So in this article from St. Benedict Center by Brian Kelly:
he says this of St. Ambrose's oration on Valentinian:
“Grant, therefore, to Thy servant the gift of Thy grace which he never rejected, who on the day before his death refused to restore the privileges of the temples although he was pressed by those whom he could well have feared. A crowd of pagans was present, the Senate entreated, but he was not afraid to displease men so long as he pleased Thee alone in Christ. He who had Thy Spirit, how has he not received Thy grace? Or, if the fact disturbs you that the mysteries have not been solemnly celebrated, then you should realize that not even martyrs are crowned if they are catechumens, for they are not crowned if they are not initiated. But if they are washed in their own blood, his piety also and his desire have washed him.” (De Consolatione in obitu Valentiniani, 51-54 = PL 16, 1374-75. Translated by Roy J. Deferrari, Ph.D., in Funeral Orations by St. Gregory nαzιanzen and St. Ambrose, pp. 287-288)
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The translation is not the problem here. The last two sentences, which seem contradictory, are exactly accurate from the Latin of Migne’s Patrologia Latina. In the next to the last sentence Saint Ambrose says “that not even martyrs are crowned if they are catechumens, for they are not crowned if they are not initiated.” Does he mean that they are saved, but not crowned? Then, in the last sentence, he says that “if they [martyrs] are washed in their own blood, his piety also and his desire have washed him.” I cannot understand what the holy doctor is affirming or denying in these sentences. Perhaps something is missing from the original transcription itself.
Ladislausian soteriology makes perfect sense of these last two sentences.
St. Ambrose states that martyred catechumens are washed but not crowned.
He's hoping that Valentinian can be washed (even if not crowned) by virtue of "his piety ... and his desire".
For some reason St. Ambrose doesn't believe that Valentinian fits the bill to be a "martyred catechumen." I'm not certain if this was because he didn't consider him a martyr (despite the circuмstances which appear to suggest that he was) or because he didn't consider him to be a catechumen (I'll try to research Valentinian's statement).
So St. Ambrose is hoping that Valentinian's piety and zeal (I'll have to look up the Latin here soon) have washed him (brought remission of sin to some extent) in a manner similar to how martyred catechumens are washed.
But NEITHER are crowned, as there is no crowning without the Sacrament of Baptism.
And I have given the key to what is meaning by "crowning" ... which allows one to enter the Kingdom of God.
Topic: Patristic Support for Ladilausian soteriology (Read 16305 times)