teaching that spiritual love arises from faith and the reciprocal relationship that the
experience of love refreshes a person’s faith.^213 But even more, for Ambrose, faith
not only has an affective quality but also a contemplative dimension for “by
contemplative faith, [we] behold Christ.”^214
Contemplation is one of the significant aspects of piety in which Ambrose
distinguished himself. His largest work, Looking Unto Jesus is essentially a
contemplative journey that experientially considers the christological spectrum of
how beholding Christ can transform a person to be more like him. This can be
experienced only as a person is in union and communion with Jesus. Since this is a
major dimension of Ambrose’s theology and spiritual experiences chapter 4 will
examine this in detail. However, one brief example that illustrates this is the soul’s
challenge to conform herself to Christ in relation to the final judgment, “[o]h then let
us call upon our souls! ... he would have us to be still arising, ascending, and
mounting up in divine contemplation to his Majesty.... Oh that every morning, and
every evening, at least, our hearts would arise, ascend and go to Christ in the
heavens.”^215
Ambrose places a high priority upon the enjoyment and delight of God in
spiritual marriage and he can soar with the best of medieval writers in seeking to
express the ineffable experience of mystical union with Christ. The following
rhapsodic example reflects his present desire of spiritual marriage and yearns for a
deepening of this union and communion of love:
213
214 Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus, 230 and^ Media (1657), esp. 224, cf. 172, 285.^
215 Ambrose, Ambrose, Looking Unto JesusLooking Unto Jesus, 23., 1152.^