Resultados25 letters/passages
ambrose_milan · c. 388 · score 0.02
Ambrose, Bishop, to the Emperor Valentinian. Although the success of my first embassy was sufficiently proven to you — I was detained in Gaul for days precisely because I refused to cooperate with Maximus [the general who had seized Gaul and murdered Emperor Gratian in 383] — I owe you an account of my second, lest any …
ambrose_milan · c. 380 · score 0.02
Your brother Gratian removed them by formal rescript. Will you now undo what your father allowed to stand and your brother actively abolished? The petition claims to come from the Senate. But the Christian senators — who are the majority — did not consent to it. They did not sign it. They did not authorize it. A handfu …
ambrose_milan · c. 380 · score 0.02
Ambrose, Bishop, to the most blessed prince and most Christian Emperor Valentinian. All who live under Roman rule serve you, the emperors and princes of the world. But you yourselves serve Almighty God and the holy faith. There is no path to salvation unless everyone worships in truth the true God — the God of the Chri …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
Ambrose, Bishop, to the faithful — on the death of the Emperor Theodosius. Forty days have passed since the death of the Emperor Theodosius [following the biblical pattern of forty-day mourning periods], and it is time to speak what is in our hearts. We have lost the last great emperor. I say this knowing that his sons …
ambrose_milan · c. 388 · score 0.02
Ambrose, Bishop, to the most merciful prince and most blessed Emperor Theodosius. I am constantly burdened with cares, most blessed Emperor, but I have never been in such distress as now. I see that I must take every precaution against anything that might be charged to me as approaching sacrilege. I beg you: hear me wi …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.02
You have not feared God. You have not considered how others will judge you. The funds you have granted are used for sacrifices to demons. A Christian emperor — even one whose legitimacy rests on shaky ground — cannot afford to be seen financing the worship of false gods. Consider the example of the Hebrews. When they t …
ambrose_milan · c. 389 · score 0.01
I reminded them of Julian the Apostate, who had tried the same thing in reverse and failed. When I came down from the pulpit, the emperor said to me: "You have been preaching about me." I replied: "I addressed what concerned your soul's welfare." He said the order about the synagogue was too harsh — he had already modi …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.01
Ambrose, Bishop, to the most merciful Emperor Eugenius. The reason I withdrew from Milan was the fear of God. I direct all my actions, as far as I am able, toward God; I never turn my mind away from him; and I am accustomed to value no man's favor more highly than the grace of Christ. I do no one an injustice when I pu …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
Ambrose to the faithful. The Emperor Gratian is dead, murdered by the treachery of men who owed him loyalty [Gratian was betrayed by his own troops, who defected to Magnus Maximus, a rival general proclaimed emperor in Britain]. He was twenty-four years old. I mourn him not only as a subject mourns his emperor but as a …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.01
3. What, then, could I do? Should I not hear? But I could not close my ears with the wax of ancient fables. Should I speak what I heard? But I was forced to guard my words against the very thing I feared from your commands — that some act of bloodshed would be carried out. Should I keep silent? But then my conscience w …
ambrose_milan · c. 388 · score 0.01
Punish the rioters if justice demands it — but do not compel a Christian bishop to build a synagogue. That is not justice. That is a triumph of those who deny Christ over those who confess him. If you will not hear me as a counselor, hear me at least as an intercessor. I would rather owe you gratitude for mercy than be …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
… to recognize the devil's favorite instrument. The basilica was surrendered. The imperial hangings were removed. The people sang hymns of relief and thanksgiving. But even then, a notary came to me with a warning: "Ambrose, you despise the emperor. I see that you wish for death." I answered: "God grant that I do not des …
ambrose_milan · c. 390 · score 0.01
Ambrose, Bishop, to the most august Emperor Theodosius. The memory of our long friendship is sweet to me, and I gratefully recall the many kindnesses you have shown to those on whose behalf I interceded. You may be confident, then, that it is no ungrateful spirit that has made me avoid your arrival — an arrival that wa …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
To the most blessed Emperor and most merciful prince Theodosius — Ambrose and the other bishops of Italy. The report of your faith, spread throughout the whole world, has stirred deep affection in our hearts. Because we desired this glory too for your reign — that you might be seen to have restored unity to both the We …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.01
For the one is a sign of humility, the other of contempt. For the Word of God Himself tells us that He prefers obedience to His commandments over the offering of sacrifice. God proclaims this, Moses declares it to the people, Paul preaches it to the Gentiles. Do what you understand to be most beneficial for the present …
ambrose_milan · c. 380 · score 0.01
Ambrose, Bishop, to the most blessed prince and most gracious Emperor Valentinian. Since the illustrious Symmachus, Prefect of the City, has petitioned your Grace to restore the altar removed from the Roman Senate house, and since you, Emperor — young in years but a veteran in faith — rejected the prayer of the pagans, …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.01
… hing is hidden that will not be made known" (Luke 8:17). So I complied with the imperial will as respectfully as I could, taking care that you would have no reason for displeasure when I arranged that nothing of the imperial decrees would be reported to me. When present, I would either fail to hear — because everyone e …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.01
I dare not offer the sacrifice [the Eucharist] if you intend to be present. Is what is not permitted after shedding the blood of one innocent person, permitted after shedding the blood of many? I do not think so. 14. Finally, I am writing with my own hand what only you may read. As I hope that the Lord will deliver me …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
Ambrose, Bishop, to the faithful of Milan — on the death of the Emperor Valentinian. The Emperor Valentinian II is dead [found dead at Vienne in Gaul in May 392, officially by suicide; many suspected he was murdered by order of the Frankish general Arbogast]. He was twenty years old. Twenty years — and in that brief sp …
ambrose_milan · c. 388 · score 0.01
… is called the will of God. When Jews suffer, it is called an outrage requiring imperial intervention. Consider Julian the Apostate. He ordered the Jews to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. What happened? Fire burst from the foundations and consumed the workers. Even the elements refused to cooperate. Shall a Christia …
ambrose_milan · c. 388 · score 0.01
I replied that I had never deceived anyone: the fact that I had not cooperated with his plans was exactly the point. I had been sent by a legitimate emperor, and I had acted in that emperor's interest. Then he tried a different tactic. He claimed that Bauto, the Frankish general, had invited barbarians into the empire. …
ambrose_milan · c. 390 · score 0.01
… n said, "You are the man" [2 Samuel 12:7]. David did not rage. He did not claim imperial privilege. He said, "I have sinned against the Lord." And he did penance. I ask you to follow David's example. Not because I wish to humiliate you — God knows that is the last thing I want. But because the sacrifice God requires is …
ambrose_milan · c. 393 · score 0.01
And David too, when he held the kingdom and heard that innocent Abner had been killed by Joab, his army commander, said: "I am guiltless, and my kingdom is guiltless from this day forward of the blood of Abner, son of Ner," and he fasted in grief. 11. I have written this not to humiliate you, but so that the examples o …
ambrose_milan · c. 392 · score 0.01
Ambrose, Bishop, to the Emperor Theodosius. My silence was broken by the words of your Clemency. Until now, in the face of such sorrow, I had resolved to do nothing better, if I could manage it, than hide myself away. Since I could not withdraw from the world or resign my bishopric, I hid within silence. I grieve — I c …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
Ambrose to the faithful. The Emperor Julian [Julian "the Apostate," 361-363, who attempted to reverse the Christianization of the empire] tried to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. He failed. Fires erupted from the foundations. Workers were killed. The project was abandoned. This was not an accident. It was a sign. God …