The Two Books of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, on the Decease of His Brother Satyrus.

 Book I.

 1. We have brought hither, dearest brethren, my sacrifice, a sacrifice undefiled, a sacrifice well pleasing to God, my lord and brother Satyrus. I did

 11. He wept for what affected us, not Himself for the Godhead sheds no tears but He wept in that nature in which He was sad He wept in that in whic

 21. I feel, indeed, that my mind is touched by the repetition of thy services and the enumeration of thy virtues, and yet in being thus affected I fin

 31. So then, brother, I esteem thee happy both in the beauty of thy life and in the opportuneness of thy death. For thou wast snatched away not from u

 41. For if at any time there was a discussion between me and my holy sister on any matter, as to which was the preferable opinion, we used to take the

 51. But in what words can I set forth his simplicity? By this I mean a certain moderation of character and soberness of mind. Pardon me, I beseech you

 61. So that one may rightly say that the Holy Spirit has this day told us by the voice of the boy reader: “He that is innocent in his hands and of a c

 71. And certainly if they have ever found any consolation who have thought that death is the end of sensation and the failing of our nature, how much

 Book II.

 1. In the former book I indulged my longing to some extent, lest too sharp remedies applied to a burning wound might rather increase than assuage the

 11. Let, then, grief be patient, let there be that moderation in adversity which is required in prosperity. If it be not seemly to rejoice immoderatel

 21. We know, however, that it survives the body, and that being set free from the bars of the body, it sees with clear gaze those things which before,

 31. And who said this but he who asked for and obtained wisdom, to know how the world was made, and the power of the elements, the course of the year,

 41. But what remedy? “Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We have a physician, let us

 51. All things, indeed, are believed to be, either because of experience, or on grounds of reason, or from similar instances, or because it is fitting

 61. However, before the season comes, those things also are not believed, for every season is not suited for the raising of seeds. Wheat is sown at on

 71. But let us now hear the prophet himself, who speaks thus: “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and the Lord led me forth in the Spirit, and placed m

 81. And this was not the only instance which our Lord Jesus Christ set forth, but He raised others also, that we might at any rate believe more numero

 91. So, then, man rose because man died man was raised again, but God raised him. Then it was man according to the Flesh, now God is all in all. For

 101. We see, then, that heaven is open to virtue, and that this is the privilege not only of a few: “For many shall come from the east and from the we

 111. Yet it is not every one’s business to sound each trumpet, nor every one’s business to call together the whole assembly, but that prerogative is g

 121. And therefore “blessed is he who keepeth the words of this prophecy,” which has revealed the resurrection to us by clearer testimony, saying: “An

 131. But I have seen what you, Gentiles, think of each other, and indeed it ought not to seem strange that you who worship beasts should believe that

1. We have brought hither, dearest brethren, my sacrifice, a sacrifice undefiled, a sacrifice well pleasing to God, my lord and brother Satyrus. I did not forget that he was mortal, nor did my feelings deceive me, but grace abounded more exceedingly. And so I have nothing to complain of, but have cause for thankfulness to God, for I always desired that if any troubles should await either the Church or myself, they should rather fall on me and on my house. Thanks, therefore, be to God, that in this time of common fear, when everything is dreaded from the barbarian movements, I ended the trouble of all by my personal grief, and that I dreaded for all which was turned upon me. And may this be fully accomplished, so that my grief may be a ransom for the grief of all.

2. Nothing among things of earth, dearest brethren, was more precious to me, nothing more worthy of love, nothing more dear than such a brother, but public matters come before private. And should any one enquire what was his feeling; he would rather be slain for others than live for himself, because Christ died according to the flesh for all, that we might learn not to live for ourselves alone.

3. To this must be added that I cannot be ungrateful to God; for I must rather rejoice that I had such a brother than grieve that I had lost a brother, for the former is a gift, the latter a debt to be paid. And so, as long as I might, I enjoyed the loan entrusted to me, now He Who deposited the pledge has taken it back. There is no difference between denying that a pledge has been deposited and grieving at its being returned. In each there is untrustworthiness, and in each [eternal] life is risked. It is a fault if you refuse repayment, and piety if you refuse a sacrifice. Since, too, the lender of money can be made a fool of, but the Author of nature, the Lender of all that we need, cannot be cheated. And so the larger the amount of the loan, so much the more gratitude is due for the use of the capital.

4. Wherefore, I cannot be ungrateful concerning my brother, for he has given back that which was common to nature, and has gained what is peculiar to grace alone. For who would refuse the common lot? Who would grieve that a pledge specially entrusted to him is taken away, since the Father gave up His only Son to death for us? Who would think that he ought to be excepted from the lot of dying, who has not been excepted from the lot of being born? It is a great mystery of divine love, that not even in Christ was exception made of the death of the body; and although He was the Lord of nature, He refused not the law of the flesh which He had taken upon Him. It is necessary for me to die, for Him it was not necessary. Could not He Who said of His servant, “If I will that he tarry thus until I come, what is that to thee?”1    S. John xxi. 22. not have remained as He was, if so He willed? But by continuance of my brother’s life here, he would have destroyed his reward and my sacrifice. What is a greater consolation to us than that according to the flesh Christ also died? Or why should I weep too violently for my brother, knowing as I do that that divine love could not die.

5. Why should I alone weep more than others for him for whom you all weep? I have merged my personal grief in the grief of all, especially because my tears are of no use, whereas yours strengthen faith and bring consolation. You who are rich weep, and by weeping prove that riches gathered together are of no avail for safety, since death cannot be put off by a money payment, and the last day carries off alike the rich and the poor. You that are old weep, because in him you fear that you see the lot of your own children; and for this reason, since you cannot prolong the life of the body, train your children not to bodily enjoyment but to virtuous duties. And you that are young weep too, because the end of life is not the ripeness of old age. The poor too wept, and, which is of much more worth, and much more fruitful, washed away his transgressions with their tears. Those are redeeming tears, those are groanings which hide the grief of death, that grief which through the plenteousness of eternal joy covers over the feeling of former grief. And so, though the funeral be that of a private person, yet is the mourning public; and therefore cannot the weeping last long which is hallowed by the affection of all.

6. For why should I weep for thee, my most loving brother, who wast thus torn from me that thou mightest be the brother of all? For I have not lost but changed my intercourse with thee; before we were inseparable in the body, now we are undivided in affection; for thou remainest with me, and ever wilt remain. And, indeed, whilst thou wast living with me, our country never tore thee from me, nor didst thou thyself ever prefer our country to me; and now thou art become surety for that other country, for I begin to be no stranger there where the better portion of myself already is. I was never wholly engrossed in myself, but the greater part of each of us was in the other, yet we were each of us in Christ, in Whom is the whole sum of all, and the portion of each severally. This grave is more pleasing to me than thy natal soil, in which is the fruit not of nature but of grace, for in that body which now lies lifeless lies the better work of my life, since in this body, too, which I bear is the richer portion of thyself.

7. And would that, as memory and gratitude are devoted to thee, so, too, whatever time I have still to breathe this air, I could breathe it into thy life, and that half of my time might be struck off from me and be added to thine! For it had been just that for those, whose use of hereditary property was always undivided, the period of life should not have been divided, or at least that we, who always without difference shared everything in common during life, should not have a difference in our deaths.

8. But now, brother, whither shall I advance, or whither shall I turn? The ox seeks his fellow, and conceives itself incomplete, and by frequent lowing shows its tender longing, if perchance that one is wanting with whom it has been wont to draw the plough. And shall I, my brother, not long after thee? Or can I ever forget thee, with whom I always drew the plough of this life? In work I was inferior, but in love more closely bound; not so much fit through my strength, as endurable through thy patience, who with the care of anxious affection didst ever protect my side with thine, as a brother in thy love, as a father in thy care, as older in watchfulness, as younger in respect. So in the one degree of relationship thou didst expend on me the duties of many, so that I long after not one only but many lost in thee, in whom alone flattery was unknown, dutifulness was portrayed. For thou hadst nothing to which to add by pretence, inasmuch as all was comprised in thy dutifulness, so as neither to receive addition nor await a change.

9. But whither am I going, in my immoderate grief, forgetful of my duty, mindful of kindness received? The Apostle calls me back, and as it were puts a bit upon my sorrow, saying, as you heard just now: “We would not that ye should be ignorant, brethren, concerning them that sleep, that ye be not sorrowful, as the rest which have no hope.”2    1 Thess. iv. 14. Pardon me, dearest brethren. For we are not all able to say: “Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ.”3    1 Cor. iv. 16. But if you seek one to imitate, you have One Whom you may imitate. All are not fitted to teach, would that all were apt to learn.

10. But we have not incurred any grievous sin by our tears. Not all weeping proceeds from unbelief or weakness. Natural grief is one thing, distrustful sadness is another, and there is a very great difference between longing for what you have lost and lamenting that you have lost it. Not only grief has tears, joy also has tears of its own. Both piety excites weeping, and prayer waters the couch, and supplication, according to the prophet’s saying, washes the bed.4    Ps. vi. 7. Their friends made a great mourning when the patriarchs were buried. Tears, then, are marks of devotion, not producers of grief.5    As in many other passages, a play upon words cannot be translated. The Latin is: Lacrymæ ergo pietatis indices, non illices sunt doloris. I confess, then, that I too wept, but the Lord also wept. He wept for one not related to Him, I for my brother. He wept for all in weeping for one, I will weep for thee in all, my brother.

1289 1113 1. Deduximus, fratres dilectissimi, hostiam meam, hostiam incontaminatam, hostiam Deo placentem, 1290 domnum et fratrem meum Satyrum. Memineram esse mortalem, nec fefellit opinio, 1291A sed superabundavit gratia. Itaque nihil habeo quod querar, et habeo in quo Deo gratias agam; quia semper optavi, ut si quae perturbationes vel Ecclesiam vel me manerent, in me potius ac meam deciderent domum. Deo igitur gratias, quia in hoc omnium metu, cum omnia motibus sint suspecta Barbaricis, communem moerorem privato dolore transegi, et in me conversum est quidquid timebam omnibus. Atque utinam hic consummatum sit, ut dolor meus publici doloris redemptio sit!

2. Nihil quidem habui, fratres charissimi, in rebus humanis tanto fratre pretiosius, nihil amabilius, nihil charius; sed praestant privatis publica. Ipsius quoque sententiam si quis sciscitaretur, mallet occidi pro aliis, quam sibi vivere; propterea enim 1291B pro omnibus secundum carnem Christus est mortuus, ut nos non solis nobis vivere disceremus (II Cor. V, 15).

3. Accedit illud quod ingratus divinitati esse non possum: laetandum est enim magis quod talem fratrem habuerim, quam dolendum quod fratrem amiserim; illud enim munus, hoc debitum est. Itaque perfunctus sum, quamdiu licuit, 1114 commisso mihi fenore: qui deposuit pignus, recepit. Nihil interest utrum abjures depositum, an doleas restitutum. In utroque fidei ambiguum, vitae periculum est. An si pecuniam neges, culpa est: si hostiam neges, pietas est? cum pecuniae fenerator illudi possit, naturae auctor, et necessitudinis creditor fraudari non queat. Itaque quanto uberior fenoris 1291C summa, tanto gratior sortis usura.

4. Unde ingrati de fratre esse non possumus; quia quod naturae communis fuit, reddidit: quod gratiae singularis est, meruit. Quis enim communem conditionem recuset? Quis doleat sibi proprium pignus ereptum cum ad solatium nostri Filium suum unicum pro nobis Pater tradiderit ad mortem (Rom. VIII, 32)? Quis exceptum se putet esse debere a conditione moriendi, qui non sit exceptus a conditione nascendi? Magnum pietatis mysterium, ut mors corporis nec in Christo esset excepta; ac licet naturae Dominus, carnis tamen quam susceperat, legem non recusaret. Et mihi necesse est mori, illi necesse non fuit. An qui de servo dicit: Si eum volo sic manere, donec venio, quid ad te (Joan. XXI, 1292A 22)? Non potuit ipse sic manere, si vellet? Sed perpetuitate vitae hujus sibi pretium, mihi sacrificium perdidisset. Quod igitur majus est solatium nostri, quam quod secundum carnem et Christus mortuus est? Aut cur ego vehementius fleam fratrem, cum sciam illam mori non potuisse pietatem?

1115 5. Cur solus prae caeteris fleam, quem fletis omnes? Privatum dolorem communi dolore digessi, praesertim cum meae lacrymae nihil prosint, vestrae autem lacrymae fidem astruant, consolationem afferant. Fletis divites, et flendo probatis nihil opitulari repositas divitias ad salutem; cum pecuniae pretio mors differri non queat, et pari usu divitem, inopemque dies supremus eripiat. Fletis senes, quod in hoc liberorum sortem pavetis; et ideo 1292B quia vitam corporis producere non potestis, instituite liberos non ad usum corporis, sed ad virtutis officium. Fletis et juvenes, quod naturae finis non sit maturitas senectutis. Fleverunt et pauperes, et quod multo est pretiosius, multoque uberius, lacrymis suis ejus delicta laverunt. Illae sunt lacrymae redemptrices, illi gemitus qui dolorem mortis abscondunt, ille dolor qui, perpetuae ubertate laetitiae, veteris sensum doloris obducat. Itaque licet privatum funus, fletus tamen est publicus; et ideo non potest fletus esse diuturnus, qui universorum est affectibus consecratus.

6. Nam quid te, mi frater amantissime, fleam, qui mihi sic ereptus es, ut esses omnium? Non enim perdidi usum tui, sed commutavi: ante corpore inseparabilis, 1292C nunc individuus affectu; manes enim mecum, at semper manebis. Et quidem cum viveres nobiscum, numquam te patria eripuit mihi, nec ipse mihi umquam patriam praetulisti: et nunc alteram praestitisti: coepi enim jam hic non esse peregrinus, ubi melior mei portio est. Numquam enim totus in me fui, sed in altero nostri pars major amborum: uterque autem eramus in Christo, in quo et summa universitatis, et portio singulorum est. Hic mihi tumulus genitali solo gratior, in quo non naturae, sed gratiae meae fructus est; in isto enim corpore, quod nunc exanimum jacet, praestantior vitae meae functio; quia in hoc quoque quod gero corpore, uberior tui portio.

7. Atque utinam ut memoriae, ut gratiae; ita etiam 1293A vitae tuae hoc quidquid est, quod spiramus, spirare possemus, dimidiumque meorum decideret temporum, quod ad tuorum proficeret usum! Par enim erat, ut quibus indivisum semper fuit patrimonium facultatum, non esset vitae tempus divisum: vel certe qui indistincta semper habuimus vivendi consortia, non haberemus distincta moriendi.

8. Nunc vero, frater, quo progrediar, quove convertar? Bos bovem requirit, seque non totum putat, et frequenti mugitu pium testatur amorem, si forte defecerit cum quo ducere collo aratra consuevit: et ego te, frater, non requiram? Aut possum umquam oblivisci tui, cum quo vitae hujus semper aratra sustinui? Labore inferior, sed amore conjunctior: non tam mea virtute habilis, quam tua patientia tolerabilis, 1293B 1116 qui pio semper sollicitus affectu latus meum tuo latere sepiebas: charitate, ut frater: cura, ut pater; sollicitudine, ut senior: reverentia, ut junior. Ita in unius necessitudinis gradu complurium mihi necessitudinum officia impendebas; ut in te non unum, sed plures amissos requiram, in quo uno ignorata adulatio, expressa est pietas. Neque enim habebas quod simulatione adderes, qui totum pietate comprehenderes, ut nec incrementa receperis, nec vicem exspectaris.

9. Sed quo immemor officii, memor gratiae, immodico dolore progredior? Revocat Apostolus, et tamquam frenos moerori inducit, dicens sicut nuper audistis: Nolumus vos ignorare, fratres, de dormientibus; ut non tristes sitis, sicut et caeteri qui spem non 1293Chabent (I Thess. IV, 12). Date veniam, fratres charissimi. Neque enim omnes possumus dicere: Imitatores mei estole, sicut et ego Christi (I Cor. IV, 16); sed ad imitandum si auctorem quaeritis, habetis quem possitis imitari. Non omnes ad docendum idonei, utinam omnes ad discendum habiles!

10. At non gravem lacrymis contraximus culpam: non omnis infidelitatis aut infirmitatis est fletus. Alius est naturae dolor, alia est tristitia diffidentiae: et plurimum refert desiderare, quod habueris; et lugere, quod amiseris. Non solus dolor lacrymas habet, habet et laetitia lacrymas suas, et pietas fletum excitat, et oratio stratum rigat, et precatio, juxta Propheticum dictum (Psal. VI, 7), lectulum lavat. Fecerunt et fletum magnum sui cum patriarchae sepelirentur. 1293D Lacrymae ergo, pietatis indices, non illices 1294A sunt doloris. Lacrymavi ergo, fateor, etiam ego, sed lacrymavit et Dominus. Ille alienum, ego fratrem (Joan. XI, 35): ille in uno lacrymavit omnes, ego in omnibus lacrymabo te, frater.