Resultados25 letters/passages
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.02
Ambrose explains why he refused to appear at the imperial consistory when summoned. He argues that in matters of faith, only bishops can rightly judge, and that he was not being defiant but defending the rights of his order. He warns that Auxentius [an Arian bishop who claimed the see of …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
… cify who had been nominated, but added that the contest would take place in the imperial consistory, with your Majesty as arbiter. My reply, I trust, is appropriate -- and let no one call me defiant for stating what your own father of august memory not only said in words but established in law: in matters of faith or e …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
… es on the grounds that they could not resist the severity and strictness of the imperial command? But this would be the response of a defiant priest, not of a modest one. Consider, Emperor: you are already rescinding your own law in part. Would that it were not in part, but altogether! For I would not wish your law to …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.02
Repeal your law, then, if you want a real debate. 17. I would have come, Emperor, to your consistory to make these points in your presence, if either the bishops or the people had allowed me. But they said that matters concerning the faith ought to be handled in the church, in the presence of the people. 18. And I wish …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
The bishops, however, immediately recalled their deflected opinion. And certainly the greater number at Rimini approved the faith of the Nicene Council and condemned the Arian decrees. If Auxentius appeals to a synod to dispute about the faith -- although it is hardly necessary to fatigue so many bishops on account of …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
But surely if we consult the sequence of divine Scripture or the records of past ages, who can deny that in a matter of faith -- I repeat, in a matter of faith -- it is bishops who have been accustomed to judge Christian emperors, not emperors to judge bishops? You will come of age, God willing, and then you will judge …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
Let them simply come to the church, if there are any who will come. Let them listen alongside the people — not for everyone to sit as judge, but so that each person may examine his own conscience and choose whom to follow. The matter concerns the bishop of this church. If the people hear him and think his arguments are …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
3. Who, then, has responded to your Clemency defiantly? The one who desires you to be like your father, or the one who wishes you to be unlike him? — Unless perhaps the judgment of so great an Emperor seems of little account to some, whose faith was proven by the constancy of his profession, and whose wisdom was demons …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
To the most gracious Emperor and most blessed Augustus, Gratian — Ambrose, Bishop, sends greetings. Since your Clemency has asked me to write something on the faith — not because you doubt, but because you desire to know more fully — I have composed this work at your command. It would have been more fitting for others, …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
Ambrose, Bishop, to the Emperor Gratian. Your Clemency has absorbed the doctrine of the Trinity with admirable attention. Now let me add a practical point that doctrine alone does not cover: belief without action is incomplete. The Arians believe wrongly and act accordingly. But there are Catholics who believe rightly …
ambrose_milan · c. 377 · score 0.01
To the most merciful Emperors, the Christian and most glorious princes Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius — from the Council assembled at Aquileia. Most merciful Emperors, your decrees have ensured that Arian faithlessness [the heresy denying the full divinity of Christ] can no longer hide or spread. The Council's ru …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
For I would not want your law to be placed above the law of God. The law of God has taught us what to follow; human laws cannot teach us this. They usually force a change in the fearful, but they cannot inspire faith. 11. When the order has been given throughout so many provinces at once that whoever acts against the E …
ambrose_milan · c. 379 · score 0.01
To the most blessed Emperor and most merciful prince Theodosius — Ambrose and the other bishops of Italy. We knew your holy mind was devoted to Almighty God in pure and sincere faith. But you have added fresh kindnesses: you have restored Catholics to their churches, most august Emperor. If only you had restored the Ca …
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. 385 · score 0.01
Shall I expose men either to betrayal of the faith or to punishment? Ambrose is not so important as to degrade the priesthood on his own account. The life of one man is not worth as much as the dignity of all priests -- on whose advice I have composed this document. They warned me that perhaps some pagan or Jew might b …
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. 378 · score 0.01
To the most merciful, Christian, and glorious princes Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius — from the Council assembled at Aquileia. However abundantly we might give thanks, most merciful Emperors, we could never match the scale of your generosity to the faith. After so many years of persecution inflicted on Catholics …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
14. This was the doctrine decreed at the Council of Ariminum [Rimini, 359 — a council that was manipulated into adopting an Arian creed], and rightly do I reject that council, following instead the rule of the Council of Nicaea [325 — the first ecumenical council, which defined the orthodox doctrine of Christ's full di …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
… inthians 12:26). Reports have reached us that the church of Constantinople [the imperial capital of the East] is in turmoil. The ordination of one Maximus the Cynic [a controversial figure who attempted to have himself consecrated bishop of Constantinople through irregular means] has created a scandalous division. We d …
ambrose_milan · c. 386 · score 0.01
… plays the same role against the church of Milan. The basilica was released. The imperial cloths were removed. The people sang hymns of thanksgiving. But a notary came to me privately and delivered a threat: "Ambrose, you despise the emperor. I see that you wish for death." I replied: "God grant that I do not deserve it …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
To the most blessed and glorious Christian Emperors — Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius — from the bishops assembled at the Council of Aquileia. Most merciful Emperors, by God's grace and your own devotion, the Arian faction has been brought to judgment. The Council assembled at Aquileia, as your piety commanded, an …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
To the most gracious Emperor Gratian — Ambrose, Bishop. Your Clemency received my earlier work with such favor that you have now requested more. I gladly comply. You asked for two books on the faith; I now send three additional ones [books 3-5 of De Fide]. The topic demands thoroughness, and the Arian challenge deserve …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
To the most merciful Emperor Theodosius — from the Council assembled at Aquileia. Most gracious Emperor, we write to you about Antioch [the great see in Syria, one of the five patriarchal centers of early Christianity], where the divisions among Catholics themselves cause us the deepest grief. It is not heresy that div …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
To the most gracious Emperor Gratian — Ambrose, Bishop. You asked me to write on the faith, and I obeyed. You then asked me to write on the Holy Spirit, and I obey again — for the faith is not complete without confession of the full Trinity. The Arians and their allies the Macedonians [followers of Macedonius, who deni …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
Ambrose to his most beloved sister Marcellina — greetings. You will have heard reports of what has happened here, and I want you to have the truth from me directly, not from rumor. The court demanded that I hand over the Portian Basilica [a church outside the walls of Milan] for the use of the Arians. I refused. They t …