and discovered the causes for his troubles and discouragement in ministry. His
spiritual intensity reflects his devotion and love for God. This renewed awareness
guided him to pray boldly, waiting until God responded with an answer to each of his
petitions. This retreat experience also utilizes the language of banking depicting how
he exchanged his sins for the “sweet comforts” of God’s presence. Clearly Ambrose
recognized God’s intimate presence and movement in his life. Significantly, while
Ambrose could not withdraw permanently to a monastery as contemplative Christians
did in the Western Catholic tradition he adapted this practice through his annual
retreats for prolonged periods of communion with God.
Ambrose described other experiences of how his spiritual duties cultivated
sensitivity to perceiving and enjoying God. On May 17, 1648 he writes, “[a]t several
times I ran through the Duties of Watchfulness, Self-Examination, Experiences,
Meditation, the Life of Faith; and many a time I felt many sweet stirrings of Christs
Spirit: the Lord Jesus appeared to my soul, gave me the kisses of his mouth,
especially in my Prayers to, and praises of his Majesty. Surely thou art my Lord, and
I will praise thee: Thou art my God, and I will exalt thee. Hallelujah.”^45 While the
Puritans, including Ambrose, knew Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermons on the Song of
Songs, none make any reference to Bernard’s teaching on the three-fold kisses. The
Puritan resistance to spiritual hierarchies or exclusiveness would certainly clash with
Bernard’s third kiss.^46 A common theme uniting the previous retreat experiences is
(^45) Ambrose, Media (^) (1650), 79. (^)
(^46) Bernard introduces his teaching on the three-fold kiss in SCC 3. See McGinn,
Growth of Mysticism, 166. Sibbes did speak of “degrees of his kisses” but he
understood them as an encouragement through periods of struggle and not increasing
levels of spiritual intensity. Spouse, Her Earnest Desire, 206. See also Keach,
Tropologia Key to Scripture MetaphorsChrist,” 159, 169, 199, 340n91, 353n3. , 53, 567 - 570 and Won, “Communion with