the use of the word sweetness. Ambrose describes his location as the “sweet silent
Woods”.^47 Further, he experiences God through sweet “comforts”, “communion”,
and “stirrings”. Sweetness was a common term among the Puritans as well as earlier
Christians.^48 These and other retreat entries specifically reveal that for Ambrose the
practice of spiritual duties were both the motivation and means for experiencing and
enjoying God. Further, the depth of intimacy and enjoyment of God are revealed by
employing the bridal language of Song of Songs.^49
In the second and third editions of Media Ambrose included different
examples from his retreat experience for 1651.^50 The great benefit of this variation is
that readers are provided with an overview of a more complete experience from the
month rather than the previous scattered entries of various years. Here he provides
nine specific entries for the nineteen days of his retreat that reflects the same basic
pattern as the 1646 account. It appears that virtually any of the spiritual duties that
Ambrose engaged had the potential to lift his soul into deeper contemplative
awareness and adoration of God. For example, on May 17, 1651 he describes what he
experienced as he meditated on Christ’s love and looked ahead to heaven, “[t]his day
in the morning, I meditated on the love of Christ, wherein Christ appeared, and melted
my heart in many sweet passages. In the Evening I meditated on Eternity, of hell:
and on eternity of Heaven, wherein the Lord both melted, and cheered, and warmed,
and refreshed my soul. Surely the touches of Gods Spirit are as sensible as any
(^47) The importance of place, especially as it relates to Ambrose’s retreat experiences,
will be 48 examined in the Geo-Environmental dimension.
See Hesselink, “Calvin: Theologian of Sweetness.” cf. McGinn, Growth of
Mysticism 49 , Flowering of Mysticism, and Harvest of Mysticism, indexes.
(^50) Ambrose, See chapter 2 and chapter 5 for more on this.Media (1652), 73-5 and Media (1657), 88^ - 90.