Letter 10: To my sister, dearer to me than eyes and life.

LETTER XX. He recounts to his sister the things that happened at Milan over several days on account of the basilica which the Arians were demanding: how he himself was confronted by Valentinian's ministers, while the people protested; then how, when officers had been sent to seize the basilica, the Arian Castulus was snatched up by the people, on which occasion, although they were freed by his own efforts, various condemnations followed; after which, being again summoned in the emperor's name, the holy bishop answers with great constancy. He adds that on the next day, when the basilica had been occupied, the soldiers promised that they would go over to the Catholics, and that the people had not slackened at all in their courage; that the trials of Job, and especially those which he is recorded to have suffered from a woman, were suited to this occasion; that meanwhile the basilica was freed, but that a notary brought him harsh messages, by which he was in no way moved; finally, he appends an application of the prophecy of Jonah to present circumstances, the joy of the people over the freeing of the basilica and the remission of the fine imposed on the merchants, the words of Valentinian to his counts, and his own reply to the threats of Calligonus. 1. Since in almost every letter you anxiously ask about the Church, hear what is being done. The day after I received your letter, in which you had indicated that your dreams were disturbing you, a mass of grave anxieties began to be set in motion. And it was no longer the Portian basilica, that is, the one outside the walls, that was being demanded, but the new basilica, that is, the one within the walls, which is the larger. 2. First the chief men of the authorities came to me, the counts of the consistory, that I should both hand over the basilica and see to it that the people should stir up no disturbances. I answered what was in keeping with my office, that a temple of God cannot be handed over by a priest. 3. On the following day there was acclamation in the Church; the prefect also came there; he began to urge that we should at least give up the Portian basilica. The people protested. So the meeting then broke up, with his saying that he would report the matter to the emperor. 4. On the following day, which was a Sunday, after the readings and the sermon, when the catechumens had been dismissed, I was delivering the Creed to certain candidates for baptism in the baptisteries of the basilica. There it was announced to me, on certain report, that they had sent officers from the palace to the Portian basilica, and were hanging up curtains, and that a part of the people was hastening there. I, however, remained at my duty and began to celebrate Mass. 5. While I was making the offering, I learned that a certain Castulus had been seized by the people, a man whom the Arians called a presbyter. They had come upon him in the street as he was passing by. I began to weep most bitterly, and to pray to God in the very offering, that He would come to our aid, lest anyone's blood be shed in the Church's cause; or rather, that my blood might be poured out for the salvation not only of the people, but even for those impious men themselves. In short: having sent presbyters and deacons, I rescued the man from harm. 6. The gravest condemnations were at once decreed: first upon the whole body of the merchants. And so, in the holy days of the last week, on which the chains of debtors were wont to be loosed, chains creaked, were laid upon the necks of innocent men, two hundred pounds of gold were exacted within the whole space of three days. They answered that they would give as much again, or double, if it were demanded, provided they might keep the faith. The prisons were full of traders. 7. All the palace offices, that is, the recorders, the agents in affairs, the attendants of the various counts, were ordered to abstain from going out, under the pretext that they were being kept from taking part in sedition; the men of rank were threatened with very grave fines, unless they should hand over the basilica. The persecution raged; and it seemed that, had they opened the gate, they were ready to break out into every kind of crime. 8. I myself am confronted by the counts and tribunes, that the handing over of the basilica might be done promptly, saying that the emperor was using his own right, since all things were in his power. I answered that, if he should ask of me what was mine, that is, my estate, my silver, anything of this kind that was mine, I would not refuse, although all things that are mine belong to the poor; but that the things which are divine are not subject to the imperial power. If my patrimony is sought, seize it; if my body, I will go to meet it. Do you wish to drag me into chains? Do you wish me to death? It is a pleasure to me. I will not surround myself with a throng of people, nor will I cling to the altars begging for my life, but I will more gladly be offered up for the altars. 9. For I shuddered in my soul when I learned that armed men had been sent to occupy the Church's basilica, lest, while they laid claim to the basilica, some slaughter should occur that would tend to the ruin of the whole city. I prayed that I might not outlive the funeral pyre of so great a city, or of all Italy. I detested the odium of shedding blood; I offered my own throat. The Gothic tribunes were present; I assailed them, saying: Is it for this that the Roman possession received you, that you should offer yourselves as ministers of public disturbance? Where will you go, if these things are destroyed? 10. It was demanded of me that I should restrain the people. I replied that it was within my right not to incite them, but in God's hand to calm them. Finally, if he thought me the instigator, vengeance ought now to be taken upon me, or I ought to be led away to whatever desert places of the earth he wished. When these things had been said, they departed; I spent the whole day in the old basilica. Then I went home to bed, so that, if anyone wished to lead me away, he might find me ready. 11. Before dawn, when I set foot beyond my threshold, the basilica is occupied by soldiers surrounding it. And it was said that the soldiers had been ordered by the emperor that, if he wished to come forth, he should have the opportunity; that they, however, would be at hand, if they saw him assemble with the Catholics; otherwise that they would go over to that assembly which Ambrose was gathering. 12. None of the Arians dared to come forth; because there was none of the citizens among them, only a few of the royal household, and some Goths as well. For these, as once wagons were their dwelling, so now the Church is their wagon. Wherever that woman goes forth, she carries all her assemblies with her. 13. I understood that the basilica was surrounded, by the groaning of the people; but while the readings were being read, it was reported to me that the new basilica too was full of people; that the crowd seemed greater than when all were free; that a reader was being demanded. In short: the very soldiers who seemed to have occupied the basilica, when they learned that I had given orders that they should be kept from the fellowship of communion, began to come to this assembly of ours. When they were seen, the spirits of the women were thrown into confusion, and one of them rushed out. The soldiers themselves, however, kept saying that they had come to pray, not to fight. The people raised some shout. How moderately, how constantly, how faithfully they begged that we should go to that basilica! In that basilica too it was reported that the people were demanding my presence. 14. Then I began this sermon: You have heard, my children, that the book of Job has been read, which by the solemn observance both of office and of season is gone through. The devil too knew, from custom, that this book was to be brought forward, by which all the force of his temptation is laid open and betrayed; and therefore today he has shaken himself with a greater commotion. But thanks be to our God, who has so strengthened you with faith and patience. I had gone up to admire one Job, and I have found all of you Jobs to admire. In each of you Job has come to life again; in each of you the patience and virtue of that holy man has shone forth. For what more fitting thing could be said by Christian men than what the Holy Spirit has spoken today in you? We beg, Augustus, we do not fight; we do not fear, but we beg. This befits Christians, that the tranquillity of peace be desired, and that the constancy of faith and truth be not recalled even by the peril of death. For the Lord is our protector, who will save those who hope in Him [Ps. 16:7]. 15. But let us come to the appointed readings. You see that license to tempt is given to the devil [Job 1:12], so that the good may be proved. The wicked one envies good progress and tempts in various ways. He tempted holy Job in his patrimony, he tempted him in his children, he tempted him in the pain of his body. The stronger man is tempted in his own body, the weaker in another's. And he wished to take away from me my riches, which I have in you, and he desired to scatter this patrimony of your tranquillity. He longed also to snatch from me you yourselves, my good children, for whom I daily renew the sacrifice; he tried to involve you in certain ruins of public disturbance. Two kinds of temptation, then, I have already undergone. And perhaps, because the Lord God knows me to be weaker, He has not yet given power over my body. Even though I myself should desire it, even though I should offer myself, perhaps He still judges me unequal to this contest, and exercises me with various labors. Nor did Job begin with that contest, but in it he reached his consummation. 16. Now Job was tempted by heaped-up messengers of evils; he was tempted also through a woman, who said: Speak some word against God, and die [Job 2:9]. You see how many things are suddenly set in motion: Goths, weapons, gentiles, the fine on the merchants, the punishment of the saints. You perceive what is commanded, when the order is given: Hand over the basilica; that is: Speak some word against God, and die. And not only say against God, but also act against God. The command is: Hand over the altars of God. 17. We are pressed, then, by royal commands, but we are strengthened by the words of Scripture, which answered: You have spoken like one of the foolish women [Job 2:10]. This temptation, therefore, is no small one; for we have learned that those temptations are harsher which come through women. Indeed, through Eve even Adam was supplanted [Gen. 3:6]; and thereby it came about that he strayed from the heavenly commandments. When his error was recognized, guilty of a conscience that had transgressed, he wished to hide, but he could not hide; and therefore God says to him: Adam, where are you [Gen. 3:9]? that is, what were you before? where have you now begun to be? where had I placed you? whither have you yourself transgressed? You recognize that you are naked, because you have lost the garments of good faith. These are leaves, with which you now seek to cover yourself. You have rejected the fruit, you desire to hide under the leaves of the Law, but you are betrayed. You desired to withdraw from the Lord your God on account of one woman; therefore you flee Him whom you sought to see. With one woman you preferred to hide yourself, to abandon the mirror of the world, the dwelling of paradise, the grace of Christ. 18. What shall I say of the fact that Jezabel too cruelly persecuted Elijah [1 Kings 19:1ff]? that Herodias caused John the Baptist to be killed [Matt. 14:3ff]? Yet each of these persecuted single men; for me, by how much my merits are far less, by so much my temptations are graver. My virtue is weaker, but there is more peril. The turns of the women succeed one another, hatreds alternate, devices are varied, the elders are gathered together, the king's wrong is put forward as a pretext. What reason, then, is there for a graver temptation against this little worm, except that it is not me, but the Church, that they persecute? 19. The command, then, is: Hand over the basilica. I answer: It is neither lawful for me to hand it over, nor expedient for you to receive it, O Emperor. You cannot by any right violate the house of a private man; do you think the house of God is to be taken away? It is alleged that all things are lawful for the emperor, that all things are his. I answer: Do not burden yourself, O Emperor, by thinking that you have any imperial right over those things which are divine. Do not exalt yourself, but if you wish to reign the longer, be subject to God. It is written: The things that are God's to God, the things that are Caesar's to Caesar [Matt. 22:21]. The palaces belong to the emperor, the churches to the priest. The right over public walls has been committed to you, not over sacred buildings. Again it is said that the emperor commanded: I too ought to have one basilica. I answered: It is not lawful for you to have it. What have you to do with an adulteress? For she is an adulteress who is not joined in the lawful wedlock of Christ. 20. While I was treating of these things, it was suggested to me that the royal curtains had been gathered up, and that the basilica was crowded with people demanding my presence; and at once I turned my discourse to this, saying: How lofty and deep are the oracles of the Holy Spirit! In the morning hours it was read, as you remember, brethren, the verse to which we respond with the deepest grief of soul: O God, the gentiles have come into your inheritance [Ps. 79:1]. And in truth the gentiles have come, and even more than gentiles have come; for Goths have come, and men of various nations; they have come with weapons, and surrounding it they have occupied the basilica. This, ignorant of Your loftiness, we grieved over, but our imprudence supposed something other. 21. The gentiles have come, but truly they have come into Your inheritance; for those who came as gentiles have been made Christians. Those who came to invade the inheritance have been made co-heirs of God. I have as defenders those whom I thought enemies; I hold as allies those whom I reckoned adversaries. That has been fulfilled which the prophet David sang concerning the Lord Jesus, that His place was made in peace, and: There He broke the horns of the bows, the shield, the sword, and the battle [Ps. 76:3-4]. For whose is this gift, whose the work, except Yours, Lord Jesus? You saw armed men coming to Your temple: on the one side the people groaning and present in numbers, lest the basilica of God should seem to be handed over; on the other side force being commanded against the soldiers. Death was before my eyes; lest amid these things anything should be permitted to fury, You inserted Yourself, O Lord, in the midst, and made both one [Eph. 2:14]. You restrained the armed men, saying surely: If men rush to arms, if those shut up in my temple are stirred to violence, what profit is there in my blood [Deut. 32:36]? Thanks therefore to You, O Christ. Not a legate, nor a messenger, but You, O Lord, have saved Your people: You have torn my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness [Ps. 30:10, 12]. 22. These things I was saying, marveling that the emperor's mind could be softened by the zeal of the soldiers, the entreaty of the counts, the prayer of the people. Meanwhile it is announced to me that a notary had been sent to bring commands. I withdrew a little; he delivers the command. Why did it seem good to you, he says, to act against the decree? I answered: What the decree is, I do not know; and what is said to have been rashly done, I hold uncertain. He says: Why did you send presbyters to the basilica? If you are a tyrant, I wish to know it, that I may know how to prepare myself against you. I replied, saying that I had done nothing to the prejudice of the Church; that at the time when I had heard the basilica was occupied by soldiers, I had only given vent to a freer groan, and when many were urging me to go there, I had said: I cannot hand over the basilica, but I ought not to fight. But afterward, when I had learned that the royal curtains had been removed from there, since the people were demanding that I go there, I had sent the presbyters; that I, however, had been unwilling to go, but had said: I trust in Christ that the emperor himself will be on our side. 23. If these things seem to belong to tyranny, I have arms, but in the name of Christ; I have the power of offering my own body. Why should he delay to strike, if he thought me a tyrant? By ancient right, empires have been granted by priests, not usurped; and it is commonly said that emperors have rather desired the priesthood than priests the empire. Christ fled, lest He be made king [John 6:15]. We have our own tyranny. The tyranny of a priest is his weakness: When I am weak, he says, then am I strong [2 Cor. 12:10]. Yet let him take care lest he make a tyrant for himself, against whom God has stirred up no adversary. It is no great thing to say that I am a tyrant against Valentinian, who complains that, by the obstacle of my embassy, he was not able to cross into Italy. I added that priests have never been tyrants, but have often suffered tyrants. 24. That whole day was spent in our grief; the royal curtains, however, were torn by mocking boys. I could not return home, because the soldiers who were guarding the basilica were stationed all around. With the brethren we said psalms in the smaller basilica of the church. 25. On the following day the book of Jonah was read according to custom, and when it was finished, I began this sermon: The book has been read, brethren, in which it is prophesied that sinners return to repentance. It was so received that it was hoped this would come to pass in the present. I added that the just man had even wished to incur offense, rather than either witness or announce the destruction of the city. And that, distressed at that mournful saying, he had even grieved that the gourd had withered. That God too had said to the prophet: Are you sad over the gourd? That Jonah had answered: I am sad. That the Lord had said, if he grieved over the burning up of the gourd, how much more ought he to be concerned for the salvation of so great a people! And that for this reason He had removed the destruction which had been prepared for the whole city. 26. And without delay, it is announced that the emperor had ordered that the soldiers should withdraw from the basilica; that to the traders also should be restored what had been exacted from them by way of condemnation. What joy there was then of all the people! what applause of the whole people! what thanksgivings! And it was the day on which the Lord gave Himself up for us, on which in the Church repentance is relaxed. The soldiers vied in announcing this, rushing to the altars, marking the sign of peace with kisses. Then I recognized that God had struck the pre-dawn worm [the grub that withered Jonah's gourd, Jonah 4:7], so that the whole city might be preserved. 27. These things have been done, and would that they were now finished! But the imperial words, full of agitation, indicate that graver disturbances are to come. I am called a tyrant, and even more than a tyrant. For when the counts begged the emperor to come forth to the Church, and said that they were doing this at the soldiers' request, he answered: If Ambrose orders you, you will hand me over to him in chains. Consider what may remain after such a saying. At which saying all shuddered, but he has those by whom he is exasperated. 28. Finally, even by an express utterance, Calligonus, the chamberlain of the bedchamber, dared to send me word: While I am alive, do you treat Valentinian with contempt? I will take off your head. I answered: God grant you to fulfill what you threaten; for I shall suffer what bishops suffer, and you will do what eunuchs do. And would that God may turn them away from the Church, and let them turn all their weapons against me, and slake their thirst with my blood!

EPISTOLA XX. Narrat sorori quae Mediolani per dies aliquot propter basilicam, quam Ariani petebant evenere, quomodo a Valentiniani ministris ipse fuerit compellatus, populus autem reclamaverit: deinde quomodo missis decanis ad basilicam invadendam, raptus fuerit a populo Castulus Arianus, cujus occasione, licet sua ipsius cura liberati variae secutae sunt condemnationes; post quae iterum interpellatus imperatoris nomine sanctus praesul magna constantia respondet. Addit postridie occupata basilica, milites se ad catholicos transituros promisisse, nec populum de fortitudine quidquam remisisse: tentationes Job et maxime quas a muliere passus legitur, huic tempori accommodatas: interim liberatam basilicam, sed notarium sibi dura nuntiasse, quibus neutiquam motus fuerit: postremo prophetiae Jonae ad res praesentes adaptationem, populi ob liberatam basilicam, et multam mercatoribus remissam gaudium, verba Valentiniani ad comites, et suum ad Calligoni minas responsum subdit. 1. Quoniam in omnibus fere epistolis sollicite quaeris de Ecclesia, accipe quid agatur. Postridie quam accepi litteras tuas, quibus significaveras quod te exagitarent somnia tua, moles inquietudinum gravium coepit moveri. Nec jam Portiana, hoc est, extramurana 853 basilica petebatur, sed basilica nova, hoc est, intramurana, quae major est. 2. Convenerunt me primo principes virtutum viri, comites consistoriani, ut et basilicam traderem, et procurarem, ne quid populus turbarum moveret. Respondi quod erat ordinis, templum Dei a sacerdote tradi non posse. 3. Acclamatum est sequenti die in Ecclesia: etiam praefectus eo venit; coepit suadere vel ut basilica Portiana cederemus. Populus reclamavit. Ita tunc discessum est, ut intimaturum se imperatori diceret. 4. Sequenti die, erat autem Dominica, post lectiones atque tractatum, dimissis catechumenis, symbolum aliquibus competentibus in baptisteriis tradebam basilicae. Illic nuntiatum est mihi comperto quod ad Portianam basilicam de palatio decanos misissent, et vela suspenderent, populi partem eo pergere. Ego tamen mansi in munere, missam facere coepi. 5. Dum offero, raptum cognovi a populo Castulum quemdam, quem presbyterum dicerent Ariani. Hunc autem in platea offenderant transeuntes. Amarissime flere, et orare in ipsa oblatione Deum coepi, ut subveniret, ne cujus sanguis in causa Ecclesiae fieret: certe ut meus sanguis pro salute non solum populi, sed etiam pro ipsis impiis effunderetur. Quid multa? Missis presbyteris et diaconibus, eripui injuriae virum. 6. Condemnationes illico gravissimae decernuntur: primo in corpus omne mercatorum. Itaque sanctis diebus hebdomadis ultimae, quibus solebant debitorum laxari vincula, stridunt catenae, imponuntur collo innocentium, 854 exiguntur ducenta pondo auri infra totum triduum. Respondent aliud se tantum aut duplum, si peterentur, daturos, dummodo servarent fidem. Erant pleni carceres negotiatoribus. 7. Palatina omnia officia, hoc est, memoriales, agentes in rebus, apparitores diversorum comitum temperare a processu jubentur, specie qua seditioni interesse prohibebantur: honoratis multa minabantur gravissima, nisi basilicam traderent. Fervebat persecutio: ac si aperuissent portam, prorupturi in omne facinus videbantur. 8. Convenior ipse a comitibus et tribunis, ut basilicae fieret matura traditio, dicentibus imperatorem jure suo uti, eo quod in potestate ejus essent omnia. Respondi, si a me peteret, quod meum esset, id est, fundum meum, argentum meum, quidvis hujusmodi meum, me non refragaturum; quamquam omnia quae mei sunt, essent pauperum: verum ea quae sunt divina, imperatoriae potestati non esse subjecta. Si patrimonium petitur, invadite: si corpus, occurram. Vultis in vincula rapere? vultis in mortem? voluptati est mihi. Non ego vallabor circumfusione populorum, nec altaria tenebo vitam obsecrans, sed pro altaribus gratius immolabor. 9. Horrebam quippe animo, cum armatos ad basilicam Ecclesiae occupandam missos cognoscerem; ne dum basilicam vindicant, aliqua strages fieret, quae in perniciem totius vergeret civitatis. Orabam ne tantae urbis vel totius Italiae busto superviverem. Detestabar invidiam fundendi cruoris, offerebam jugulum meum. 855 Aderant Gothi tribuni, adoriebar eos, dicens: Propterea vos possessio Romana suscepit, ut perturbationis publicae vos praebeatis ministros? Quo transibitis, si haec deleta fuerint? 10. Exigebatur a me, ut compescerem populum. Referebam in meo jure esse, ut non excitarem: in Dei manu, uti mitigaret. Postremo si me incentorem putaret, jam in me vindicari oportere, vel abduci me in quas vellet terrarum solitudines. His dictis, illi abierunt: ego in basilica veteri totum exegi diem. Inde domum cubitum me recepi, ut si quis abducere vellet, inveniret paratum. 11. Ante lucem ubi pedem limine extuli, circumfuso milite occupatur basilica. Idque a militibus imperatori mandatum dicitur, ut si prodire vellet, haberet copiam; se tamen praesto futuros, si viderent eum cum catholicis convenire: alioquin se ad eum coetum, quem Ambrosius cogeret, transituros. 12. Prodire de Arianis nullus audebat; quia nec quisquam de civibus erat, pauci de familia regia, nonnulli etiam Gothi. Quibus ut olim plaustra sedes erat, ita nunc plaustrum Ecclesia est. Quocumque femina ista processerit, secum suos omnes coetus vehit. 13. Circumfusam basilicam esse gemitu populi intellexi: sed dum leguntur lectiones, intimatur mihi plenam populi esse basilicam etiam novam: majorem videri plebem, quam cum essent omnes liberi: lectorem efflagitari. Quid plura? Milites ipsi, qui videbantur occupasse basilicam, cognito quod praecepissem, ut abstinerentur a communionis consortio, ad conventum hunc nostrum venire coeperunt. Quibus visis, turbantur mulierum animi, proripit se una. Ipsi tamen milites se ad orationem venisse, non ad praelium loquebantur. Clamavit aliqua populus. Quam moderate, quam constanter, quam fideliter poscebat, ut ad illam pergeremus basilicam! In illa quoque basilica fertur quod populus praesentiam flagitabat meam. 14. Tunc ego hunc adorsus sermonem sum: Audistis, filii, librum Job legi, qui solemni munere est decursus et tempore. Scivit ex usu hunc librum etiam diabolus intimandum, quo virtus omnis suae tentationis aperitur et proditur; et ideo se hodie motu majore concussit. Sed gratias Deo nostro, qui vos ita firmavit fide atque patientia. Unum Job miraturus ascenderam, omnes Job quos mirarer, inveni. In singulis vobis Job revixit, in singulis sancti illius patientia et virtus refulsit. Quid enim praesentius dici potuit a christianis viris, quam id quod hodie in vobis Spiritus sanctus est locutus? Rogamus, Auguste, non pugnamus: non timemus, sed rogamus. Hoc christianos decet, ut et tranquillitas pacis optetur, et fidei veritatisque constantia nec mortis revocetur periculo. Est enim 856 praesul Dominus, qui salvos faciet sperantes in se (Psal. XVI, 7). 15. Sed veniamus ad propositas lectiones. Videtis diabolo tentandi licentiam dari (Job. I, 12), ut boni probentur. [g 1Kb] Invidet iniquus bonis profectibus, tentat diversis modis. Tentavit sanctum Job in patrimonio, tentavit in filiis, tentavit in dolore corporis. Fortior in suo corpore tentatur, infirmior in alieno. Et mihi meas divitias, quas in vobis habeo, volebat auferre, et hoc tranquillitatis vestrae patrimonium dissipare cupiebat. Vos quoque ipsos mihi bonos filios gestiebat eripere, pro quibus ego quotidie instauro sacrificium: vos ruinis quibusdam publicae perturbationis conabatur involvere. Duo igitur jam genera tentationis excepi. Et fortasse quia infirmiorem me Dominus Deus novit, adhuc in corpus meum non dedit potestatem. Etsi ipse cupiam, etsi offeram, adhuc me fortasse huic certamini imparem judicat, et diversis exercet laboribus. Nec Job ab isto coepit certamine, sed in hoc consummavit. 16. Tentatus est autem Job nuntiis coacervatis malorum, tentatus est etiam per mulierem, quae ait: Dic aliquod verbum in Deum, et morere (Job. II, 9). Videtis quanta subito moveantur, Gothi, arma, gentiles, multa mercatorum, poena sanctorum. Advertitis Quid jubeatur, cum mandatur: Trade basilicam, hoc est: Dic aliquod verbum in Deum, et morere. Nec solum die adversum Deum, sed etiam fac adversus Deum. Mandatur: Trade altaria Dei. 17. Urgemur igitur praeceptis regalibus, sed confirmamur Scripturae sermonibus, quae respondit: Tamquam una ex insipientibus locuta es (Ibid., 10). Non mediocris igitur ista tentatio; namque asperiores tentationes has esse cognovimus, quae fiunt per mulieres. Denique per Evam etiam Adam supplantatus est (Gen. III, 6); eoque factum, ut a mandatis coelestibus deviaret. Quo errore cognito, praevaricatricis conscientiae reus latere cupiebat, sed latere non poterat; et ideo ait ei Deus: Adam, ubi es (Ibid., 9)? hoc est, quid eras ante? ubi nunc esse coepisti? ubi te constitueram? quo ipse transgressus es? Agnoscis esse te nudum, quia bonae indumenta fidei perdidisti. Folia sunt ista, quibus nunc velare te quaeris. Repudiasti fructum, sub foliis Legis latere cupis, sed proderis. Recedere a Domino Deo tuo propter unam mulierem desiderasti, propterea fugis quem videre quaerebas. Cum una muliere te abscondere maluisti, relinquere speculum mundi, incolatum paradisi, gratiam Christi. 18. Quid dicam quod etiam Eliam Jezabel cruente persecuta est (III Reg. XIX, 1 et seq.)? quod Joannem Baptistam Herodias fecit occidi (Matth. XIV, 3 et seq.)? Singulae tamen singulos, mihi quo minora longe merita, eo tentamenta graviora. Virtus infirmior, sed plus periculi. Succedunt sibi mulierum vices, alternantur odia, commenta variantur, seniores conveniuntur, 857 praetexitur regis injuria. Quae ratio igitur est adversus hunc vermiculum gravioris tentationis, nisi quia non me, sed Ecclesiam persequuntur? 19. Mandatur denique: Trade basilicam. Respondeo: Nec mihi fas est tradere, nec tibi accipere, Imperator, expedit. Domum privati nullo potes jure temerare, domum Dei existimas auferendam? Allegatur imperatori licere omnia, ipsius esse universa. Respondeo: Noli te gravare, Imperator, ut putes te in ea, quae divina sunt, imperiali aliquod jus habere. Noli te extollere, sed si vis diutius imperare, esto Deo subditus. Scriptum est: Quae Dei Deo, quae Caesaris Caesari (Matth. XXII, 21). Ad imperatorem palatia pertinent, ad sacerdotem Ecclesiae. Publicorum tibi moenium jus commissum est, non sacrorum. Iterum dicitur mandasse imperatorem: Debeo et ego unam basilicam habere. Respondi: Non tibi licet illam habere. Quid tibi cum adultera? Adultera est enim, quae non est legitimo Christi conjugio copulata. 20. Dum haec tracto, suggestum est mihi cortinas regias esse collectas, refertam autem populo basilicam, praesentiam mei poscere; statimque eo converti sermonem meum, dicens: Quam alta et profunda oracula sunt Spiritus sancti! Matutinis horis lectum est, ut meministis fratres, quod summo animi dolore respondemus: Deus, venerunt gentes in haereditatem tuam (Psal. LXXVIII, 1). Et re vera venerunt gentes, et plus etiam quam gentes venerunt; venerunt enim Gothi, et diversarum nationum viri: venerunt cum armis, et circumfusi occupaverunt basilicam. Hoc nos ignari tuae altitudinis dolebamus, sed nostra imprudentia aliud opinabatur. 21. Venerunt gentes, sed vere in haereditatem tuam venerunt; qui enim gentes venerunt, facti sunt christiani. Qui ad invadendam haereditatem venerunt, facti sunt cohaeredes Dei. Defensores habeo, quos hostes putabam: socios teneo, quos adversarios aestimabam. Completum est illud quod de Domino Jesu David propheta cecinit, quia factus est in pace locus ejus, et: Ibi confregit cornua arcuum, scutum, gladium et bellum (Psal. LXXV, 3, 4). Cujus enim hoc munus, cujus opus, nisi tuum, Domine Jesu? Videbas ad templum tuum armatos venire: hinc gemere populum, et frequentem adesse, ne basilicam Dei tradere videretur: inde vim militibus imperari. Mors ante oculos mihi; ne quid inter haec furori liceret: inseruisti te, Domine, medium, et fecisti utraque unum (Ephes. II, 14). Compescuisti armatos, dicens profecto: Si ad arma concurritur, 858 si in templo meo clausi commoventur, quae utilitas in sanguine meo (Deut. XXXII, 36)? Gratias itaque tibi, Christe. Non legatus, neque nuntius, sed tu, domine, salvum fecisti populum tuum: conscidisti saccum meum, et praecinxisti me laetitia (Psal. XXIX, 10, 12). 22. Haec ego dicebam, miratus imperatoris animum studio militum, obsecratione comitum, precatu populi posse mitescere. Interea nuntiatur mihi missum notarium, qui mandata deferret. Concessi paululum, mandatum intimat. Quid tibi visum est, inquit, ut contra placitum faceres? Respondi: Quod placitum sit ignoro, quidve temere factum dicatur, incertum habeo. Ait: Cur presbyteros ad basilicam destinasti? Si tyrannus es, scire volo; ut sciam quemadmodum me adversum te praeparem. Retuli dicens me nihil in praejudicium fecisse Ecclesiae: eo tempore quo audieram occupatam esse a militibus basilicam, gemitum tantummodo liberiorem habuisse, multisque adhortantibus ut eo pergerem, dixisse: Tradere basilicam non possum, sed pugnare non debeo. Postea vero quam cognoverim cortinas regias inde esse sublatas, cum me populus eo ire deposceret, direxisse presbyteros; me tamen noluisse ire, sed dixisse: Credo in Christo quod ipse nobiscum faciet imperator. 23. Si haec tyrannidis videntur, habeo arma, sed in Christi nomine: habeo offerendi mei corporis potestatem. Quid moraretur ferire, si tyrannum putaret? Veteri jure a sacerdotibus donata imperia, non usurpata: et vulgo dici quod imperatores sacerdotium magis optaverint, quam imperium sacerdotes. Christus fugit, ne rex fieret (Joan. VI, 15). Habemus tyrannidem nostram. Tyrannis sacerdotis, infirmitas est: Cum infirmor, inquit, tunc potens sum (II Cor. XII, 10). Cavere tamen ne ipse sibi tyrannum faceret, cui Deus adversarium non excitavit. Non hoc maximum dicere, quod tyrannus ego sim Valentiniani, qui se meae legationis objectu queritur ad Italiam non potuisse transire. Addidi quia numquam sacerdotes tyranni fuerunt, sed tyrannos saepe sunt passi. 24. Exactus est totus ille dies in moerore nostro: scissae tamen ab illudentibus pueris cortinae regiae. Ego domum redire non potui; quia circumfusi erant milites, qui basilicam custodiebant. Cum fratribus psalmos in ecclesiae basilica minore diximus. 25. Sequenti die lectus est de more liber Jonae, quo completo, hunc sermonem adorsus sum: Liber lectus est, fratres, quo prophetatur quod peccatores in poenitentiam revertantur. Acceptum est ita, 859 ut speraretur in praesenti futurum. Addidi quod vir justus etiam offensam contrahere voluisset, ne vel spectaret, vel denuntiaret excidium civitati. Et quod lugubre esset illud dictum, contristatus quoque sit, quod aruisset cucurbita. Deum quoque dixisse ad prophetam: Si tristis es pro cucurbita? Respondisse Jonam: Tristis. Dixisse Dominum, si illud doleret quod exusta esset cucurbita, quanto magis sibi curae esse oportere tantae plebis salutem! Et ideo excidium, quod paratum toti urbi fuerat, removisse. 26. Nec mora, nuntiatur imperatorem jussisse, ut recederent milites de basilica: negotiatoribus quoque, quod exacti de condemnatione fuerant, redderetur. Quae tunc plebis totius laetitia fuit! qui totius populi plausus! quae gratiae! Erat autem dies quo sese Dominus pro nobis tradidit, quo in Ecclesia poenitentia relaxatur. Certatim hoc nuntiare milites, irruentes in altaria, osculis significare pacis insigne. Tunc agnovi quod Deus vermem antelucanum percusserat, ut tota civitas servaretur. 27. Haec gesta sunt, atque utinam jam finita! sed graviores motus futuros plena commotionis imperialia verba indicant. Ego tyrannus appellor, et plus etiam quam tyrannus. Nam cum imperatorem comites obsecrarent uti prodiret ad Ecclesiam; idque petitu militum facere se dicerent, respondit: Si vobis jusserit Ambrosius, vinctum me tradetis. Quid post hanc vocem supersit, considera. Quam vocem omnes cohorruerunt, sed habet a quibus exasperetur. 28. Denique etiam speciali expressione Calligonus, praepositus cubiculi, mandare mihi ausus est: Me vivo, tu contemnis Valentinianum? Caput tibi tollo. Respondi: Deus permittat tibi, ut impleas quod minaris; ego enim patiar quod episcopi, tu facies quod spadones. Atque utinam Deus avertat eos ab Ecclesia, in me omnia sua tela convertant, meo sanguine sitim suam expleant!