Puritan. Hearing this affective delight and desire for God only increases the
misfortune that Ambrose’s complete diary no longer exists, making it impossible to
gain a deepening awareness of his mystical experiences.
Additionally, Ambrose recorded an amazing nocturnal experience of
ravishment dated July 19, 1647 from his diary:
This night desiring God to sanctifie my sleep and dreams, that I sinned not in
them: I dreamed, that after some troubles of life, my time limited was at an end, and that I heard the very voyce of God calling me by name into his
glorious Kingdom; whither when I came, heavenly ornaments were pat upon
me by the hand of God, and of Christ: My soul was exceedingly ravished.
The Lord grant I may make some use of this, to be more heavenly minded, and
to breathe more after Christ.^93
Amazingly, Ambrose had cultivated such a spiritual awareness of God that he was
conscious of God even in his dreams. On this occasion he rejoices that God calls him
personally by name. Once again the result of this experience is a deepening desire to
be heavenly-minded or more focused on Jesus and the kingdom of God.
Dynamics of Ravishment
According to Ambrose a wide range of individuals can experience ravishment.
His recipients include Jesus Christ, angels, specific biblical individuals such as Peter
and Mary, Ambrose himself, as well as a number of his friends and colleagues.
Further, there are numerous general references to the Church or the disciples of Jesus.
Consistent with Song of Songs 4:9 Jesus, as the divine Bridegroom, can be ravished
by the Church. Typically the cause of Jesus’ ravishment is his great love for the
Church or individual believers or their faith in him, “[w]hen he [Jesus] sees the grace
or acts of faith, he so approves of them, that he is ravished with wonder; he that
rejoyced in the view of his creation, rejoyceth no lesse in the reformation of his
(^93) Ambrose, Media (^) (1650), 76. (^)