LETTER XLIX. [A.D. 390.]

S. Ambrose says that he never feels less solitary, than when by himself writing to a friend. He then dwells on the benefit of solitude; especially in that we may then have God present with us, and lay open our souls to Him.

AMBROSE TO SABINUS.

1. Since you also take pleasure in receiving my letters, by means of which, although separated from each other, we discourse together as if present, I will for the future more frequently converse with you by letter when I am alone. For  ^{05-29  29. a He is here quoting from Cicero De off. iii. 1, when; Cicero gives as a saying of Scipio Africanus, on the authoritvof Cato, 'nuquam se minus otiosum esse quam quum otiosus, nec minus solum quam quum solus esset.' It is quoted, again by S. Ambrose in De off. Min. iii. 1, 107.} I am never less alone than when I seem to be so, nor ever less at leisure than in the intervals of labour. For then I summon at pleasure whom I will, and associate to myself those whom I love most or find most congenial; no man interrupts or intrudes upon us. Then it is that I more intimately enjoy you, that I confer with you in the Scriptures, that we converse together more at length.

2. Mary was alone when addressed by the Angel, alone when the  Holy Ghost came upon her, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her. She was alone when she effected the salvation of the world, and conceived the Redemption of the universe. Peter was alone when the mystery of the sanctification of the Gentiles all over the world was made known to him. Adam was alone, and he fell not, because his mind adhered to God. But when the woman was joined to him he lost his power of abiding by the celestial precepts, and therefore he hid himself when God walked in Paradise.

3. And even now, while I read the sacred Scriptures, God walks in Paradise. The book of Genesis, wherein the virtues of the Patriarchs bud forth, is Paradise; Deuteronomy, wherein grow the precepts of the Law, is also Paradise, wherein the tree of life brings forth good fruit, and diffuses over all nations the precepts of eternal hope.

4. So when I hear,  Love your enemies, when I hear,  Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor; when I hear,  unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; when I hear these things and do not perform them, nay, when I barely love him who loves me, when I will not part with what I have, when I desire to avenge the injuries I have received, and to recover what has been wrested from me, whereas the Scripture bids me give up more than I have been asked for or deprived of, I perceive that I am acting contrary to the commands of God. Thus opening the eyes of my conscience, I perceive that God is present and walking with me; I desire to hide, I desire to clothe myself; but I am naked in His sight unto Whom  all things are naked and opened! I am abashed therefore, and desire to conceal the shame of my crimes as though they were the secret members of my body; but since God sees all things, since I am manifest to Him, though covered with leaves and shaded by thickets, I think to conceal myself from Him by the covering of my body. This is that coat of skins, in which Adam was clothed when he was cast out of Paradise, neither shielded from the cold, nor protected from scorn, but exposed to misery as well as guilt.

5. From whence it appears that it is when alone that we offer ourselves to God, that we open to Him our souls, that we put off the cloak of fraud. Adam was alone when placed in Paradise; alone also when made in the image of God: but when cast out of Paradise he was not alone. The Lord Jesus was alone when He redeemed the world; for it was no herald or messenger, but the Lord Himself alone Who redeemed His people, although He, in Whom the Father always dwells, can never be alone. Let us also then be alone, that the Lord may be with us. Farewell: love me, for I also love you.

EPISTOLA XLIX.

 Numquam minus se solum esse, quam cum solus sit amico scribens; solitudinis bona exemplis docet; maxime quod tunc liceat praesentem scripturis habere Deum, et ei mentem nostram patefacere. 

AMBROSIUS SABINO.

1. Quoniam tibi quoque complacuit nostrarum usus epistolarum, in quibus quidam inter absentes praesentium sermo est, pergam frequentius te in meis scriptis et cum 992 solus sum, alloqui.  1153D Numquam enim minus solus sum, quam cum solus esse videor: nec minus otiosus, quam cum otiosus.  1154A Certe pro arbitrio accerso, quos volo, atque adjungo mihi, quos magis diligo, aut quos aptiores arbitror: nemo interpellat, nemo interpolat. Tunc ergo te magis teneo, et de Scripturis confero, et prolixiorem simul sermonem caedimus.

2. Sola erat Maria, et loquebatur cum angelo (Luc. I, 28). Sola erat quando supervenit in eam Spiritus sanctus, et virtus Altissimi obumbravit eam. Sola erat, et operata est mundi salutem, et concepit redemptionem universorum. Solus erat Petrus, et totum per orbem consecrandarum gentium cognovit mysteria (Act. X, 10 et seq.). Solus erat Adam (Gen. II, 9), et non est praevaricatus; quia mens ejus adhaerebat Deo. Postquam vero ei mulier adjuncta est, non potuit inhaerere mandatis coelestibus;  1154B et ideo se abscondebat, quando Deus deambulabat in paradiso (De Poenit., dist. 2, cap. Quando Adam).

3. Et nunc deambulat in paradiso Deus (Gen. III, 8), quando divinas Scripturas lego. Paradisus est Genesis liber, in quo virtutes pullulant patriarcharum: paradisus Deuteronomium, in quo germinant Legis praecepta; paradisus Evangelium, in quo arbor vitae bonos fructus facit; et aeternae spei mandata diffundit per universos populos.

4. Audiens itaque:  Diligite inimicos (Matth. V, 44); audiens:  Dimitte omnia tua, et sequere me (Matth. XIX, 21); audiens:  Qui te percutit in maxilla, praebe ei et alteram (Luc. VI, 29); et haec non faciens, et vix diligens eum, qui me diligat, non dimittens  1154C quae habeo, injuriam acceptam ulcisci volens, et sublatum mihi extorquere; cum Scriptura dicat etiam aliud, id est, plus quam petitum aut ereptum est, concedendum, video me contra mandata Dei facere. Et aperiens oculos conscientiae, deambulare mihi Deum praesentem recognosco: cupio me abdere, cupio velare, sed nudus sum Deo, apud quem nuda et intecta sunt omnia (Hebr. IV, 13). Erubescens itaque tegere pudenda facinorum desidero, quasi membra mei corporis: sed quia Deus omnia videt, quia foliis obumbratus, latebris tectus appareo, puto me abscondi; quia corpore amictus sum. Ipsa est tunica pellicea, cum qua Adam de paradiso ejectus est (Gen. III, 23), nec a frigore tutus, nec tectus ab opprobrio, sed et injuriae et  1154D culpae patens.

5. Liquet igitur ex his, quia soli cum sumus,  1155A tunc nos offerimus Deo, tunc mentem ei nostram aperimus, tunc amictum fraudis exuimus. Solus erat Adam, quando in paradiso constitutus est, solus erat et quando ad imaginem Dei factus est: sed non erat solus, quando de paradiso ejectus est. Solus erat Dominus Jesus, quando mundum redemit (Joan. XVI, 32); non enim legatus neque nuntius, sed ipse Dominus solus 993 salvum fecit populum suum: etsi numquam solus est ille, in quo Pater est semper. Unde et nos soli simus, ut Dominus nobiscum sit. Vale, et nos dilige; quia nos te diligimus.