creature, behold thou art faire my love, behold thou art faire, there is no spot in thee,
my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart, thou hast wounded my heart with
one of thy eyes, Cant. 4, 7, 9.” This might strike some as surprising, but Christ is
overwhelmed by the beauty and response of his followers. Jesus’ willingness and
even desire to be ravished affirmed his deep enjoyment and participation in the
covenant of grace or spiritual marriage. By far the more frequent usage by Ambrose
is for the Church or bride to be ravished by Jesus, the Bridegroom. Nevertheless, on a
number of occasions Ambrose uses ravishment in this former manner.^94 The Geneva
Bible translates leb as wounded, however, even then the term was often understood as
ravish. Joseph Hall paraphrases the verse as “[t]hou hast utterly rauisht me from
myselfe ... thou hast quite rauisht my heart with thy loue euen one cast of one of
thine eyes of faith; and one of the ornaments of thy sanctification wherewith then art
decked by my spirit, haue thus stricken mee with loue: how much more, when I shall
have a full sight of thee, and all thy graces, shall I bee affected toward thee.”^95
The angels already know that believers will some day experience the fullness
of joy in heaven. Ambrose envisions that these heavenly messengers “know what
Christ hath done and suffered for them [the saints], The mystery of godlinesse is seen
of Angels, it is so seen, that they take great delight to behold, yes, they are ravished in
the very beholding of it.”^96 Peter and Mary are the most popular biblical figures in
Ambrose’s writings to experience ravishment. Before examining them, two other
examples must be mentioned. One relates to the spiritual duty that Ambrose calls
(^94) Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus (^) , 414, cf. 28, 504, 505, 1046 for other examples of
Jesus being ravished by the Church. This is the only occasion where Ambrose
translates 95 leb as wounded rather than ravish.
(^96) Ambrose Hall, Salomons Divine Arts, Communion with Angels, 39-40., 205.^