Treatise of St. Ambrose of Milan "On the Holy Spirit"

The article contains information about the work of St. Ambrose of Milan “On the Holy Spirit” (“De Spiritu Sancto”), written at the request of Emperor Gratian in 381. Through the prism of triadological teaching, the treatise expounds the doctrine of the third Person of the Holy Trinity. The article precedes the publication of the first translation of the first book of this treatise into Russian. As M. Kazakov aptly put it, “The fourth century in terms of significance for the fate of Christianity and its further history can be placed in second place after the time of Christ himself and the century of the apostles” 1 . This controversial era is characterized by the fact that with the stroke of the pen of Theodosius the Great, the Christian Church was finally legalized within the empire, which, in the course of similar steps towards the long-awaited “symphony,” was placed in the role of a public institution that became the most important political, ideological and economic component of the state. But besides everything else, this is also the time of life and work of the great fathers of the Church, who became, one might say, symbols not only of their era, but of the entire Church in general. Their authority remained unquestioned at all times, and their works became the golden fund of the classics of the patristic works. Among these giants of spirit, on whose shoulders the building of the Church was based in the 4th century, the personality of Bishop Ambrose of Milan occupies a special place. Its importance for the Church and the state cannot be overestimated. With his authority, sermons, deeds and wise creations, he influenced not only internal church affairs, but also the imperial policies of four rulers in a row. Although Ambrose was primarily a bishop, his active work was not limited to the church fence. The history of the 4th century, filled with the most important political events, cannot be imagined without the colorful figure of St. Ambrose. And this, of course, gave the appropriate worldly and political “coloring” to his activities, no matter what spheres of public life it affected. Towards the end of the outgoing 4th century, events took place on the military-political map of the Roman Empire that had a huge impact on both St. Ambrose, and all his contemporaries. In 376, Emperor Valens allowed the Goths, who had fled persecution from the northern tribes, to settle in the Thracian provinces on the condition that they would provide recruits for the Roman army. But hunger and humiliation suffered by Roman bureaucrats led to the Goths revolting. The threat was growing more and more. Finally, Valens, paying attention to the uprising taking place in the Danube regions, set out on a campaign. Deciding not to wait for help from his nephew Gratian, he ordered battle. The completely defeated Roman army suffered a complete fiasco. Thus, the battle that took place in August 378 near Adrianople became one of the saddest pages of the late Roman Empire 2. On the issue of the “Adrianople catastrophe,” Ambrose was of the opinion that the defeat of the Roman army and the death of the emperor were a natural consequence of the pro-Arian policy that Valens systematically implemented. So, in response to the request of Augustus Gratian, who in the same year 378 was preparing to launch a campaign against the Arian Goths, Ambrose wrote the main dogmatic work of his life, De Fide. In the first two books, Ambrose reveals and proves the Divinity of Christ. One of the thoughts of this treatise is this: if the emperor is going to fight the Arian heretics, then he certainly needs the armor and weapons of the true faith. These are the words with which he admonishes Gratian: “Go openly into battle, fenced with the shield of faith and having a spiritual sword, go to the victory predicted in ancient times, foretold by the divine prophets” 3. The Emperor was pleased with this treatise, and therefore in the first months of 379 he personally wrote a short letter to the Bishop of Milan in a very informal tone, which is called “without ties.” Ambrose was flattered to receive such a message from August himself. After all, we must remember that even in the Christian empire of that time, the emperor remained a kind of celestial being, and the magnificent court ceremony introduced by Diocletian was not abolished. And Ambrose did not hesitate to answer: “You, O most Christian sovereign, wished to write all the messages with your own hand, so that the letters themselves would be a sign and expression of your faith, your piety” 4 . Gratian also asked that a treatise on the Holy Spirit be added to the exposition of the faith. Fulfilling the will of the august person, in 381 Ambrose wrote three books, published under the general title “On the Holy Spirit.” Having been written during Gratian’s next campaign against the Goths in Macedonia 5, the treatise “On the Holy Spirit” was intended to provide moral support to the emperor in the face of the upcoming battles. In this work, St. Ambrose, through the prism of triadological teaching, expounds the doctrine of the third Person of the Holy Trinity, speaking about His relationship to other Persons, nature, action, etc. When writing a treatise, Ambrose often resorted to authoritative Greek authors - Athanasius of Alexandria, Didymus the Blind and the Cappadocian Fathers. The translation of the first book was carried out according to the text of the treatise presented in the 16th volume of the Latin patrolology of J.-P. Minya 6. When preparing the journal publication, references to the Bible text were additionally checked and clarified. In a number of cases, the quotations of the Holy Scripture cited by the saint do not correspond exactly to either the text of the Vulgate or the Septuagint, and it remains unclear which biblical text the holy father used. It is possible that sometimes he stated the meaning of the required text of Scripture from memory, which was not uncommon for church authors of that era. Kazakov M.M. Bishop and empire: Ambrose of Milan and the Roman Empire in the 4th century. Smolensk, 1995. P. 5. See: Kazakov M. Bishop and Empire. P. 51. Progredere plane scuto fidei septus, et gladium spiritus habens: progredere ad victoriam superioribus promissam temporibus, et divinis oraculis prophetatam (Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Sanctus. De Fide Ad Gratianum Augustum Libri Quinque // PL. T. 16. Col. 136). Quote by: Paredi A. Sant’ Ambrogio e la sua età. Milano, 1941. P. 129. Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Sanctus. De Spiritu Sancto Libri Tres Ad Gratianum Augustum. Lib. 1 // PL. T. 16. Col. 703–742.