“It will be asked: ‘In what sort was the Son
begotten?’ As one who is forever, as the Word, as the brightness of eternal
light, (Hebrews 1:3) for brightness
takes effect in the instant of its coming into existence.” Ambrose de Fid. 1:79
In a general audience (October 24, 2007), Pope
Benedict XVI referred to Ambrose: “Dear brothers and sisters, I would like
further to propose to you a sort of ‘patristic icon,’ which, interpreted in the
light of what we have said, effectively represents ‘the heart’ of Ambrosian
doctrine. In the sixth book of the Confessions, Augustine
tells of his meeting with Ambrose, an encounter that was indisputably of great
importance in the history of the Church. He writes in his text that whenever he
went to see the Bishop of Milan, he would regularly find him taken up
with catervae of people full of problems for whose needs he
did his utmost. There was always a long queue waiting to talk to Ambrose,
seeking in him consolation and hope. When Ambrose was not with them, with the
people (and this happened for the space of the briefest of moments), he was
either restoring his body with the necessary food or nourishing his spirit with
reading. Here Augustine marvels because Ambrose read the Scriptures with his
mouth shut, only with his eyes (cf. Confessions, 6, 3).
Indeed, in the early Christian centuries reading was conceived of strictly for
proclamation, and reading aloud also facilitated the reader’s understanding.
That Ambrose could scan the pages with his eyes alone suggested to the admiring
Augustine a rare ability for reading and familiarity with the Scriptures. Well,
in that ‘reading under one’s breath,’ where the heart is committed to achieving
knowledge of the Word of God – this is the ‘icon’ to which we are referring -,
one can glimpse the method of Ambrosian catechesis; it is Scripture itself,
intimately assimilated, which suggests the content to proclaim that will lead
to the conversion of hearts. Thus, with regard to the magisterium of Ambrose
and of Augustine, catechesis is inseparable from witness of life. What I wrote
on the theologian in the Introduction to Christianity might
also be useful to the catechist. An educator in the faith cannot risk appearing
like a sort of clown who recites a part ‘by profession.’ Rather – to use an
image dear to Origen, a writer who was particularly appreciated by Ambrose -,
he must be like the beloved disciple who rested his head against his Master’s
heart and there learned the way to think, speak and act. The true disciple is
ultimately the one whose proclamation of the Gospel is the most credible and
effective.”
1) Heb. 1:3: the brightness
of God’s glory;
2) Nicene Creed: Lumen de
lumine;
3) the Arian heresy;
4) Eucharistic reference;
5) Faith as pure or modest as
the dawn;
Hope as the heat of noon; mind know no darkness.
6) Totus = dawn, totus = the
Son, totus = the Father.
Radiance of the Father’s glory, bring forth light
from light, Light of light and Source of light, Day illuminating day. And true
Sun descend upon us, glittering with perpetual glow, ray of the Holy Spirit,
pour out upon our thoughts. In prayer we call upon the Father, the Father of
endless glory, the Father of powerful glory, take away our devious sin. Shape our manly deeds, blunt the teeth of the
envious one, turn to good our difficulties, grant us the gift to act. May he
direct and rule our minds, our bodies keep chaste and faithful, may faith burn
bright, and know no venomous deceit. May Christ be our food, faith our drink;
let us joyfully drink the Spirit’s sober drunkenness. May this day pass
happily; our modesty like dawn, faith enkindled as noonday, the mind ignorant
of nightfall. Dawn in its course
advances, may full dawn come: the Son wholly in the Father, the Father wholly
in his Word. Amen.
Eternal light, Divinity, Trinity in unity, weak as
we are we give you thanks, humbly we pray to you. We believe in the highest
Father, the only Son of the Father, and the Spirit, the bond of love which
joins them. O truth, O Love, O end of all and happiness, teach us to hope and
believe, to love and follow you. The end
and the beginning, you are the source of all things, you alone our consolation,
you the certain hope of those who trust in you.
You alone do all things, you alone are sufficient for all things, you
the only light for all and only hope for those who hope in you. We ask Christ
and the Father and the Spirit of both Christ and the Father, the single power
behind all things, assist us as we pray. Amen.
1) Gen.1:7: God divides the
waters above and below;
2) The new fraud is also old
=the temptation of Adam;
3) Lux brings not just physical
light but also grace;
Infinite Creator of heaven, you who separated the
flowing waters and set a limit to the sky, so that the two not be mixed and
confused. Fortifying a place for the heavens and also for the rivers of the
earth, that water might temper heat and
the soil of earth not be dried up. Pour now, most holy, into us the gift of
endless grace, that no occasions of new deceit or ancient deception destroy us.
May light find faith, thus be supported by the beam of light; so may all
vanities be removed, and no falsehood compromise our faith.
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