to the reward; few say, _There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness_. For the gift of bounty and of grace is one thing; another the wages of virtue, the recompense of labour.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xvii. 27.

Sidenote: S. John i. 29.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7.

12. Therefore a shekel is our ransom, nay half a shekel. He has redeemed us from death, redeemed from slavery, that we may not be subject to the world, which we have renounced. Whence in the Gospel our Lord bids Peter _go to the sea, and cast an hook_, and _take the stater which he will find in the fish’s mouth_, and _give it to them_ who required of the Lord and of himself a shekel. This then is that shekel which was exacted by the Law, nevertheless it was not due from the King’s Son, but from strangers. For why should Christ ransom Himself from this world, when He came _to take away the sin of the world_? Why should He redeem Himself from sin, Who came down that He might remit to all their sins? Why should He redeem Himself from servitude, Who _emptied Himself_ that He might give liberty to all? Why should He redeem Himself from death, Who took flesh, that by His Death He might obtain for all a resurrection?

Sidenote: S. Matt. iii. 15.

Sidenote: Rom. x. 4.

Sidenote: Ps. xii. 6.

13. Truly the Redeemer of all had no need of a redemption; but as He received circumcision that He might fulfil the Law, and came to be baptized that He _might fulfil righteousness_, so also did He not refuse to pay those who required of Him the shekel, but straightway commanded the stater to be given as the tribute for Himself and Peter. For He chose rather to give beyond the Law than to deny the Law’s due. At the same time He shews that the Jews acted contrary to the Law, in exacting a shekel from one person, whereas Moses had ordained that half a shekel should be required. On this account He commanded as it were single pieces to be paid both for Himself and for Peter in the stater. Good is the tribute of Christ, which is paid by the _stater_, for justice is the _balance_[14], and justice is above the Law. Again, _Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth_. This stater is found in the fish’s mouth, of that fish which the fishers of men take, of that fish who weighs his words that they may be tried by the fire before they are uttered.

Sidenote: Exod. xxi. 5.

14. This stater the Jews knew not, giving Him up to the betrayer. But the Law exacts half a shekel for the redemption of a soul, and devotes it to God, for she cannot claim the whole. For in the Jew scarcely a portion of devotion could be found. But he who is _free indeed_, a true Hebrew, belongs wholly to God, all that he has savours of liberty. He has nothing in common with him who refuses liberty, saying, _I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free!_ Which refers not only to his lord, but to the weakness of that man who shall have subjected himself to the world, in that he loves the world as his own soul, that is, his intelligence, the author of his will. Nor does it refer only to _his wife_, but also to that delight which cares for household not eternal things. This man’s ear therefore his lord nails to his door or threshold, that he may remember these words whereby he chose servitude.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xix. 21.

15. This man therefore, O Christian, imitate not; for thou art not commanded to offer half a shekel, but, _if thou wouldest be perfect_, to _sell all thou hast, and give to the poor_. Thou art not to reserve a part of thy service for the world, but to deny thyself altogether, and to _take up thy_ Lord’s _cross and follow Him_.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xxii. 18, 19.

16. Now we have learned that the half-shekel was required by the Law, because the other half was reserved for the generation of this world, that is, for secular life, and domestic use, and for posterity, to whom it was necessary that a portion out of the original inheritance should be transmitted. Wherefore our Lord answered the Pharisees, when they tempted Him by the crafty question whether He would advise that tribute should be paid to Cæsar, _Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites, shew Me the tribute money_. And they brought Him a penny on which was Cæsar’s image. He saith to them, _Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s_; shewing that they who thought themselves perfect were imperfect in that they paid to Cæsar before God. They with whom the world was their first care would first pay that which appertained to the world; wherefore He says _Render_, that is, render ye, _the things which are Cæsar’s_――ye, among whom the image and likeness of Cæsar is found.

Sidenote: Dan. iii. 18. and i. 8.

Sidenote: S. John xiv. 30.

Sidenote: S.John xvii. 11, 14, 18.

17. Wherefore those Hebrew youths, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, and that wiser Daniel, who would not worship the image of the king, who received it not, nor any thing from the king’s table, were not bound to pay tribute. For they possessed nothing that was under the power of an earthly king. And so their followers, they whose portion is God, pay no tribute. And so the Lord says, _Render_, that is, Do ye render, who have brought forth the image of Cæsar, with whom it is found, but I owe nothing to Cæsar, because I have nothing in this world. _The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me._ Peter owes nothing, nor the Apostles, because _they are not of this world_ though _they are in this world. I have sent them into this world_, but now _they are not of this world_, because with Me they are above the world.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xvii. 27.

Sidenote: Gal. iv. 4.

18. So that which belongs to the Divine Law, not to Cæsar, is that which is commanded to be paid. Yet even this He that was perfect, that is, the preacher of the Gospel, no longer owed, for He had preached more. The Son of God owed it not, nor did Peter who was by grace an adopted son of the Father. _Notwithstanding_, says He, _lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, that take, and give unto them for Me and thee_. O great mystery! He gives that half-shekel which the Law commanded, He refuses not what is of the Law, for He was _made of a woman, made under the Law_. ‘Made,’ I say, as regards His incarnation; ‘of a woman,’ as regards the sex; woman is the sex, virgin in the species; the sex relates to her nature, the virgin to her integrity. For wherein He came _under the Law_, therein He was _made of a woman_, that is, in the body. On this account He commands a shekel to be paid for Him and Peter, for both were born _under the Law_. He commands it to be paid then according to the Law, that _He might redeem those who are under the Law_.

Sidenote: Deut. xxx. 14.

Sidenote: Rom. x. 10.

19. And yet He commands a stater to be paid that they might have their mouths closed, and so not commit sin by excess of talking. And He bids that to be given which was found in the mouth of the fish, that they might acknowledge the Word. For why was it that they who exacted what was of the Law, knew not what was the Law? For they ought not to have been ignorant of the Word of God; for it is written, _The Word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart_. He therefore paid the whole shekel to God, who reserved no part for the world. For it is to God that righteousness, which is the moderation of the mind, is paid; to God is paid the keeping of the tongue, which is the moderation in speech. _For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation._