A. D. 390. always continued unimpaired'. This letter is subscribed by 1 Ep. 42. seven Bishops; Eventius of Ceneta, Maximus of Emona, § 4, &c. Felix of Iadera, Bassian of Lodi, Theodore of Octodura, Constantius of Orange; and by the Priest Aper in the name vid.bk.18. of Geminianus, Bishop of Modena". Their sees are known' by the council of Aquileia, where we meet with the same 2 c. 10. 3 Chron. 389. rin. c. 6. names. In this Council of Milan or in some other which followed it soon after, and to which the Bishops of Gaul came, was confirmed the condemnation of Ithacius and those of his party, which had been decreed the year before. For the Prosp. an. ordination of Felix of Treves, in which city they had prevailed, disturbed all parts of Gaul; and he was cut off from com'Conc. Tau- munion by the letters of St. Ambrose and of the Pope', immediately after the defeat of Maximus, the protector of 859. Mans the Ithacians. Ithacius was not only deposed from his Bishopric, and excommunicated, but also sent into banishIsidor. de ment, where he died in the reign of Theodosius and c. 15. § 19. Valentinian, that is, two years after at the latest. Whilst St. Ambrose held this council, he heard the melancholy news of the massacre at Thessalonica, of which the following is an account. tom. 3. p. A. D. 397. vir. illustr. XX. Massacre at Botheric was the Magister Militum' who commanded the Thessalo forces in Illyricum, and resided at Thessalonica; he caused nica. a charioteer who belonged to the circus to be put into prison, Ruff. Hist. for having endeavoured to seduce a young man who was one p.74.note of his servants. At a certain festival upon which there were 6 Soz. 7. 25. 11. c. 18. St. Gregory Nazianzen, bk. 18. ch. 24. This error is evidently different a Son. Neither was her act of Par"turition more contradictory to Vir"ginity, than that former of conception." The Bishop confirms his position by this letter of St. Ambrose to St. Siricius; St. Augustine, Enchirid. c. 34. tom. 6. Vigil. de Unitat. Trinit. c. 10. p. 340. The Sees of the Bishops have probably been copied from the Acts of the Council of Aquileia (See margin). Eventius was then Bishop of Pavia, not of Geneda. 3 v. 17. Lib. 5. de tom. 7. S. Ambr. 16. Paulin. $ 24. [ 5 p. 65. note 1.] to be extraordinary races, the people thought this charioteer A. D. 390. necessary, to grace the show, and required to have him set at liberty. Their demand not being complied with, they grew enraged, and proceeded to so violent a sedition, that' some officers Theodor. were stoned to death in the fray, and dragged along the streets; and Botheric himself was killed. Upon receiving news of this, the Emperor Theodosius, who was naturally hasty, became furiously enraged; but St. Ambrose and the rest of the Bishops who were present pacified him, and he promised to pardon the people of Thessalonica. Afterwards S. Aug. he was again exasperated by the principal officers of his Civit. c. 26. court, and chiefly by Ruffinus, the Master of the Offices. They represented to him, that it was a matter of the utmost Ep. 51. consequence not to let these violences go unpunished, and made him resolve to inflict a cruel punishment on the offenders. But they took care to have that resolution kept as secret as possible, and to have it executed before St. Ambrose could have any notice of it. When the people therefore of Thessalonica were assembled together in the circus, they were secretly surrounded by soldiers, who had orders to put Paulin. all they met to the sword, up to a fixed number', without $24. regard to the innocent or guilty; so that strangers and 25. persons passing through the place were involved in this massacre. It lasted three hours, and there fell about seven thousand people. There was a generous slave who offered Theodor. himself to be massacred to save his master. A merchant 5. 17. exposed himself for his two children, offering the soldiers all the money which he had to save them. They took pity on him and gave him leave to make choice of one of them, telling him that they could not let both live, without endangering themselves, by reason of the number they were ordered to massacre. The father looked with tears in his eyes on both his children, unable to decide, when they were both butchered in his presence. On the arrival of the news of this massacre at Milan, the Bishops there assembled were deeply afflicted, particularly St. Ambrose. However he would not appear before Theodosius, during the first transports of his grief; and also thought it better to give the Emperor time to come to himself. As therefore the Emperor was not then in Milan, St. Ambrose left the city two or three days before his return; and went Soz. 7. Ep.51.§5. '§ 14. A. D. 390. into the country, under pretence of an indisposition, which was indeed real, but which upon any other occasion would not have prevented his attending the Emperor. The night before his departure, he dreamed' that he saw Theodosius coming into the church, and that it was not in his power to offer the Sacrifice; which he looked upon as a token that it was the will of God that the Emperor should do penance. Upon this he wrote a letter with his own hand, that the Emperor might be sure that no one else had seen it. This letter is still extant. XXI. Penance of Theodosius. ? Ezek. 3. 18. "I bear," says St. Ambrose, "an affectionate memory of your former friendship towards me, and of your great con"descension in so often granting favours to others at my "instance. Accordingly it is not ingratitude that leads me "to shun a presence which hitherto has ever been most "coveted by me. I will briefly explain to you my reasons "for doing so. "I found that I was forbidden, I alone of your whole court, "the natural right of hearing what went on about me, with a view of depriving me of the privilege of speaking. When "I did hear, what could I do? Be silent? This would be "most wretched of all-to have one's conscience bound and " one's lips closed. Is it not written, 'If God's minister fail "to speak to the sinner, the latter shall die in his sin, but "he shall answer for not speaking'?' 66 "Suffer me, gracious Emperor. You have zeal for the "faith, I own it; and the fear of God, I confess it; but you "have an impetuosity of nature at offenders, which a coun"sellor may either soothe into compassion, or stimulate till self-government is almost lost. O that those about you "were as backward in rousing as they are in appeasing it! "I would gladly leave it altogether to your own manage"ment; since you can recover yourself, and get the better "of this violence of nature by an effort to be merciful. "A deed has been perpetrated in Thessalonica, which has "no parallel in history; which I in vain attempted to pre"vent; yes, which I protested would be most atrocious, in the "frequent expostulations I addressed to you beforehand; nor "could I extenuate a deed, which you, by your unsuccessful attempts to hinder it, have confessed to be heinous. When 1 "the news came, I was engaged in a synod, held on the A. D. 390. "arrival of the Gallic Bishops'. All assembled deplored it, '§ 6. none viewed it leniently; your friendship with Ambrose "weighed nothing in your favour; surely the odour of the "crime would fall even more heavily on me, should no re"conciliation to Almighty God be required of you. 2 "O Emperor', why should you feel shame to act as David § 7. "acted, he who was a Prophet as well as a King, and a fore"father of Christ according to the flesh? A parable was set "before him; and when he found that by it he himself "was condemned, he said, I have sinned before the Lord. "Take it not ill then, O Emperor, if the same words are used "towards you as the Prophet used to David-Thou art the man. For if you give due attention to them, and answer, I have sinned against the Lord, if you utter that royal and prophetic strain, O come, let us worship, and fall down and "kneel before the Lord our Maker, then it will be said to you, "Since it repenteth thee, the Lord putteth away thy sin; thou "shalt not die. " 3 "I have written this3 not to overpower you, but to induce § 11. you, by a royal example to put away the sin from your "kingdom, that is, by humbling your soul to God. You are a man; temptation has come upon you; get the better "of it. Tears and penitence are the only remedy for sin, "neither angel nor archangel can take it away; the Lord Himself, who alone can say, I am with you always, even "He pardons not except upon penitence. "I entreat', I demand, I exhort, I admonish. Successful '§ 12. as you have been in battle, and great in other respects, yet "it was mercy that crowned all your doings. The devil has "envied your chief excellence. Overcome him while you "have the means. Add not one sin to another by conduct "from which too many suffer. For my part, debtor as I am 3 § 13. "to your clemency in all other things, grateful as I must "ever be to it, still I have apprehension: I dare not offer sacrifice, if you resolve to attend. Is that lawful when many "innocents have bled, which is not lawful in a solitary mur"der? I trow not! 6 "Should I not be happy to enjoy the Emperor's favour, § 15. " and do as he would have me, if it were lawful? Prayer, of N A. D. 390. " itself, is a sacrifice, and, as coming from a humbled soul, "will be accepted; but the oblation would imply contempt, "and would be rejected. You have my love, my affection, my prayers. If you have confidence in me, obey me, and "allow what I say: if not, make allowance for what I do, in "that I prefer God to my Sovereign. Gracious Emperor, may you and your dear children enjoy everlasting peace." When St. Ambrose returned to Milan, he refused to admit Paul. Vit. the Emperor Theodosius into the church'. When the Emperor § 24. represented to him that David had committed adultery and murder, St. Ambrose answered him immediately: "As you "have imitated his crime, imitate his amendment." Theodosius yielded to the voice of the Church; he retired home, where he remained suspended from Church Communion for Theod. 5. eight months2. 18. $ Theod. ibid. When the Feast of our Saviour's Nativity was come, he remained shut up in his palace, shedding tears. Ruffinus, [bk. 18. the Master of the offices', who was most intimate with the 28. note 1.] Emperor, came to him, and desired to know the reason. The Emperor redoubling his tears and sighs, said to him: "I weep when I consider that the temple of God is opened "to slaves and beggars, and shut against me, and so therefore " is heaven too." Ruffinus answered: "I will hasten, if you "think right, to the Bishop, and will by my importunacy "prevail on him to absolve you." "He will not be per "suaded," answered the Emperor; "I know the justice of "his sentence; and he will never through dread of the Imperial power, transgress the law of God." The Emperor knew well that sinners could not be absolved till they had performed Canonical penance. Ruffinus insisted upon it. and promised to persuade St. Ambrose. "Go quickly then," said the Emperor, and flattering himself with the hopes that Ruffinus had given him, he followed him soon after. St. Ambrose seeing Ruffinus, told him that he must have cast off all shame, if he, who had been the counsellor of so murderous an act, did not blush and tremble at having so madly defaced the image of God. As Ruffinus continued to entreat him, telling him that the Emperor was coming, St. Ambrose, fired with Divine zeal, said: "I forewarn you, Ruffinus, I will "hinder him from advancing into the sacred vestibule ; |