Tag: Ambrose

Pulchra itaque copula seniorum atque adolescentium. alii testimonio, alii solatio sunt: alii magisterio, alii delectationi. omitto quod Abrahae adhaesit Loth adolescentulus etiam proficiscenti; ne forte hoc propinquitatis magis fuisse existimetur, et necessariae potius quam voluntariae adiunctionis. quid Eliam atque Elisaeum loquamur? licet non expresse Elisaeum iuvenem Scriptura significaverit, advertimus tamen et colligimus iuniorem fuisse. in Actibus Apostolorum Barnabas Marcum assumpsit, Paulus Silam, Paulus Timotheum, Paulus Titum. sed illis superioribus videmus divisa officia, ut seniores consilio praevalerent, iuniores ministerio. plerumque etiam virtutibus pares, dispares aetatibus, sui delectantur copula, sicut delectabantur Petrus et Ioannes. nam adolescentem legimus in Evangelio Ioannem et sua voce, licet meritis et sapientia nulli fuerit seniorum secundus, erat enim in eo senectus venerabilis morum et cana prudentia. vita enim immaculata bonae senectutis stipendium est.
(Ambrose, De Officiis Ministrorum 2.100-101)

Beautiful, therefore, is the union between old and young. The one to give witness, the other to give comfort; the one to give guidance, the other to give pleasure. I pass by Lot, who when young clung to Abraham, as he was setting out. For some perhaps might say this arose rather owing to their relationship than from any voluntary action on his part. And what are we to say of Elijah and Elisha? Though Scripture has not in so many words stated that Elisha was a young man, yet we gather from it that he was the younger. In the Acts of the Apostles, Barnabas took Mark with him, and Paul took Silas and Timothy and Titus. We see also that duties were divided amongst them according to their superiority in anything. The elders took the lead in giving counsel, the younger in showing activity. Often, too, those who were alike in virtue but unlike in years were greatly rejoiced at their union, as Peter and John were. We read in the Gospel that John was a young man, even in his own words, though he was behind none of the elders in merits and wisdom. For in him there was a venerable ripeness of character and the prudence of the hoarhead. An unspotted life is the due of a good old age. (tr. Henry de Romestin)

Quid fugis hominem, quem poteras et non timere? quid fugis aut quousque fugies? si quis pulsaverit nocte, faeneratorem putas: sub lectum ilico. si quem subito intrare senseris, tu foras exsilis. canis latrat, et cor tuum palpitat, sudor effunditur, anhelitus quatit, quaeris quid mentiaris ut faeneratorem differas, et, cum dilationem impetraveris, gaudes. funere tuo simulat se faenerator gravari, sed libenter impertit: quasi venator, qui feram cinxerit, securus est praedae. tu oscularis caput, amplecteris genua et quasi cervus sagittae toxico ictus paululum procedens tandem victus veneno procumbis aut quasi piscis, qui fuscina fuerit infixus, quocumque fugerit vulnus vehit. et vere piscis ille in esca mortem devorat, ille hamum gluttit, dum cibum quaerit, sed tamen hamum non videt, quem tegit praeda: tu hamum cernis et gluttis. hamus tuus faenus est creditoris, hamum voras et vermis te semper adrodit. ipsa est esca, quae decipit. itaque et tibi faenoris nec cibus usui est et hamus vulneri. an ignoras quia semel inlaqueatus nodo se magis, si fugiat, ipse constringit et intra retia positus fugiendo magis deicit super se retia? in plateis fugis, cum intra parietes tutus esse non possis. invenit te, cum voluerit, faenerator. denique ubi tempus impleveris, sicut lupus nocte inruit, dormire non sinit, exspectato die ad publicum trahit aut tabulis venditionis cogit subscribere. ut fureris pudoris dispendium, subscribis ilico venditurus avitum sepulchrum, paterno sane ut praetexatur aliquid verecundiae. emitur ieiunum solum, iactatur quod infecunda uendiderit, dispendiis oneraverit venditorem, et superioris temporis adscribuntur dispendiis damna praesentis. mox et laudata venduntur et inferuntur iam non instrumenta, sed vincula.
(Ambrose, De Tobia 26)

Why do you flee a man whom you could even not fear? Why do you flee, or whether will you flee? If anyone knocks at night, you think it is the usurer; straightway you are under the bed. If you notice someone entering suddenly, you leap out the door. A dog barks and your heart palpitates, perspiration breaks out, your panting shakes you, you seek how you may lie to put the usurer off, and when you have been granted a deferment, you rejoice. The usurer pretends he is worried about your ruin, but he gladly grants it; like the hunter who has netted a wild beast, he is sure of his prey. You kiss his head, you embrace his knees, and , like stag struck by a poisoned arrow, after going a little further you fall, overcome at length by the poison; or you are like a fish which has been caught on the hook, and wherever he flees, carries the wounding hook with him. And truly such a fish devours death in the bait, he swallows the fish-hook while he is seeking food, but yet he does not see the hook which the lure has concealed: you see the hook and yet swallow it. Your hook is the interest of the creditor. You devour the hook and the worm always gnaws you. It is the bait itself which deceives. And so to you also the food of interest is no advantage and the hook is a wound. Are you unaware that, once caught in the noose, the animal binds itself the tighter in the toils if it would escape, and that, being within the net, in attempting to escape it pulls the net over itself the more? You flee in the streets since you cannot be safe within walls. The usurer, when he wishes, finds you. Finally, when you have reached the end of your time, like a wolf in the night he rushes on you, he does not allow you to sleep, on the long-awaited day he drags you into public or compels you to subscribe to deeds of sale. That you may conceal your loss of decency, straightway you sign, intending to sell your ancestral tomb. In order to be sure that some respect for a father’s property may be provided, barren ground, it is said, is being bought. It is boasted that infertile land has been sold, that the seller has been burdened with expenses, and the difficulties of the present are assigned to the expenses of the past. Soon the much-vaunted lands also are sold, and no longer are documents brought in, but chains. (tr. Lois Miles Zucker)

Te cordis ima concinant,
te vox canora concrepet,
te diligat castus amor,
te mens adoret sobria,

ut, cum profunda clauserit
diem caligo noctium,
fides tenebras nesciat
et nox fide reluceat.

dormire mentem ne sinas,
dormire culpa noverit;
castos fides refrigerans
somni vaporem temperet.

exuta sensu lubrico
te cordis alta somnient,
ne hostis invidi dolo
pavor quietos suscitet.

(Ambrose, Hymn. 2.13-28)

From our deep hearts we sing to thee,
Our blended voices hail thy name;
O holy Love, our lover be,
As we adore thee and proclaim.

When shadows round the world shall flow,
And heavy night shut out the day,
Lord, let our faith no darkness know,
But, shining, light us on our way.

Let not the mind in slothful ease
Leave aught of evil to remain;
Let faith drive forth all phantasies,
And every dream impure and vain.

Dispel all vices from the mind,
And be the soul’s one aim to thee,
That thus the tempter shall not find
Power to awake impurity.

(tr. Daniel Joseph Donahoe)

Vidi ego miserabile spectaculum, libros pro paterno debito in auctionem deduci, et teneri calamitatis haeredes, qui non essent participes successionis; et hoc tam immane flagitium non erubescere creditorem. instet, urget, addicit. mea, inquit, nutriti pecunia, pro alimonia servitium recognoscant, pro sumptu licitationem subeant. agitetur hasta de pretiis singulorum. non immerito hasta agitatur, ubi caput quaeritur: non immerito ad auctionem pervenitur, ubi sors poscitur. haec est feneratoris inhumanitas, haec debitoris stultitia, ut filiis quibus non relinquit pecuniam, libertatem auferat, pro testamento chirographum dimittat, pro emolumento haereditatis syngrapham obligationis.
(Ambrose, De Tobia 29)

I have seen a pitiful sight, children led forth to sale for their father’s debt and held as the heirs of his misfortune who would not be sharers in his possessions, and the creditor not blushing at so enormous an outrage. He insists, he urges, he puts them up for sale. “Since they were fed by money,” he says, “let them recognize their servitude as a return for their support, let them submit to sale in return for expense. Let the spear be fixed concerning the price of each; not unmeetly is the spear fixed when capital is sought, not unmeetly does one resort to auction when the principal is demanded. This is the inhumanity of the usurer, this is the folly of the debtor, that from the children to whom he does not leave money, he takes away liberty, that he leaves them a written obligation instead of a will, a bond of indebtedness instead of the advantage of an inheritance. (tr. Lois Miles Zucker)