Preface to the catechetical works of St. Ambrose

Three works of St. Ambrose of Milan: “Explanation of the Creed” (Explanatio Symboli), “On the Sacraments” (De sacramentis) and “On the Mysteries” (De mysteriis), - are catechetical teachings that explain the main provisions of the Christian faith and reveal the meaning of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. If the authenticity of the treatise is myst. never raised serious doubts, then the essays expl. symb. and sacr., on the contrary, were not recognized as authentic for a long time. При сравнении тестов sacr. and myst. many questions arose, but what struck the eye first was their, so to speak, “dissimilar resemblance.” In fact, despite the commonality of the topic, between sacr. and myst. There are both significant similarities and many differences. On the one hand, both works are addressed to the newly baptized and contain an explanation of the sacred rites of the Sacraments; they describe and imply essentially the same rituals, and explain them in more or less similar terms. On the other hand, there are differences between essays in genre, content and style. Text sacr. is a series of sermons, while myst. - an integral literary treatise that retains only the appearance of a sermon (the author addresses the readers as if they were listeners). Moreover, the scope of the treatise clearly goes beyond the scope of a sermon. Sacr. contains prayers and formulas for the rites of the Sacraments, extensive excerpts from the Eucharistic canon, as well as an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer. We find none of this in myst. But most importantly, sacr. clearly inferior in literary style and finishing to myst. and other works undoubtedly belonging to St. Ambrose. Style sacr. gets lost behind numerous repetitions and constant questions that may seem naive and unnecessary. Authenticity sacr. was not questioned until the Reformation. The work entered the handwritten tradition under the name of St. Ambrose, and in the 9th century. it is referred to as the original text by Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus of Corby. But in the 16th century. Critics of the authenticity of this text appear: first Protestant and then Catholic scholars put forward a number of arguments: sacr. very different in style from other works of St. Ambrose; It is doubtful that St. Ambrose wrote a work copying his own work myst.; в других трудах свт. Ambrose nowhere criticizes the inhabitants of Mediolan for rare communion; a critical attitude towards the Roman Church is not characteristic of St. Ambrose; the reproach against the Greeks for receiving communion once a year could only arise after the time of St. John Chrysostom (d. 407). Only at the beginning of the 20th century. Research is emerging that proves the authenticity of sacr. Already G. Morin (1929) writes about the belonging of sacr. and expl. symb. St. Ambrose 1, O. Faller (1955 2), J. Lazzati (1955) and others in their studies come to the conclusion that the authorship of sacr. cannot belong to anyone other than St. Ambrose. An undoubted fact is the antiquity of the text: in sacr. of the heretics, only Arians are mentioned, there are no hints of Christological disputes and discussions about grace, the sermon assumes a large number of baptized adults; the liturgical formulas of renunciation and the Sacraments of Baptism mentioned in sacr. are not found in other Western rites, so the place where the sermon was delivered could only be Milan; quotations from Holy Scripture contained in sacr. coincide with quotations in other works of St. Ambrose. The peculiarity of the style is due to the fact that sacr. - This is the only surviving transcript of the oral public sermon of St. Ambrose: text sacr. was written from the ear by a scribe-stenographer, moreover, De Sacramentis is a conventional title given on the basis of the first two words of the work, which confirms its initially oral nature. St. Ambrose could have used sacr. for his annual teachings as a note, he later wrote myst. based on sacr., the text of which consists entirely of the thoughts and expressions of St. Ambrose, found in almost all of his works. The teachings are addressed primarily to the newly baptized, whom St. Ambrose calls for communion as often as possible. The source of knowledge about the practice of communion in the East for St. Ambrose was guided by books and rumors (he himself had never been to the East). Most likely in sacr. We are talking about a trend that arose in the ascetic practice of Eastern monks 3. According to the testimony of Rev. John Cassian, in the East some monks received communion only once a year due to extreme reverence for the Eucharist 4. St. Ambrose does not criticize the rite of the Roman Church, but defends the rite of his Church. He explains local liturgical practices rather than polemicizing against Roman ones. In thought and style sacr. cannot belong to any of the writers whom criticism put forward as possible authors of the work. The situation is similar with the authenticity of another cataclysmic teaching - expl. symb. This small work has survived only in two manuscripts without indicating the author. Its authenticity depended on sacr., since expl. symb. was perceived as the first book of sacr. We see that Christian teaching remained disciplina arcana, secret to the outside world; the text of the Creed was not written down, but was learned by heart when the bishop “transmitted the Symbol.” At St. Ambrose in a letter to his sister Marcellina we find the following words: Sequenii die, erat autem Dominica, post lectiones atque tractatum, dimissis catechumenis, symbolum aliquibus competentibus in baptisteriis tradebam basilicae 5 (“The next day was Sunday, after reading the Holy Scriptures and preaching, I dismissed the catechumens and conveyed the Creed to several petitioners in Baptistery of the Basilica"). Like sacr., expl. symb. is a transcript of an oral sermon and describes the rite of “transmission of the Symbol” in an era when the main baptized were adults; Of the heretics, only the Sabellians and Arians are mentioned. In expl. symb. reflects the ancient church tradition that existed until the end of the 6th century, prohibiting the recording of the Creed; the stenographer is limited to recording only the first and last word of each member of the Creed. St. Ambrose usually uses the words mysterium (mystery) and sacramentum (sacrament) as synonyms, which is also typical for the Latin translation of Holy Scripture. However, he is already planning a division of these concepts. Thus, he calls the sacred rites of the sacraments of Christian initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) sacramenta, and the hidden, mysterious meaning of the sacred rites - mysteria (see, for example: expl. symb. 5; sacr. 1. 1. 2; myst. 2, etc.). “Mysteries of trials” (mysteria scrutaminum) or simply “test, research, inquiry” (scrutamen, scrutinium, scrutatio) in Western rites were called rites that were performed on the so-called “askers” (competentes - asking [for Baptism]) or “elected”, announced, who expressed a desire to receive Baptism in next Holy Saturday. In Mediolan, the recording of the names of candidates for Baptism, the so-called “submission of the name” (nomendatio), was carried out in the period from Epiphany to the beginning of the Lent (exp. Luc. 4.76; sacr. 3.12). With the onset of Lent, the catechumens entered a period of preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism, which, in addition to fasting, included both a ritual and a didactic part. Starting from the third week of Lent, they began to pray for the “elect” and their successors during the liturgy. The main part of the “tests” consisted of exorcisms, or spells (in Slavic - prohibitions), designed to sanctify the soul and body of the catechumen, freeing them from the power of the unclean spirit. The ritual side of the “tests” included making the sign of the cross, blowing, kneeling, and laying on of hands 6 . The prayer of prohibition was followed by the rite of renunciation of the devil 7. John the Deacon speaks of examining hearts that are read out on the subject of faith: whether the sacred words are preserved in them after renouncing the devil, whether they understand the need to accept the grace of the Redeemer, whether they believe in God the Father Almighty 8 . The structure and content of these works are as follows. Expl. symb. is a fragment of a teaching that the bishop delivered to the catechumens during the so-called rite of “transfer of the Symbol” (traditio Symboli) a week before Easter. First the bishop talks about the name and origin of the Creed. After the call to make the sign of the cross, the first reading of the Symbol occurs. The reading is followed by a brief explanation of the doctrinal truths. After the second reading, the Symbol is explained in more detail, clause by clause. Finally, after the next overshadowing with the sign of the cross, the Symbol is divided into three parts of four members each and the results of the teaching are briefly summed up. At the end, the bishop calls on the catechumens to learn the Symbol by heart and under no circumstances write it down or communicate it to the unbaptized and heretics. In sacr. and myst. the author now addresses the newly baptized and explains to them the Sacraments that they received. If myst. represents one book, then sacr. - these are six discourses-teachings, corresponding to the number of days of Bright Week in which they were pronounced. Sacr. and myst. begin the same way: the bishop states the purpose of his conversation and explains the reason why he could not talk about the Sacraments earlier. What follows is a consistent presentation and explanation of the rites of the Sacraments. St. Ambrose speaks of performing the rite of “opening” the lips and ears (apertio), pre-baptismal anointing and renunciation of the devil. This is followed by the blessing of water, confession of faith and Baptism. After reading the Gospel of John (John 13), the bishop washes the feet of the newly baptized. After washing, one should put on white clothes and perform the Sacrament of Confirmation. At the end, the newly enlightened Christians begin the Sacrament of the Eucharist. To explain the Sacraments of St. Ambrose turns to the Holy Scriptures, applying all known methods of its interpretation, especially typology. The preface is written based on: Ambroisc de Milan. Des Sacraments. Des Mysteres. Explication du Symbole / Texte etabli, trad, et annote par dom B. Botte. P, 1949; 1961. P. 7–45. (SC; 25bis); Gtadyszewski L. $w. Ambrozy z Mediolanu. WyjaSnienie Symbolu. About tajemnicach. About sakramentach. Wstep // Zrodta Mysli Tcologicznej. Krakow, 2004. S. 5–44.