Verba eiusdem Ambrosij ad sponsam quandam similitudinem viri et uxoris et ancille disponentia, et qualiter per adulterum episcopus malus et per uxorem ecclesia et per ancillam mundi amor designantur, et de crudelissima sententia contra adherentes magis mundo quam ecclesie.
The Parable of the Unfaithful Husband
Ambrose introduces a parable of a man who neglects his noble wife for a servant, illustrating the danger of misplaced affections.
I am Ambrose the bishop, appearing to you and speaking through a certain likeness, because your heart cannot grasp spiritual understanding without some physical comparison. There was a man who had a lawful wife, a woman who was both beautiful and wise. Yet he found more pleasure in his maidservant than in his wife, and because of this, three things happened: first, the maidservant’s words and gestures brought him more joy than his wife’s did. The second thing is that he would dress the maid in the finest clothes, not caring that his wife was in rags or that she had to wear common cloth. The third thing is that he was accustomed to spending nine hours with the maid, but only the tenth hour with his wife. At the first hour, he was awake with the maidservant, finding joy in gazing at her beauty. At the second hour, he slept in her arms. At the third hour, he gladly endured physical labor for the maidservant's comfort. At the fourth hour, he found physical rest with her after his body was worn out. At the fifth hour, he felt restless and anxious about providing for her. At the sixth hour, he found peace of mind with her, because he could already see that he was fully pleasing her by his provisions. At the seventh hour, the heat of carnal desire began to enter into him. At the eighth hour, he was satisfying his appetite for pleasure with her. At the ninth hour, he would skip doing certain things that he still felt inclined to complete. At the tenth hour, he would do certain things, though he took no pleasure in doing them. And so, he stayed with his wife for only one hour. Then one of the wife's relatives came to the adulterer and sternly rebuked him, saying: 'Turn your love of heart back to your lawful wife, loving her and clothing her as is fitting; spend nine hours with her, and only the tenth hour with the servant-girl; otherwise, know that you will suffer a most wretched death.'
The Bishop’s Spiritual Adultery
The parable is applied to the bishop who prefers the world over the Church, detailing his daily neglect of his spiritual duties.
By this adulterer, I mean a caretaker of the Church who holds the office of a bishop but lives an adulterous life. He is, in fact, so joined to the holy Church by a spiritual bond that she ought to be his dearest bride, yet he has withdrawn his love from her, loving the servile world far more than such a noble lady and bride. So he does three things: first, he takes more pleasure in the world's deceptive flattery than in the holy Church's orderly discipline. Second, he loves every worldly adornment, while caring much less about any lack of adornment in the Church, whether physical or spiritual. The third point is that he spends nine hours for the world and only the tenth for the holy Church. For in the first hour, he stays awake with the world, cheerfully gazing at its beauty with delight. In the second hour, he sleeps soundly in the arms of the world—which are the height of walls and the vigilance of armed men—confidently believing that he's securing his own body through these things. At the third hour, she gladly takes on physical labor for worldly gain, so that she might find physical pleasure in this world. At the fourth hour, she willingly takes her bodily rest after that labor, because she already has enough of whatever she desires. At the fifth hour, the soul is restless in many ways, so that it might appear to be providing wisely for worldly matters. At the sixth hour, the soul finds a joyful peace, seeing that its provisions are universally pleasing to worldly people. At the seventh hour, by hearing and seeing the delightful things of the world, the soul draws them into its own will with longing, and from these things it is set ablaze in the heart with an unbearable impatience. At the eighth hour, it actually carries out what it previously desired with such ardor. At the ninth hour, they pointlessly set aside certain things they enjoy for the sake of the world, just so they don't appear to offend those they love in a worldly way. At the tenth hour, they perform some good works, but not with delight; they fear that if they were to neglect them entirely for some reason, they would be held in contempt and judged miserably. At this tenth hour, he only spends time with the holy Church, doing good works not out of love, but out of fear. He fears the punishment of hellfire, for if he could live forever with his body intact and an abundance of worldly things, he wouldn't care at all about the lack of heavenly happiness.
The Severity of Divine Judgment
A stern warning is issued to the unfaithful bishop, describing the total destruction of the soul under divine judgment.
Therefore, I say this with absolute certainty, swearing by God who has no beginning and will have no end: unless he quickly turns himself toward the holy Church, spending nine hours with her and only the tenth with the handmaid—that is, the world—without loving it, but rather holding its riches and honors reluctantly in accordance with his episcopal office, and managing everything humbly and reasonably for the honor of God, he will suffer a spiritual blow so severe within his own soul, It’s like someone using a physical analogy to describe a person struck so horribly on the head that the sole of their foot, along with all the flesh of their body, dissolves, their veins and nerves are torn apart, their bones are shattered, and their marrow flows out miserably in every direction. Just as a body’s heart would seem to be in the most bitter torment if the head and limbs were struck, even while the sole of the foot—further away—was being injured, so too will the wretched soul, being closest to the blow of divine judgment, be thought to suffer the most bitter torment as its conscience sees itself being wounded everywhere beyond what it can bear.
Read the original Latin
Ego sum Ambrosius episcopus, qui tibi appareo loquens tecum per similitudinem quandam, quoniam cor tuum non potest capere intelligentiam spiritualium sine similitudine aliqua corporali.
Vir quidam erat habens uxorem legittimam venustam valde et prudentem. Cui tamen ancilla plus placebat quam uxor et ex hoc tria contingebant: Primum est quod verba et gestus ancille magis eum letificabant quam uxoris.
Secundum est, quod ancillam vestiebat nobilissimis indumentis non curans, quod uxor pannosa esset aut quod communi panno vestiretur. Tercium est, quod nouem horis morari solebat cum ancilla, decima vero solum cum uxore.
Nam prima hora erat cum ancilla vigilans, dum eius pulcritudinem aspiciendo iocundabatur. Secunda hora inter ipsius brachia dormiebat. Tercia hora pro ancille commodo corporalem laborem gaudenter sustinebat.
Quarta hora quietem corporis cum ipsa habebat post corporis lassitudinem. Quinta hora inquietudinem mentis et curam super eius prouisione habebat. Sexta hora mentis quietem cum ea habebat, quia iam videbat se de sua prouisione ei pleniter complacere.
Septima hora intrabat in eum ardor carnalis concupiscentie. Octaua hora complebat cum ea sue voluptatis appetitum. Nona hora aliqua omittebat agere, que tamen ei libebat perficere. Decima hora faciebat aliqua, que tamen non delectabant eum facere.
Et sic una hora tantummodo manebat cum uxore. Veniens vero quidam de propinquis uxoris ad adulterum grauiter increpauit eum dicens: 'Ad legittimam tuam mentis tue caritatem conuerte ipsam diligendo et sicut decet vestiendo, nouemque horis cum ipsa manendo et sola decima hora cum ancilla, alioquin scias te mortem pessimam subiturum.'
Per istum adulterum intelligo istius ecclesie prouisorem habentem quidem episcopale officium sed vitam adulterinam. Ipse quippe sancte ecclesie spirituali copula ita coniunctus est, quod ipsa eius sponsa carissima esse deberet, qui tamen caritatem suam ab ipsa retraxit multo plus diligens seruilem mundum quam dominam sponsam tam preclaram.
Et ideo tria facit: Primum est, quod de mundi fraudulenta adulatione plus gratulatur quam de sancte ecclesie morigerosa dispositione. Secundum est, quod omnem mundi ornatum diligit, de defectu vero ornatus ecclesiastici corporalis vel spiritualis minus curans.
Tercium est, quod nouem horas expendit pro mundo et solam decimam pro ecclesia sancta. Nam prima hora cum mundo vigilat hilariter eius pulcritudinem intuens delectabiliter. Secunda hora inter brachia mundi, que sunt altitudo murorum et vigilantia hominum armatorum, dormit suauiter corporis sui securitatem se per hec tenere confidens feliciter.
Tercia hora pro mundano commodo corporalem laborem sustinet gaudenter, ut ex hoc mundo letetur corporaliter. Quarta hora post corporalem laborem accipit quietem corporis libenter, quia quidquid ei placet iam habet sufficienter.
Quinta hora mentis inquietudinem habet multipliciter, ut mundanis rebus prouidere videatur sapienter. Sexta hora mentis quietem habet iocundaliter, prouisionem suam mundanis hominibus placere videns uniuersaliter.
Septima hora audiendo et videndo mundi delectabilia et in voluntatem suam trahit desiderabiliter, ex quibus in corde accenditur impatienter et intolerabiliter. Octaua hora perficit actualiter, que prius desiderabat ardenter.
Nona hora aliqua sibi placita propter mundum omittit inutiliter, ne videatur eos offendere, quos diligit carnaliter. Decima hora aliqua bona perficit sed non delectabiliter timens, quod infamis habeatur contemptibiliter et diudicetur miserabiliter, si ea aliqua ex causa omiserit totaliter.
Et ista hora decima solummodo cum sancta ecclesia solet commorari, bona, que facit, non ex caritate faciens sed ex timore. Timet enim supplicium ignis infernalis, qui si posset cum sospitate corporis et mundanarum rerum abundantia eternaliter viuere, de carentia superne felicitatis non curaret.
Propterea dico certissime iurans per Deum, qui caret principio et erit sine fine, quod nisi se cito ad sanctam ecclesiam conuerterit cum ipsa nouem horas ducendo, cum ancilla vero, idest mundo, decimam, non tamen eum diligendo sed inuitus eius diuitias et honores secundum episcopale officium habendo, omnia ad Dei honorem humiliter et rationabiliter disponendo, ipse in anima sua spiritualem percussionem tam grauem habebit,
sicut ille per similitudinem corporalem loquendo habere videretur, qui tam horribiliter percutteretur in vertice, quod planta pedis cum tota corporis carne dissolueretur, vene et nerui rumperentur, ossa confringerentur et medulle miserabiliter undique effluerent.
Et sicut amarissime cor illius corporis cruciari videretur, si vertex et viciniora membra percuterentur, dum etiam planta pedis, que remotior est, lederetur, sic et misera anima diuine sententie propinquissima ictui torqueri existimabitur amarissime, dum conscientia se videt ubique intolerabiliter sautiari."
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