Collected Works 4 part 9/9

The cause of my withdrawal was the fear of the Lord, toward whom I am accustomed to direct all my actions, as much as I can, and never to turn my mind away from Him, nor to value the favor of any man more than the grace of Christ. For I do injury to no one, if I prefer God to all; and trusting in Him, I do not fear to say to you emperors what I feel according to my capacity. And so, what I have not kept silent before other emperors, neither before you, most clement Emperor, will I keep silent. And, that I may keep the order of things, I will briefly recount what pertains to this business. 2. The most distinguished Symmachus, when he was prefect of the City, had petitioned Valentinian of august memory, the younger emperor, that he should order the temples, which had been taken away, to be restored.

He discharged his part according to his own zeal and worship. Certainly I too, a bishop, ought to acknowledge my part. I gave two memorials to the emperors, by which I might signify that a Christian man cannot render the expenses of the sacrifices: and that I had indeed not been the author of their being taken away; yet that I became the author of their not being decreed: then because he would himself seem to give them to the idols, not to restore them. For what he himself had not taken away, he was not, as it were, restoring: but by his own judgment he was lavishing upon the expenses of superstition. Lastly, if he had done it, either he would not come to the Church, or, if he came, it would happen that either he would not find a priest, or would find one resisting him in the Church.

Nor could it be alleged as an excuse that he was a catechumen; since it is not lawful even for catechumens to furnish expenses to the idols. 3. My memorials were read in the consistory; there was present Bauto the count, most distinguished in the honor of the office of master of soldiers, and Rumoridus, himself also of the same dignity, who had been a slave to the worship of the Gentile nations from the first years of his boyhood. Valentinian at that time heard my suggestion, and did nothing else but what the reason of our faith demanded. They also acquiesced to their colleague. 4.

Afterward I intimated it also to the most clement Emperor Theodosius in person, and did not hesitate to speak it to his face; to whom, when a senatorial legation of this kind had been intimated—though not the whole senate demanded it—he at length granted his assent to my representation, and so for some days I did not approach him, nor did he take it amiss; because I was not acting for my own advantages, but, in that which was profitable both to him and to my own soul, I was not ashamed to speak in the sight of the king (Psalm 119:46). 5. Again, to the prince Valentinian of august memory, a legation sent by the senate into Gaul could extort nothing: and certainly I was absent, nor had I then written anything to him. 6.

But when your clemency took up the helm of the empire, it was afterward learned that those things had been granted to men preeminent in the commonwealth, but men of Gentile observance; and perhaps it may be said, august Emperor, that you yourself did not restore them to the temples, but bestowed them upon men well-deserving of you. But you know that for the fear of God one must act steadfastly, which is often done for liberty's sake not only by priests, but also by those who serve in your armies, or are reckoned among the provincials. While you were reigning, the legates petitioned that you should restore them to the temples; you did not do it: again others demanded it, you resisted; and afterward you thought it should be granted to those very men who petitioned. 7. Although the imperial power is great, yet consider, O Emperor, how great is God:

He sees the hearts of all, He interrogates the inner conscience, He knows all things before they come to pass, He knows the inward things of your breast (Acts 1:24; Dan. 13:42). You do not suffer yourselves to be deceived, and do you wish to conceal anything from God? Has this not entered your mind? For although they were acting so perseveringly, was it not your part, O Emperor, for the veneration of the highest and true and living God to resist still more perseveringly, and to refuse that which was an injury to the sacred law? 8. Who envies, because you have given to others what you wished? We are not scrutinizers of your liberality, nor envious of others' advantages; but we are interpreters of the faith. How will you offer your gifts to Christ? Few will weigh what you have done; all, what you wished:

whatever they shall do, it will be yours: whatever they shall not do, it will be theirs. Although you are emperor, you ought rather to be subject to God. How will the priests of Christ dispense your gifts? 9. There was a question of this kind in former times; and yet persecution itself yielded to the faith of the fathers, and heathendom gave way. For (2 Macc. 4:18 ff.) when the five-yearly contest was being held in the city of Tyre, and the most wicked king had come from Antioch to watch, Jason appointed procurators of the sacred rites, that the Antiochenes should carry from Jerusalem three hundred didrachms of silver, and give them for the sacrifice of Hercules:

but the fathers did not give the money to the Gentiles, but, by faithful men sent for the purpose, protested that it should not be paid out for the sacrifice of the gods, because that was not fitting, but should be given for other expenses. And it was pronounced that, since he who had sent the silver had said it was sent for the sacrifice of Hercules, it ought indeed to be received for the purpose for which it was sent: but because those who had brought it resisted, out of their zeal and worship, that it should profit not the sacrifice but other necessities, the moneys were handed over for the construction of ships: although they sent it under compulsion, yet not for the sacrifice, but for other expenses of the commonwealth. 10. Finally, those who had brought it could surely have kept silent: but they were harming the faith, because they knew whither it was being conveyed;

and therefore they sent men fearing God, who should act so that the funds, which had been sent, should be assigned not to the temple, but to the expenses of the ships. For to those very men they entrusted the moneys, who should plead the cause of the sacred law: he who was made judge of the matter was one who absolved the conscience. If men placed under another's power thus took precautions, what you ought to have done, O Emperor, cannot be doubted. You, at any rate, whom no one was compelling, no one had in his power, ought to have consulted the priest. 11. I, at least, when I then resisted, though I resisted alone, yet I did not will it alone, nor did I alone counsel it. Since, therefore, I am held by my own words both before God and before all men; I understood that one thing was not lawful for me, another not fitting, except that I should consult for myself;

because I could not trust you with modesty. Certainly I long pressed it down, I long covered my grief, I thought nothing should be intimated to anyone; to dissemble is now not lawful for me, to keep silent was not free. Therefore even in the beginnings of your reign, when you wrote to me, I did not write back, because I foresaw this would come to pass. Finally, when you demanded the letters back, since I myself did not write back, I said: 'This is the cause, that I judge it must be extorted from him.' 12. Yet when the cause of my office arose, on behalf of those who bore the care of themselves, I both wrote and asked; that I might show that in the causes of God I have a just fear of God, and that I do not value flattery more than my own soul: but in those matters in which it is fitting that you be petitioned, that I too display the diligence due to your power, as it is also written:

'To whom honor, honor: to whom tribute, tribute' (Rom. 13:7). For since I have shown deference to a private man with my inmost heart, how should I not show it to an emperor? But you who wish deference to be shown to yourselves, suffer us to show it to Him whom you wish to be approved as the author of your empire. [Having declared why he withdrew to Milan and returned thither in good time, and having given thanks to God for the help afforded to Theodosius, he promises that he will obey the will of that same prince. Highly commending his piety, he asks that he use clemency.] Ambrose to Theodosius the emperor. 1. You have supposed, most blessed emperor, as far as I have learned from your august letters, that I am far from the city of Milan; because I would believe your affairs to be forsaken by God.

But I was not so imprudent, nor so forgetful of your valour and your merits, as not to presume that heavenly aid would be present to your piety, by which you would deliver the Roman empire from the savagery of a barbarian brigand and from the throne of an unworthy usurper. 2. Therefore I made haste to return at once, after I learned that he, whom I had judged ought rightly to be shunned, was now gone; for I had not abandoned the Church of Milan that was committed to me by the Lord's judgment, but I was avoiding the presence of him who had mingled himself with sacrilege. So I returned about the kalends of August, and from that day I have remained here. Here, O Augustus, the letters of your clemency found me. 3. Thanks be to the Lord our God, who answered your faith and piety, and restored the pattern of the ancient holiness;

so that we might see in our own time that which we marvel at in the reading of the Scriptures—that there was so great a presence of divine aid in the battles, that no mountain summits delayed the course of your advance, nor did the enemy's arms bring any hindrance. 4. For these things you judge that I ought to give thanks to the Lord our God: I shall do so gladly, being conscious of your merit. It is certain that the sacrifice offered in your name is pleasing to God, and how great is the devotion and faith of this! Other emperors, at the outset of victory, command triumphal arches to be prepared, or other emblems of triumph: your clemency prepares a sacrifice to God, and desires that an offering and thanksgiving be celebrated to the Lord through the priests. 5.

Although I am unworthy and unequal to so great a duty and to the solemn celebration of such great vows, nevertheless I write what I have done. I carried the letter of your piety with me to the altar, I laid it upon the altar itself, I held it in my hand while I offered the sacrifice; that your faith might speak in my voice, and that the imperial letters might serve as the office of a priestly oblation. 6. Truly the Lord is favourable to the Roman empire, since He has chosen such a prince and a father of princes, whose virtue and power, set upon so great and triumphal a height of empire, is yet supported by so great a humility, that by valour he conquers emperors, and by humility he conquers priests. What should I wish for? Or what should I desire? You have all things:

from your own qualities, therefore, I shall draw the sum of my wishes: you are pious, O Emperor, you possess the greatest clemency. 7. Yet I wish for you again and again increase in piety, than which the Lord has given nothing more excellent; that through your clemency the Church of God, just as it rejoices in the peace and tranquillity of the innocent, may likewise be gladdened by the absolution of the guilty. Pardon especially those who have not sinned before. May the Lord preserve your clemency. Amen. He excuses himself for not having written to Theodosius before; and signifying that he is sending a deacon to him, he asks that his prayers be admitted on behalf of certain persons who had taken refuge in the asylum of the Church. AMBROSE to the emperor THEODOSIUS. 1.

Although I lately wrote to your august clemency a second time, yet it was not enough for me to have rendered the office of speech as if in equal return; since I am bound by the benefits of your clemency, so frequent, that I can repay by no services what I owe, most blessed and most august Emperor. 2. Therefore, since the first occasion was not to be passed over, by which through your chamberlain I might give thanks to your clemency, and present the office of my address; chiefly lest it should be thought to have been rather of negligence than of necessity, that I did not write at the earlier time. And so I had to seek out a cause by which to render to your piety the due homage of salutation. 3.

And deservedly I sent my son Felix the deacon to deliver my letter, both that he might represent the office of my duty, and likewise as one mentioned on behalf of those who fled for mercy to the Church, the mother of your piety, seeking compassion; whose tears I could not endure, but that I should forestall the coming of your clemency with my entreaties. 4. Great is what we ask, but from him to whom the Lord has granted things unheard of and wonderful, from him whose clemency we have known, and whose piety we hold as a pledge. Hence we confess that we expect more; for just as you have conquered yourself by valour, so also you ought to conquer yourself by your piety.

For your victory is reckoned to have been conferred upon you after the ancient manner and the miracles of old, such as upon holy Moses, and holy Joshua son of Nun, and Samuel, and David—not by human estimation, but by the outpouring of heavenly grace: here we ask for a piety equal to it, by whose merit so great a victory itself was sought. He explains to EUGENIUS why he did not await him at Milan: then, having reviewed the things that had been done under Valentinian and Theodosius on the occasion of Symmachus's report, he freely accuses the same tyrant, who, by granting expenses to the temples of the idols, set before his eyes neither the fear of God nor the opinion of others concerning himself; and, having set against his transgression the example of the Hebrews, he says this was the reason why he did not write back to him;

yet that he would in future use with him the same liberty which he had employed with other princes. AMBROSE the bishop to the most clement emperor EUGENIUS. 1. The cause of my withdrawal was the fear of the Lord, towards whom I am accustomed to direct all my actions, as far as I am able, and never to turn my mind away from Him, nor to value the favour of any man more than the grace of Christ. For I do injury to no one if I prefer God to all; and, trusting in Him, I do not fear to tell you emperors what I feel according to my capacity. Therefore, what I did not keep silent before other emperors, neither before you, most clement Emperor, shall I keep silent. And that I may preserve the order of events, I shall briefly review what pertains to this matter. 2.

The most distinguished Symmachus, when he was prefect of the City, had reported to Valentinian, the younger emperor of august memory, asking that he might order the temples, which had been removed, to be restored. He discharged his part according to his zeal and his cult. Certainly I too, a bishop, had to acknowledge my own part. I gave the emperors two petitions, in which I signified that a Christian man could not restore the expenses of sacrifices: and that I had not indeed been the author when they were taken away; yet that I would become the author that they should not be decreed: moreover, because he himself would seem to give them to the idols, not to restore them. For what he himself had not taken away, he was not restoring as it were himself: but by his own decision he was bestowing it upon the expenses of superstition.

Finally, that if he should do it, either he would not come to the Church, or if he came, it would happen that either he would not find a priest, or he would find one resisting him in the Church. Nor could it be alleged as an excuse that he was a catechumen; since it is not lawful even for catechumens to supply expenses for idols. 3. My petitions were read in the consistory. There was present, of the most distinguished rank of military mastership, Bauto the count, and Rumoridus, himself of the same dignity, devoted from the earliest years of his boyhood to the worship of the gentile nations. Valentinian at that time heard my representation, and did nothing other than what the reason of our faith demanded. They even yielded to their own colleague. 4.

Afterwards I also intimated it in person to the most clement emperor Theodosius, and did not hesitate to say it to his face. To him, when a legation of the senate of this kind had been intimated—although not the whole senate had demanded it—he at last gave his assent to my representation; and so for some days I did not approach him, nor did he take it amiss; because I was not acting for my own advantages, but for what profited both him and my own soul, I was not ashamed to speak in the sight of the king (Ps. 118:46). 5. Again, to the prince Valentinian of august memory, a legation sent by the senate into Gaul could extort nothing: and indeed I was absent, nor had I then written anything to him. 6.

But when your clemency took up the helm of empire, it was afterwards discovered that those things had been granted to men eminent in the commonwealth, but devoted to gentile observance; and perhaps it may be said, august Emperor, that you who did not yourself restore them to the temples, yet bestowed them upon those well-deserving of you. But you know that for the fear of God one must act steadfastly—which is also frequently done for liberty's sake not only by priests, but also by those who serve in your armies, or are counted among the provincials. While you reigned, the envoys petitioned that you should restore them to the temples; you did not do it: again others demanded it, you resisted; and afterwards you thought fit to bestow them upon the very men who had petitioned. 7. Although the imperial power is great, yet consider, O Emperor, how great is God:

He sees the hearts of all, He questions the inner conscience, He knows all things before they come to pass, He knows the inward things of your breast (Acts 1:24; Dan. 13:42). You do not allow yourselves to be deceived, and do you wish to hide anything from God? Did this not fall upon your mind? For although they pressed so persistently, was it not yours, O Emperor, for the veneration of the most high and true and living God, to resist more persistently, and to refuse what was an injury to the sacred law? 8. Who envies, because you have bestowed upon others what you willed? We are not scrutinizers of your liberality, nor envious of others' advantages; but we are interpreters of the faith. How will you offer your gifts to Christ? Few will reckon what you have done; all, what you willed:

whatever they shall have done will be yours: whatever they shall not have done will be theirs. Although you are emperor, you ought all the more to be subject to God. How shall the priests of Christ dispense your gifts? 9. A question of this kind arose in former times; and yet the persecution itself yielded to the faith of the fathers, and gentility gave way. For (2 Macc. 4:18 ff.) when the five-yearly games were being held in the city of Tyre, and the most wicked king had come to Antioch to watch them, Jason appointed procurators of the sacred rites, that the men of Antioch should carry from Jerusalem three hundred didrachms of silver, and give them for the sacrifice of Hercules:

but the fathers did not give the money to the gentiles, but, sending faithful men, they protested that it should not be expended for the sacrifice of the gods, since that was not fitting, but should be given for other expenses. And it was pronounced that, because he who had sent the silver had said it was sent for the sacrifice of Hercules, it ought indeed to be received for that for which it was sent: but because those who had brought it resisted out of their zeal and their cult, so that it should not profit the sacrifice, but other necessities, the money was handed over for the building of ships: although they sent it under compulsion, yet not for the sacrifice, but for other expenses of the commonwealth. 10. Finally, those who had brought it could certainly have kept silent: but they injured the faith, because they knew whither it was being conveyed;

and therefore they sent men who feared God, to plead that it should be assigned not to the temple, but to the expenses of the ships for which it had been sent. For they entrusted the money to those very men who would plead the causes of the sacred law: he who absolved the conscience became the judge of the affair. If men placed in another's power thus took precaution, what you ought to have done, O Emperor, cannot be doubted. You, whom certainly no one was compelling, no one held in his power, ought to have consulted with the priest. 11. I at least, when I then resisted—even if I resisted alone—yet I did not will it alone, nor did I alone urge it. Since therefore I am bound by my own words both before God and before all men; I understood that one thing was not lawful for me, another not fitting, except that I should take counsel for myself;

because I could not modestly trust myself to you. Certainly I long suppressed, long concealed my grief, and thought nothing should be intimated to anyone; but now it is not lawful for me to dissemble, nor was it free to me to keep silent. Therefore also, when you wrote to me at the very beginning of your reign, I did not write back, because I foresaw that this would come to pass. Finally, when you asked again for letters, since I myself did not write back, I said: This is the cause, that I judge it must be extorted from him. 12. Yet when a cause arose of my own office, on behalf of those who bore care for themselves, I both wrote and entreated; that I might show that in the causes of God a just fear is in me, and that I do not value flattery more than my own soul: but in those matters in which it is fitting that you be asked, I might also exhibit toward your power the diligence that is due, as it is also written:

To whom honour, honour: to whom tribute, tribute (Rom. 13:7). For since I have rendered it to a private person from my inmost heart, how should I not render it to an emperor? But you who wish honour to be rendered to yourselves, suffer us to render it to Him whom you wish to be proved the author of your empire.