Chapter III.

Explanation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which St. Ambrose applies it to refute the teaching of the Novatians, proving that reconciliation ought not to be refused to the greatest offender upon suitable proof of repentance.

13. And the Apostle does not contradict the plain teaching of Christ, Who set forth, as a comparison of a repentant sinner, one going to a foreign country after receiving all his substance from his father, wasted it in riotous living, and later, when feeding upon husks, longed for his father’s bread and then gained the robe, the ring, the shoes, and the slaying of the calf,160    S. Luke xv. 13 ff. which is a likeness of the Passion of the Lord, whereby we receive forgiveness.

14. Well is it said that he went into a foreign country who is cut off from the sacred altar, for this is to be separated from that Jerusalem which is in heaven, from the citizenship and home of the saints. For which reason the Apostle says: “Therefore now ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God.”161    Eph. ii. 19.

15. “And,” it is said, “wasted his substance.” Rightly, for he whose faith halts in bringing forth good works does consume it. For, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”162    Heb. xi. 1. And faith is a good substance, the inheritance of our hope.

16. And no wonder if he was perishing for hunger, who lacked the divine nourishment, impelled by the want of which he says: “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.” Do you not see it plainly declared to us, that we are urged to prayer for the sake of gaining the sacrament? and do you wish to take away that for the sake of which penance is undertaken? Deprive the pilot of the hope of reaching port, and he will wander uncertainly here and there on the waves. Take away the crown from the athlete, and he will fail and lie on the course. Take from the fisher the power of catching his booty, and he will cease to cast the nets. How, then, can he, who suffers hunger in his soul, pray more earnestly to God, if he has no hope of the heavenly food?

17. “I have sinned,” he says, “against heaven, and before thee.” He confesses what is clearly a sin unto death, that you may not think that any one doing penance163    Penitentiam agere must here and elsewhere be translated thus, for it implies not mere repentance, but the undergoing outward discipline. The word penitentia means both repentance and penance. is rightly shut out from pardon. For he who has sinned against heaven has sinned either against the kingdom of heaven, or against his own soul, which is a sin unto death, and against God, to Whom alone is said: “Against Thee only have I sinned, and done evil before Thee.”164    Ps. li. [l.] 4.

18. So quickly does he gain forgiveness, that, as he is coming, and is still a great way off, his father meets him, gives him a kiss, which is the sign of sacred peace; orders the robe to be brought forth, which is the marriage garment, which if any one have not, he is shut out from the marriage feast; places the ring on his hand, which is the pledge of faith and the seal of the Holy Spirit; orders the shoes to be brought out,165    Ex. xii. 11. for he who is about to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, about to feast on the Lamb, ought to have his feet protected against all attacks of spiritual wild beasts and the bite of the serpent; bids the calf to be slain, for “Christ our Passover hath been sacrificed.”166    1 Cor. v. 7. For as often as we receive the Blood of the Lord, we proclaim the death of the Lord.167    1 Cor. xi. 26. As, then, He was once slain for all, so whensoever forgiveness of sins is granted, we receive the Sacrament of His Body, that through His Blood there may be remission of sins.

19. Therefore most evidently are we bidden by the teaching of the Lord to confer again the grace of the heavenly sacrament on those guilty even of the greatest sins, if they with open confession bear the penance due to their sin.

CAPUT III.

0499D

Superiorem solutionem confirmat proposita ex Evangelio prodigi parabola, cujus singulas partes exponens, easdem contra Novatianas assertiones ita convertit, ut inde necessario deducat etiam gravissimi criminis 0500A reo, siquidem digne poenituerit, reconciliationem non denegandam.

13. Neque enim Apostolus contra evidentem Christi doctrinam veniret, qui de peccatore poenitentiam agente comparationem posuit eo quod peregre profectus acceptam a patre omnem substantiam devoraverit vivendo luxuriose, et postea panem patris desideraverit, cum vesceretur siliquis: et meruit stolam, annulum, calceamentum, immolationem quoque vituli, quae speciem habet passionis Dominicae, per quam coeleste sacramentum nobis donatur (Luc. XV, 13 et seq.).

14. Bene dicitur quia peregre profectus est, qui erat a sacris altaribus separatus; hoc est enim ab Jerusalem illa quae in coelo est, civico quodam et domestico 0500B sanctorum separari domicilio. Unde et apostolus ait: Ergo jam non estis advenae atque peregrini, sed cives sanctorum et domestici Dei (Ephes. II, 9).

15. Et consumpsit, inquit, substantiam suam. Merito consumpsit eam, cujus fides in operibus claudicabat: Fides enim eorum quae sperantur, substantia est, rerum argumentum non apparentium (Heb. XI, 1). Et bona substantia fides, in qua spei est nostrae patrimonium.

16. Nec mirum si fame peribat, qui divino alimento egebat; cujus desiderio compulsus: Surgam, inquit, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam illi: Pater, peccavi in coelum, et coram te (Luc. XV, 18.) Nonne advertitis id evidenter nobis expositum, quod emerendi gratia sacramenti ad precandum impellimur; et hoc 0500C auferre vultis, propter quod agitur poenitentia? Tolle gubernatori perveniendi spem, et in mediis fluctibus incertus errabit. Tolle luctatori coronam, lentus jacebit in stadio. Tolle piscatori capiendi efficaciam, desinit jactare retia. Quomodo ergo potest qui famen patitur animae suae, studiosius Deum precari, si sacram desperet alimoniam?

17. Peccavi, inquit, in coelum et coram te. 420 Fatetur utique peccatum ad mortem, ne quem vos agentem cujuslibet criminis poenitentiam jure excludi putaretis; quando is qui in coelum peccavit, vel in regnum coeleste, vel in animam suam, quod est peccatum ad mortem; et peccavit eoram Deo, cui soli dicitur: Tibi soli peccavi et malum coram te feci (Psal. L, 6).

0500D 18. Tam cito veniam meretur, ut venienti et adhuc longe posito occurrat pater, osculum tribuat, quod insigne est sacrae pacis: stolam proferri jubeat, quae vestis est nuptialis, quam si quis non habuerit, a convivio nuptiali excluditur: det annulum in manu ejus, quod est fidei pignus, et sancti spiritus signaculum: 0501A calceamenta deferri praecipiat (Exod. XII, 11); celebraturus enim pascha Domini, epulaturus agnum, tectum debet adversus omnes incursus bestiarum spiritalium, morsusque serpentis habere vestigium: vitulum praecipiat occidi; quia Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus (I Cor. V, 7). Etenim quotiescumque sanguinem Domini sumimus, mortem Domini annuntiamus (I Cor. XI, 26). Sicut ergo semel pro omnibus immolatus est, ita quotiescumque peccata donantur, corporis ejus sacramentum suminus, ut per sanguinem ejus fiat peccatorum remissio (De Poenit., dist. I, c. Potest fieri, § Sicut semel).

19. Ergo evidentissime Domini praedicatione mandatum est etiam gravissimi criminis reis, si ex toto corde, et manifesta confessione peccati poenitentiam 0501B gerant, sacramenti coelestis refundendam gratiam. Unde nihil vobis ad excusationem resedisse certum est.