Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

Theology

St. Ambrose thinks of the Church not only as an external organization established by God, but also as an internal phenomenon, gradually revealed and realized in the world. The concept of the Church is given by him in the revelation of two opposite definitions of the City of God (Civitas Dei) and the earthly city (Civitas Terrena). By the name of Civitas Dei he means the Church as God's state, by the name of Civitas Terrena he does not mean any particular political organization, but in general the world with the sin reigning in it, or people living a natural life. It is the duty of a Christian to distance himself from the earthly city, because his city is the Heavenly Jerusalem. An excellent sign of the latter from the earthly Church is its absolute perfection and moral purity. All the Heavenly Powers are members of it. People enter into its composition only after death, but not all to the same extent. The Church is catholic. St. Ambrose uses this term to designate a church assembly consisting of representatives of different countries and nationalities. Forming the bond of believers in Christ, the Church embraces all rational creation, because all rational creation spiritually lives by the grace of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit sent down by Him. Christ is all and in all. Hence the Church is called Heaven, because in it there are saints and angels themselves; it is also called the world, because the earthly members also belong to it. As consisting of earthly members, the Church fills the whole earth, includes the assembly of all peoples, without making any distinction between them on national or class grounds. In terms of the time of its existence, the Church is a permanent and eternal kingdom, it exists from eternity in Divine predestination, and has to exist at all times. It is possible to reach Heaven only through the intermediary of the earthly Church. Participation in Civitas Dei existing on earth is a transition to participation in Civitas Dei in Heaven. "It is beware lest anyone, having once been received by Christ through Baptism, be separated from His Body, that is, cast out of the Church, for this is tantamount to unceasing death" (John Psalm 40). He who separates himself from the Holy Altar is also separated from the Heavenly Jerusalem, departing like the prodigal son to a foreign land. Therefore, the assemblies of heretics and schismatics, as separated from the Church, the Civitas Dei, are assemblies of an unclean spirit (Exposizio Evangelia secundum Lukas). The earthly Church is an assembly of both saints and sinners, whom the Church leads to salvation. The Church is an organism, or the Body of Christ, and, like the human body, consists of members different in meaning and activity, and yet remains one Body, so that each of its members, no matter how small and insignificant he may be, is necessary for the entire Body of the Church and enjoys the help of others. In the case of the suffering of one, all the others suffer as well. And if it is difficult for the body to lose one member, then it is incomparably more difficult for the Church to lose one person. And if the removal of one member upsets others, then the integrity of the church assembly is also upset through neglect of each believer. St. Ambrose graphically describes the position of earthly members in the ecclesiastical organism. "We all," he writes, "constitute one Body of Christ. Of which God is the head, and we serve as its other members: among the latter there are eyes, such as the prophets; there are teeth, like the Apostles, who poured the Gospel preaching into our intestines... the hands of this body are those who are engaged in the performance of good works; there is also a womb, which is formed by believers who give the poor strength to exist; some are feet," and still lower than them are heels (Epist. 41). Cutting off from the Church must be done with great caution: on the one hand, to protect the whole society from the danger of temptation, and on the other hand, to induce sinners to repentance. As a Body, the Church is a closely cohesive unity. The basis of this unity is the people (Sancta Plebs). (Cf. the works of St. Cyprian of Carthage, for whom the episcopate is considered the basis of unity). With St. Ambrose, it is not so much that the people are made dependent on the hierarchy, but vice versa. St. Ambrose even calls his flock his father, who gave birth to him by election for the episcopacy. Because of the importance of the people of God, every penitent needs his help: he receives forgiveness thanks to the prayers of all the people for him. For greater persuasiveness in the latter, St. Ambrose cites an example: the Lord resurrected the son of the widow of Nain, seeing the tears of many. A very important foundation for church unity is Christ, who stands at its head, as well as the unity of faith and love. Therefore, the destruction of unity is seen by St. Ambrose in the perversion of faith and moral impurity. That in the teaching of St. Ambrose about the Church reveals him as a writer of the West, is his attitude to the holy Apostle Peter. Although he does not draw any conclusions about the Bishop of Rome, who is recognized as the successor of the Apostle Peter, and does not speak of any prerogatives of him or the Church of Rome over others, he uses a number of expressions that allegedly presuppose the special position of the Apostle Peter among the other Apostles and, accordingly, in the Church. The holy Apostle Peter, according to the thought of St. Ambrose, had all the faith, for which he received the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, in order to open the entrance to it to others, but who is meant here by others – the Apostles or believers in general – St. Ambrose does not explain, moreover, a little earlier in the same reasoning he says that the Lord demanded great faith from all the other Apostles (see: Expositio Evangelia a second to Luke). Further, the saint sometimes expresses that the holy Apostle Peter is preferred to all, that he, as the more perfect, was entrusted by Christ to govern the less perfect, that where Peter is, there is the Church. But in all such cases there is no question of the special position and rights of the Apostle Peter in the Church. Such is the reasoning of St. Ambrose when he speaks of Peter alone, without having in mind the other Apostles. When he speaks of the Apostle Peter together with the other Apostles, he calls them all pillars of the Church in the same way. In the same way, when he speaks of the Apostle Paul, without having in mind the other Apostles, including the Apostle Peter, he mentions the abundant grace upon him, of his superiority. This is how St. Ambrose characterizes the other holy Apostles.

Teaching about the Mother of God

Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

Theology

The teaching of the Bishop of Milan about the Most Holy Virgin has a historical significance. The saint shared the patristic idea of the Virgin Mary as the New Second Eve. The first Eve served to expel man from paradise, the second - to elevate him to Heaven. St. Ambrose defends the personal sinlessness of the Mother of God and emphasizes the idea of Her ever-virginity. She was a Virgin before the birth of Christ the Savior, in birth, and remained a Virgin after birth. St. Ambrose applies to Her the prophecy of Ezekiel about the holy Gates of the future temple, through which only the Lord God had to pass and which were to remain closed to all others [pp. 44, 22]. In his understanding, the gate is a prototype of Mary, through whom only the Savior entered the world. Having passed through them, Christ did not open them, and they remained imprisoned forever. Emphasizing the lofty dignity of the Mother of God, the saint calls Her a palace consecrated for the dwelling of God, a sanctuary of purity, a temple of God. With these qualities, She serves as an eternal model for all Christian virgins. Her life is a concrete embodiment of the image of virginity, purity and virtue. St. Ambrose not only bears witness to the dignity of the Mother of God, but also assimilates to Her an active participation in the salvation of people: he connects with Her the fulfillment of the promise given by God in paradise – to erase the head of the serpent; He ascribes to it a part of the victory over the devil; of Her He says that She freed Eve and served to accomplish the salvation of the world. The saint directly calls upon the faithful to venerate the Most Holy Virgin and regards any doubt about Her ever-virginity or manifestation of disrespect for Her as impiety (See treatises on virginity). But the veneration of Her should not turn into deification: She was only the temple of God, and not the God of the temple.

Ethics

Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

Theology

The teaching of St. Ambrose on morality found its expression in the work "On the Offices of the Clergy" - a collection or collection of philosophical solutions to questions of Christian ethics. But as one of the first experiments in scientific ethics, the exposition of the saint has a significant drawback: it is a sum of separate Christian views on morality, and is not a single Christian teaching on morality in the strict sense of the word, it does not contain an integral system. Virtue, in the understanding of St. Ambrose, is acquired through studies, exercises, and studies; and there is an activity in accordance with the laws of nature, healthy, beautiful, useful, in harmony with both the human mind and the universal Mind - the Word of God. Influenced by classical ethics (Stoicism and Platonism), St. Ambrose emphasizes four main virtues: prudence (prudence), justice (justicia), courage (fortitudo) and moderation or temperance (temperanzia). The relationship between them is defined in the spirit of Stoicism, in the sense of their closest unity with each other: where one of them exists, there are all the others (See: On the Offices of the Clergy of the Church of Christ, Ch. 2, § 4). St. Ambrose sees the psychological basis of prudence, or Christian wisdom, in the natural striving of the human mind to investigate the causes of things, to find "the Author of our existence, in Whose power our life and death are, Who with one wave of His governs the whole world, and to Whom we will have to give a strict account of all our deeds and words." This striving of reason is the highest adornment of human nature and its essential difference from animals. The content of prudence "consists, mainly, not in practical worldly wisdom or the ability to live, but in the wisdom of the Gospel, in the knowledge of God - the Creator of the universe." In studies to satisfy the simple curiosity of the mind, St. Ambrose does not see anything decent. He considers it inadmissible to replace the study of the causes of our salvation with the study of human errors - astrology, the measurement of air space, etc. Such was Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Moses, etc. "Ignorant of God, no matter how wise he may be, is imprudent." Justice defines human relationships, "embraces our relationship to the society of people." This virtue is divided by St. Ambrose into two types: justice in the proper sense and charity. "All our mutual relations," he says, "are mainly based on two principles: justice and charity; the latter is also called generosity and benevolence." For St. Ambrose, the foundation on which justice is established is faith in Christ, in the Incarnation of Truth; the revelation of it "in all its breadth and fullness" is the Church of Christ, where the faithful are called to care for the welfare of others, to be guided by common law and interests. Justice must be done to everyone, always and everywhere – in times of war and in times of peace. The saint defends humane relations and resolutely forbids vindictiveness, "for the Gospel teaches us that we must have the spirit of the Son of God, Who descended to earth to bestow mercy and grace on all, and not repay offense for offense, reproach for reproach..." In matters of charity, it is recommended to conform to the degree of closeness of different persons to us. Charity must be provided taking into account the inner dignity of the needy and the degree of their real need: those who will use it usefully, to achieve good goals, deserve help. It is impossible to help those who intend to use help against the fatherland, society. Nor do those who seek it by deception or other dishonest means deserve help. Charity is considered as a useful deed for the benefactor himself: with it he acquires friends, wins the sympathy of the people. Refusing to help is contrary to nature itself. "The Lord laid down the law of birth common to all and commanded that the earth, with all its gifts and riches, should be, as it were, a certain property of all people in general. Thus, nature gave birth to general law, in spite of which human violence legitimized private law, the right of property." All people of the same nature, all brothers, are bound by the right of kinship and as such should love each other and "mutually assist each other in life." "And so," concludes the Bishop of Milan, "justice demands of us that we should have love first of all for God, then for our fatherland, for our parents, and finally for everyone in general." In the virtue of courage, St. Ambrose distinguishes two types of manifestation: courage in the feats of the military and courage "in the modest labors of private, domestic asceticism," that is, in relation to other people and in relation to oneself. In the first case, courage is considered as determination and ability to fulfill the demand for justice. In the second - in relation to oneself - courage appears as greatness, strength of spirit, as the highest degree of self-control. In this sense, only the one who has conquered the old man "with his passions and lusts", who is not confused by various adversities, the changeability of circumstances and the charm of the world, who always preserves calm and composure, can be called courageous. "Truly he is brave and courageous who knows how to conquer himself, to refrain from anger, not to be carried away by anything vain; in trouble he does not grieve, and in happiness he is not proud; for whom a change in external, everyday circumstances is nothing but a kind of wind." For St. Ambrose, the Christian martyrs and ascetics serve as an example of the manifestation of true courage, who stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, blunted the edge of the sword, conquered infirmities (Heb. 2:33-34), "who did not win victories with armies, did not overcome their enemies by force, but in the proper sense triumphed over them by their virtue alone." The last of the virtues, temperance (abstinence), St. Ambrose places "in calmness of spirit, in meekness and humility, in the taming of impulses in dealing with others, in decency of behavior and strict regularity in the way of life," that is, in the preservation of order in life in general and the preservation of moderation in individual things. Accordingly, St. Ambrose prescribes in every matter to look at what is appropriate for the person, age, time, or our abilities, for what may be decent and convenient for one person may be completely unacceptable for another. The saint sees the root of abstinence in good manners and modesty, the crown in bodily and spiritual chastity, in purity of soul, in holy virginity. "And so," concludes St. Ambrose, "these are the four virtues in which the whole essence of the moral character of a priest of the Church of Christ is expressed! And all of them, as in a mirror, are reflected in the lives and deeds of the God-chosen patriarchs and pious kings of the Jewish people, whom they served as guides, teachers and, as it were, pastors, and therefore for us, servants of God, they serve as ancestors closest in spirit and models for imitation.

May the examples of our ancient fathers be the heritage of their children and brethren, the clergy of the Church of Christ."

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Among the prescriptions necessary for moral perfection, St. Ambrose assigns an important place to fasting. Fasting, in his opinion, is not so much a human as a Divine institution. It serves as the content and image of Heavenly life. On earth, it leads to moral purity and innocence. Therefore it is called the renewal of the soul, the nourishment of the mind, the annihilation of sins and guilt. Due to its great importance, fasting was established in paradise. God, knowing that through food He would enter the world of wine, forbade people to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The violation of the commandment about fasting led to the fall. The saint also places a high value on virginity, of which a little has already been said. Although marriage is not rejected, a virginal life is preferred. "The fetters of marriage are good, but still they remain fetters. Marriage is good, but still it is connected with the yoke and is itself a yoke of the world, since the wife is more willing to please her husband than God" (See treatises on virginity). Like fasting, virgin life has a heavenly origin. Virginity brings virgins to a special intimacy with God: virgins become the temple of God, Christ becomes the head for them, as a husband becomes for his wife. Virginity is also important for the parents of virgins - it contributes to the redemption of their sins. However, marriage for St. Ambrose is also a completely moral phenomenon. A person who has chosen marriage should not blame a virgin, and vice versa. St. Ambrose sees the basis for marriage in the unity of faith. Therefore, it does not approve of marriages of Orthodox Christians with heterodox and non-Orthodox (heretics, Jews, pagans). "If the marriage union is to be sanctified by priestly protection and blessing, then how can one speak of marriage where the faith is divided? How is it possible in this case to pray together or to have a common love of marriage between those who are different in worship of God? On the contrary, it is known that often many, carried away by love for women, sold their faith." The most striking example is Samson. "Who was stronger, and more strengthened by the Holy Ghost from his cradle, like Samson the Nazarite? But he sold himself, and himself, for the sake of a woman, could not preserve his grace" (Epist. 19). St. Ambrose is very strict about the question of the clothing of men and women. He has a negative attitude towards the Greek custom, which allowed the use of clothes of the other sex. Against this custom, he refers to the direct prohibition of Deuteronomy: "A woman shall not wear men's clothing, and a man shall not dress in a woman's clothing; for everyone who does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God" [pp. 22, 5]. St. Ambrose also emphasizes the discrepancy between custom and nature, which gave one appearance to a man, and another to a woman.