Chapter II.

The life of Mary is set before virgins as an example, and her many virtues are dwelt upon, her chastity, humility, hard life, love of retirement, and the like; then her kindness to others, her zeal in learning, and love of frequenting the temple. St. Ambrose then sets forth how she, adorned with all these virtues, will come to meet the numberless bands of virgins and lead them with great triumph to the bridal chamber of the Spouse.

6. Let, then, the life of Mary be as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue: what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast.

7. The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? What more chaste than she who bore a body without contact with another body? For why should I speak of her other virtues? She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind, who stained the sincerity of its disposition by no guile, who was humble in heart, grave in speech, prudent in mind, sparing of words, studious in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue. When did she pain her parents even by a look? When did she disagree with her neighbours? When did she despise the lowly? When did she avoid the needy? Being wont only to go to such gatherings of men as mercy would not blush at, nor modesty pass by. There was nothing gloomy in her eyes, nothing forward in her words, nothing unseemly in her acts, there was not a silly movement, nor unrestrained step, nor was her voice petulant, that the very appearance of her outward being might be the image of her soul, the representation of what is approved. For a well-ordered house ought to be recognized on the very threshold, and should show at the very first entrance that no darkness is hidden within, as our soul hindered by no restraints of the body may shine abroad like a lamp placed within.

8. Why should I detail her spareness of food, her abundance of services—the one abounding beyond nature, the other almost insufficient for nature? And there were no seasons of slackness, but days of fasting, one upon the other. And if ever the desire for refreshment came, her food was generally what came to hand, taken to keep off death, not to minister to comfort. Necessity before inclination caused her to sleep, and yet when her body was sleeping her soul was awake, and often in sleep either went again through what had been read, or went on with what had been interrupted by sleep, or carried out what had been designed, or foresaw what was to be carried out.

9. She was unaccustomed to go from home, except for divine service, and this with parents or kinsfolk. Busy in private at home, accompanied by others abroad, yet with no better guardian than herself, as she, inspiring respect by her gait and address, progressed not so much by the motion of her feet as by step upon step of virtue. But though the Virgin had other persons who were protectors of her body, she alone guarded her character; she can learn many points if she be her own teacher, who possesses the perfection of all virtues, for whatever she did is a lesson. Mary attended to everything as though she were warned by many, and fulfilled every obligation of virtue as though she were teaching rather than learning.

10. Such has the Evangelist shown her, such did the angel find her, such did the Holy Spirit choose her. Why delay about details? How her parents loved her, strangers praised her, how worthy she was that the Son of God should be born of her. She, when the angel entered, was found at home in privacy, without a companion, that no one might interrupt her attention or disturb her; and she did not desire any women as companions, who had the companionship of good thoughts. Moreover, she seemed to herself to be less alone when she was alone. For how should she be alone, who had with her so many books, so many archangels, so many prophets?

11. And so, too, when Gabriel visited her,65    Cant. i. 2, 3; S. Mark xii. 25.    S. Luke i. 28. did he find her, and Mary trembled, being disturbed, as though at the form of a man, but on hearing his name recognized him as one not unknown to her. And so she was a stranger as to men, but not as to the angel; that we might know that her ears were modest and her eyes bashful. Then when saluted she kept silence, and when addressed she answered, and she whose feelings were first troubled afterwards promised obedience.

12. And holy Scripture points out how modest she was towards her neighbours. For she became more humble when she knew herself to be chosen of God, and went forthwith to her kinswoman in the hill country, not in order to gain belief by anything external, for she had believed the word of God. “Blessed,” she said, “art thou who didst believe.”66    2 [4] Kings ii. 11.    S. Luke i. 56. And she abode with her three months. Now in such an interval of time it is not that faith is being sought for, but kindness which is being shown. And this was after that the child, leaping in his mother’s womb, had saluted the mother of the Lord, attaining to reason before birth.

13. And then, in the many subsequent wonders, when the barren bore a son, the virgin conceived, the dumb spake, the wise men worshipped, Simeon waited, the stars gave notice. Mary, who was moved by the angel’s entrance, was unmoved by the miracles. “Mary,” it is said, “kept all these things in her heart.”67    S. Matt. xvii. 3.    S. Luke ii. 19. Though she was the mother of the Lord, yet she desired to learn the precepts of the Lord, and she who brought forth God, yet desired to know God.

14. And then, how she also went every year to Jerusalem at the solemn day of the passover, and went with Joseph. Everywhere is modesty the companion of her singular virtues in the Virgin. This, without which virginity cannot exist, must be the inseparable companion of virginity. And so Mary did not go even to the temple without the guardianship of her modesty.

15. This is the likeness of virginity. For Mary was such that her example alone is a lesson for all. If, then, the author displeases us not, let us make trial of the production, that whoever desires its reward for herself may imitate the pattern. How many kinds of virtues shine forth in one Virgin! The secret of modesty, the banner of faith, the service of devotion, the Virgin within the house, the companion for the ministry, the mother at the temple.

16. Oh! how many virgins shall she meet, how many shall she embrace and bring to the Lord, and say: “She has been faithful to her espousal, to my Son; she has kept her bridal couch with spotless modesty.” How shall the Lord Himself commend them to His Father, repeating again those words of His: “Holy Father, these are they whom I have kept for Thee, on whom the Son of Man leant His head and rested; I ask that where I am there they may be with Me.”68    Mal. iv. 5.    S. John xvii. 24. And if they ought to benefit not themselves only, who lived not for themselves alone, one virgin may redeem her parents, another her brothers. “Holy Father, the world hath not known Me, but these have known Me, and have willed not to know the world.”69    Exod. xv. 20.    S. John xvii. 25.

17. What a procession shall that be, what joy of applauding angels when she is found worthy of dwelling in heaven who lived on earth a heavenly life! Then too Mary,70    1 Cor. x. 11.    Mary is the same name as the Hebrew Miriam. taking her timbrel, shall stir up the choirs of virgins, singing to the Lord because they have passed through the sea of this world without suffering from the waves of this world.71    S. Matt. iv. 11.    Ex. xv. 20. Then each shall rejoice, saying: “I will go to the altar of God; to God Who maketh my youth glad;”72    S. Luke ii. 13, 14.    Ps. xliii. [xlii.] 4. and, “I will offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay my vows unto the Most High.”73    Ps. l. [xlix.] 14.

18. Nor would I hesitate to admit you to the altars of God, whose souls I would without hesitation call altars, on which Christ is daily offered for the redemption of the body. For if the virgin’s body be a temple of God, what is her soul, which, the ashes, as it were, of the body being shaken off, once more uncovered by the hand of the Eternal Priest, exhales the vapour of the divine fire. Blessed virgins, who emit a fragrance through divine grace as gardens do through flowers, temples through religion, altars through the priest.

164 CAPUT II.

Virginibus exemplum Mariae proponitur, cujus variae virtutes enumerantur, castitas, humilitas, vitae asperitas, 0208Csecessus amor; quae quidem virtus ubi testimonio Evangelico probata est, inde etiam ejus pietas erga propinquas, discendi sedulitas, atque adeundi templi studium commendatur. Narratur denique quemadmodum illa tot muneribus exornata, innumeris virginibus obviam ventura sit, nec sine magnifico triumpho ad thalamum Sponsi, et coelestia altaria quibus ob castitatem similes fuere, deductura.

6. Sit igitur vobis tamquam in imagine descripta virginitas vita Mariae, de qua velut speculo refulgeat species castitatis et forma virtutis. Hinc sumatis licet exempla vivendi, ubi tamquam in exemplari magisteria expressa probitatis, quid corrigere, quid effingere, quid tenere debeatis, ostendunt.

0209A 7. Primus discendi ardor nobilitas est magistri. Quid nobilius Dei matre? quid splendidius ea, quam Splendor elegit? quid castius ea quae corpus sine corporis contagione generavit? Nam de caeteris ejus virtutibus quid loquar? Virgo erat (Cf. S. Aug. lib. IV de Doct. Christ. c. 21) non solum corpore, sed etiam mente, quae nullo doli ambitu sincerum adulteraret affectum: corde humilis, verbis gravis, animi prudens, loquendi parcior, legendi studiosior: non in incerto divitiarum, sed in prece pauperum spem reponens: intenta operi, verecunda sermone, arbitrum mentis solita non hominem, sed Deum quaerere: nullum laedere, bene velle omnibus, assurgere majoribus natu, aequalibus non invidere, fugere jactantiam, rationem sequi, amare virtutem. 0209B Quando ista vel vultu laesit parentes? quando dissensit a propinquis? quando fastidivit humilem? quando derisit debilem? quando vitavit inopem; eos solos solita coetus virorum invisere, quos misericordia non erubesceret, neque praeteriret verecundia? Nihil torvum in oculis, nihil in verbis procax, nihil in actu inverecundum: non gestus fractior, non incessus solutior, non vox petulantior; ut ipsa corporis species simulacrum fuerit mentis, figura probitatis. Bona quippe domus in ipso vestibulo debet agnosci, ac primo praetendat ingressu nihil intus latere tenebrarum; ut mens nostra nullis repagulis corporalibus impedita, tamquam lucernae lux intus posita foris luceat.

8. Quid ego exsequar ciborum parcimoniam, officiorum 0209C redundantiam: alterum ultra naturam superfuisse, alterum pene ipsi naturae defuisse: 165 illic nulla intermissa tempora, hic congeminatos jejunio dies? Et siquando reficiendi successisset voluntas, cibus plerumque obvius, qui mortem arceret, non delicias ministraret. Dormire non prius cupiditas quam necessitas fuit; et tamen cum quiesceret corpus, vigilaret animus: qui frequenter in somnis aut lecta repetit, aut somno interrupta continuat, aut disposita gerit, aut gerenda praenuntiat.

9. Prodire domo nescia, nisi cum ad Ecclesiam conveniret, et hoc ipsum cum parentibus, aut propinquis. Domestico operosa secreto, forensi stipata comitatu; nullo meliore tamen sui custode quam se ipsa: quae incessu affatuque venerabilis, non tam 0209D vestigium pedis tolleret, quam gradum virtutis attolleret. Ut tamen alios habeat virgo membrorum custodes suorum, morum autem suorum se habeat ipsa custodem: plures erunt de quibus discat, si ipsa se doceat quae virtutes magistras habet: quia quidquid egerit, disciplina est. Sic Maria intendebat omnibus, quasi a pluribus moneretur: sic omnia implebat virtutis officia, ut non tam disceret, quam doceret.

0210A 10. Talem hanc evangelista monstravit (Luc I, 27), talem angelus reperit, talem Spiritus sanctus elegit. Quid enim in singulis morer, ut eam parentes dilexerint, extranei praedicaverint, quae digna fuit ex qua Dei Filius nasceretur? Haec ad ipsos ingressus angeli inventa domi in penetralibus, sine comite, ne quis intentionem abrumperet, ne quis obstreperet; neque enim comites feminas desiderabat, quae bonas cogitationes comites habebat. Quin etiam tum sibi minus sola videbatur, cum sola esset. Nam quemadmodum sola, cui tot libri adessent; tot archangeli, tot prophetae?

11. Denique et Gabriel eam ubi revisere solebat, invenit: et angelum Maria quasi virum specie mota trepidavit, quasi non incognitum audito nomine 0210B recognovit (Ibid., 28 et seq.). Ita peregrinata est in viro, quae non est peregrinata in Angelo; ut agnoscas aures religiosas, oculos verecundos. Denique salutata obmutuit, et appellata respondit: sed quae primo turbaverat affectum, postea promisit obsequium.

12. Quam vero religiosa in propinquas fuerit, Scriptura divina significat (Ibid., 45). Nam et humilior facta est, ubi se a Deo cognovit electam, et statim ad cognatam suam in montana processit: non utique ut exemplo crederet, quae jam crediderat oraculo: Beata enim, inquit, quae credidisti (Ibid., 56). Et tribus cum ea mensibus mansit. Tanti autem intervallo temporis non fides quaeritur, sed pietas exhibetur. Et hoc posteaquam in utero parentis 0210C exsiliens puer matrem Domini salutavit, prius compos devotionis, quam naturae.

13. Inde tot sequentibus signis, cum sterilis pareret, virgo conciperet, loqueretur mutus, adoraret magus, exspectaret Simeon, sidera nuntiarent, Maria mobilis ad introitum, immobilis ad miraculum: Conservabat, inquit, haec omnia in corde suo (Luc. II, 19). Quamvis mater Domini, 166 discere tamen praecepta Domini desiderabat: et quae Deum genuerat, Deum tamen scire cupiebat.

14. Quid, quod annis quoque omnibus ibat in Hierusalem solemni die paschae, et ibat cum Joseph? (Ibid., 41.) Ubique in virgine comes singularum virtutum est pudor. Hic individuus debet esse virginitati, sine quo non potest esse virginitas. Nec ad templum 0210D igitur Maria sine pudoris sui custode processit.

15. Haec est imago virginitatis. Talis enim fuit Maria, ut ejus unius vita omnium sit disciplina. Si igitur auctor non displicet, opus probemus; ut quaecumque sibi ejus exoptat praemium, imitetur exemplum. Quantae in una virgine species virtutum emicant? Secretum verecundiae, vexillum fidei, devotionis obsequium: virgo intra domum, comes ad ministerium, mater ad templum.

0211A 16. O quantis illa virginibus occurret, quantas complexa ad Dominum trahet, dicens: Haec thorum filii mei, haec thalamos nuptiales immaculato servavit pudore! Quemadmodum eas ipse Dominus commendabit Patri; nimirum illud repetens suum: Pater sancte, istae sunt quas custodivi tibi, in quibus Filius hominis caput reclinans quievit; peto ut ubi ego sum, et ipsae sint mecum (Joan XVII, 24). Sed si non solis sibi debent prodesse, quae non solis vixerunt sibi: haec parentes, haec redimat fratres. Pater juste, mundus me non cognovit, istae autem me cognoverunt, et mundum cognoscere noluerunt (Ibid., 25).

17. Quae pompa illa, quanta angelorum laetitia plaudentium, quod habitare mereatur in coelo, quae coelesti vita vixit in saeculo! Tunc etiam Maria 0211B tympanum sumens, choros virginales excitabit cantantes Domino quod per mare saeculi sine saecularibus fluctibus transierunt (Exod. XV, 20). Tunc unaquaeque exsultabit dicens: Et introibo ad altare Dei mei, et ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam (Psal. XLII, 4). Immolo Deo sacrificium laudis, et reddo Altissimo vota mea (Psal. XLIX, 14).

18. Neque enim dubitaverim vobis patere altaria Dei, quarum mentes altaria confidenter dixerim, in quibus quotidie pro redemptione corporis Christus immolatur. Nam si corpus virginis Dei templum est, animus quid est, qui tamquam membrorum cineribus exagitatis, sacerdotis aeterni redopertus manu, vaporem divini ignis exhalat? Beatae virgines, quae tam immortali spiratis gratia, ut horti floribus, 0211C ut templa religione, ut altaria sacerdote!