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

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 find my rest, and although these memories renew my grief, they nevertheless bring pleasure. Am I able either not to think of thee, or ever to think of thee without tears? And shall I ever be able either not to remember such a brother, or to remember him without tearful gratitude? For what has ever been pleasant to me that has not had its source in thee? What, I say, has ever been a pleasure to me without thee, or to thee without me? Had we not every practice in common, almost to our very eyesight and our sleep? Were our wills ever at variance? And what step did we not take in common? So that we almost seemed in raising our feet to move each other’s body.

22. But if ever either had to go forth without the other, one would think that his side was unprotected, one could see his countenance troubled, one would suppose that his soul was sad, the accustomed grace, the usual vigour did not shine forth, the loneliness was a subject of dread to all, and made them fearful of some sickness. Such a strange thing it seemed to all that we were separated. I certainly, impatient at my brother’s absence, and having it constantly in mind, kept on turning my head seeking him, as it were, present, and seemed to myself then to see him and speak to him. But if I was disappointed in my hope, I seemed to myself, as it were, to be dragging a yoke on my bowed down neck, to advance with difficulty, to meet others with diffidence, and to return home hurriedly, since it gave me no pleasure to go farther without thee.

23. But when we both had to go forth, there were not more steps on the way than words, nor was our pace quicker than our talk, and it was less for the sake of walking than for the pleasure of conversing, for each of us hung on the lips of the other. We thought not of gazing intently on the view as we passed along, but listened to each other’s anxious talk, drank in the kindly expression of the eyes, and inhaled the delight of the brother’s appearance. How I used silently to admire within myself thy virtues, how I congratulated myself that God had given me such a brother, so modest, so capable, so innocent, so simple, so that when I thought of thy innocence I began to doubt thy capability, when I saw thy capability I could hardly imagine thy innocence! But thou didst combine both with wonderful perfection.

24. Lastly, what we both had been unable to effect, thou didst accomplish alone. Prosper, as I hear, congratulated himself because he thought that on account of my priesthood he need not restore what he had purloined, but he found thy power alone to be greater than that of us both together. And so he paid all, and was not ungrateful for thy moderation, and did not scoff at thy modesty. But for whom, brother, didst thou seek to gain that? We wished that should be the reward of thy labours which was the proof of them. Thou didst accomplish everything, and when having done all thou didst return, thou alone, who art to be preferred to all, art torn from us; as if thou hadst put off death for this end, that thou mightest fulfil the office of affection, and then carry off the palm for capability.

25. How little, dearest brother, did the honours of this world delight us, because they separated us from one another! And we accepted them, not because the acquisition of them was to be desired, but that there might be no appearance of paltry dissimulation. Or perhaps they were therefore granted to us, that, inasmuch as by thy early death thou wast about to shatter our pleasure, we might learn to live without each other.

26. And indeed I recognize the foreboding dread of my mind, when I often go again through what I have written. I endeavoured to restrain thee, brother, from visiting Africa thyself, and wished thee rather to send some one. I was afraid to let thee go that journey, to trust thee to the waves, and a greater fear than usual came over my mind; but thou didst arrange the journey, and order the business, and, as I hear, didst entrust thyself again to the waves in an old and leaky vessel. For since thou wast aiming at speed, thou didst set caution aside; eager to do me a kindness, thou madest nothing of thy danger.

27. O deceitful joy! O the uncertain course of earthly affairs! We thought that he who was returned from Africa, restored from the sea, preserved after shipwreck, could not now be snatched from us; but, though on land, we suffered a more grievous shipwreck, for the death of him whom shipwreck at sea owing to strong swimming could not kill is shipwreck to us. For what enjoyment remains to us, from whom so sweet an ornament has been taken, so bright a light in this world’s darkness has been extinguished? For in him an ornament not only of our family but of the whole fatherland has perished.

28. I feel, indeed, the deepest gratitude to you, dearest brethren, holy people, that you esteem my grief as no other than your own, that you feel this bereavement as having happened to yourselves, that you offer me the tears of the whole city, of every age, and the good wishes of every rank, with unusual affection. For this is not the grief of private sympathy, but as it were a service and offering of public good-will. And should any sympathy with me because of the loss of such a brother touch you, I have abundant fruit from it, I have the pledge of your affection. I might prefer that my brother were living, but yet public kindness is in prosperity very pleasant, and in adversity very grateful.

29. And, indeed, so great kindness seems to me to merit no ordinary gratitude. For not without a purpose are the widows in the Acts of the Apostles described as weeping when Tabitha was dead,11    Acts ix. 39. or the crowd in the Gospel, moved by the widow’s tears and accompanying the funeral of the young man who was to be raised again.12    S. Luke vii. 12. There is, then, no doubt that by your tears the protection of the apostles is obtained; no doubt, I say, that Christ is moved to mercy, seeing you weeping. Though He has not now touched the bier, yet He has received the spirit commended to Him, and if He have not called the dead by the bodily voice, yet He has by the authority of His divine power delivered my brother’s soul from the pains of death and from the attacks of wicked spirits. And though he that was dead has not sat up on the bier, yet he has found rest in Christ; and if he have not spoken to us, yet he sees those things which are above us, and rejoices in that he now sees higher things than we. For by the things which we read in the Gospels we understand what shall be, and what we see at present is a sign of what is to be.

30. He had no need of being raised again for time, for whom the raising again for eternity is waiting. For why should he fall back into this wretched and miserable state of corruption, and return to this mournful life, for whose rescue from such imminent evils and threatening dangers we ought rather to rejoice? For if no one mourns for Enoch, who was translated13    Gen. v. 24. when the world was at peace and wars were not raging, but the people rather congratulated him, as Scripture says concerning him: “He was taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding,”14    Wisd. iv. 11. with how much greater justice must this now be said, when to the dangers of the world is added the uncertainty of life. He was taken away that he might not fall into the hands of the barbarians; he was taken away that he might not see the ruin of the whole earth, the end of the world, the burial of his relatives, the death of fellow-citizens; lest, lastly, which is more bitter than any death, he should see the pollution of the holy virgins and widows.

21. Sentio equidem quod repetendis officiis tuis, recensendisque virtutibus, afficiatur animus: sed tamen in ipsa mei affectione requiesco, atque hae mihi recordationes etsi dolorem renovant, tamen afferunt voluptatem. An ego possum aut non cogitare de te, aut umquam sine lacrymis cogitare? Et potero umquam aut tanti non meminisse fratris, aut sine lacrymabili quadam meminisse gratia? Quid enim mihi umquam jucundum, quod non esset ex te profectum? Quid, inquam, mihi sine te, aut tibi umquam sine me voluptati fuit? Quis non usus nobis, et prope visus ipse, somnusque communis? Quae discreta umquam voluntas? Quod non commune 1297C vestigium? fere ut cum gradum tollerem, vel tu meum, vel ego tuum corpus videremur attollere.

22. Quod si quando sine altero prodeundum fuit, intectum latus putares, affectum vultum cerneres, moestum animum judicares: non assueta gratia, non vigor solitus praenitebat: suspecta omnibus solitudo metum alicujus aegritudinis afferebat. Ita novum videbatur omnibus nos dividi! Ego certe fraternae impatiens et non oblitus absentiae, quasi praesentem reflexa saepius cervice quaerebam, et coram alloqui atque aspicere videbar mihi: sed tamquam suspenso collo jugum, ubi speratis excideram, 1120 trahere me putabam, difficilis progredi, verecundus videri, et redire properans, quod sine te procedere non liberet.

1298A 23. At vero ubi ambobus prodeundum fuit, non plura in itinere vestigia, quam verba; nec incessus, quam sermo crebrior: nec ambulandi cura, sed colloquendi gratia; uterque enim nostrum ex alterius ore pendebat. Non intento aspectu legere iter, sed mutuo sollicitos experiri sermones, haurire oculorum gratiam, spirare fraternae imaginis voluptates. Quam virtutes tuas tacitus mecum ipse mirabar! quam plaudebam mihi, quod tali me Dominus fratre donaverat, tam pudico, tam efficaci, tam innocenti, tam simplici; ut cum tuam innocentiam cogitarem, efficaciam desperarem: cum efficaciam cernerem, innocentiam non putarem! Sed utrumque mira quadam virtute jungebas.

24. Denique ea quae ambo nequiveramus concludere, 1298B solus implesti. Plaudebat sibi, ut audio, Prosper, quod sacerdotii mei occasione redditurum se, quae abstulerat, non putabat: sed vehementiorem tuam unius efficaciam expertus est, quam duorum. Itaque solvit omnia, nec moderationi ingratus tuae, nec illudens pudori: sed et modestiae gratus, nec insolens efficaciae. Sed cui, frater, illa quaesisti? Nos enim idem volebamus laborum tuorum esse praemium, quod documentum erat. Peregisti omnia, et ubi perfunctus omnibus revertisti, tu solus nobis, qui omnibus es praeferendus, eriperis; quasi ideo mortem distuleris, ut consummares pietatis officium, palmam efficaciae reportares.

25. Quam nec ipsi nos, frater charissime, saeculi hujus delectabant honores, quod nos a nobis invicem 1298C dividebant! Quos ideo adepti sumus, non quia fuit eorum expetenda perceptio, sed ne vilis dissimulatio videretur. Aut fortasse ideo sunt tributi, ut quia immaturo tui obitu nostrae futurus eras voluptatis occasus, sine nobis jam vivere disceremus.

26. Et quidem praesagae mentis agnosco formidinem, dum repeto saepe, quae scripserim. Revocabam te, frater, ne ipse Africam peteres, ac potius aliquem destinares. Timebam te committere viae, fluctibus credere, et solito metus major incesserat animum: sed et peregrinationem explicuisti, et rem ordinasti, et veteri et sentinoso, ut audio, navigio iterum te fluctibus credidisti. Namque cum celeritatem aucuparis, cautelam praetermisisti, avidus nostrae gratiae, dissimulans periculi tui.

1299A 27. O fallax laetitia! o incerta humanarum rerum curricula! Ex Africa redditum, ex mari restitutum, ex naufragio servatum, putabamus jam nobis non posse eripi: sed graviora naufragia 1121 in terris positi sustinemus; nam quem non potuerunt naufragia maris ad mortem deducere, strenuis natatibus evitata, ejus mors coepit nobis esse naufragio. Quid enim superest suavitatis, quibus tam praedulce decus, tam clarum in his mundi tenebris lumen exstinctum est: in quo non nostrae solum familiae, sed totius patriae decus occidit?

28. Habeo sane vobis, fratres dilectissimi, plebs sancta, maximam gratiam, quod non alium dolorem meum, quam vestrum putatis; quod vobis accidisse hanc nostri creditis solitudinem, quod fletum totius 1299B civitatis, aetatum omnium, ordinum omnium vota, nova quadam pietate defertis. Non enim misericordiae privatae dolor, sed quoddam publicae officium et munus est gratiae: aut si qua vos mei tangit misericordia, quod talem fratrem amiserim, habeo fructum uberem, habeo vestri pignus affectus. Mallem fratrem viventem; sed tamen publicum officium in secundis rebus jucundius est, in adversis gratius.

29. Neque vero mihi mediocre meritum tanti videtur officii. Neque enim otiose vel in Actibus apostolorum (Act. IX, 39), Thabita mortua, flentes viduae describuntur, vel in Evangelio (Luc. VII, 12) mota lacrymis viduae prosequens turba funus adolescentis inducitur, cui resurrectio debebatur; illam 1299C tamen Thabitam viduae, hunc tota civitas flevit. Non ergo dubium est vestris lacrymis apostolorum patrocinium comparari: non, inquam, dubium est Christum misericordia motum, cum vos flentes videret. Etsi nunc non tetigit loculum, suscepit tamen commendatum spiritum: et si non appellavit corporis voce defunctum; divinae tamen potestatis auctoritate a cruciatibus mortis, et a nequitiae spiritalis incursionibus ejus animam liberavit: et si non resedit in loculo, qui erat mortuus; tamen requievit in Christo: et si non locutus est nobis; tamen ea quae supra nos sunt, cernit: et quae potiora sunt nobis, jam se videre laetatur. Per ea enim quae in 1300A Evangelio legimus, quae futura sunt intelligimus: et praesentium species indicium est futurorum.

30. Non opus fuit ei resurrectio temporalis, cui aeterna debetur. Quid enim in hanc miseram et aerumnosissimam recideret labem, atque in hanc flebilem vitam rediret, quem raptum magis 1122 esse ex tam imminentibus malis urgentibusque periculis gaudere debemus? Nam si pacato saeculo, bellisque cessantibus, raptum Enoch (Gen. V, 24) nemo deflevit, sed magis propheta laudavit, sicut de illo Scriptura dixit: Raptus est, ne malitiamutaret cor ejus (Sap. IV, 11); quanto magis nunc jure dicendum est, cum ad saeculi lubricum, vitae accedat ambiguum! Raptus est, ne in manus incideret Barbarorum: raptus est, ne totius orbis excidia, 1300B mundi finem, propinquorum funera, civium mortes, ne postremo sanctarum virginum atque viduarum, quod omni morte acerbius est, colluvionem videret.