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3. To Simplicianus then I went, the father of Ambrose (at
that time a bishop) in receiving Thy grace, and whom he truly loved
as a father. To him I narrated l;he windings of my error. But when
I mentioned to him that I had read certain books of the Platonists,
which Victorinus, sometime Professor of Rhetoric at Rome (who died
a Christian, as I had been told), had translated into Latin, he
congratulated me that I had not fallen upon the writings of other
philosophers, which were full of fallacies and deceit, "after the
rudiments of the world," whereas they, in many ways, led to the
belief in God and His word? Then, to exhort me to the humility of
Christ, hidden from the wise, and revealed to little ones, he spoke
of Victorinus himself, whom, whilst he was at Rome, he had known
very intimately; and of him he related that about which I will not be
silent. For it contains great praise of Thy grace, which ought to be
confessed unto Thee, how that most learned old man, highly skilled in
all the liberal sciences, who had read, criticised, and explained so
many works of the philosophers; the teacher of so many noble senators;
who also, as a mark of his excellent discharge of his duties, had
(which men of this world esteem a great honour) both merited and
obtained a statue in the Roman Forum, he,even to that age a
worshipper of idols, and a participator in the sacrilegious rites to
which almost all the nobility of Rome were wedded, and had inspired
the people with 'the love of "The dog Anubis, and a medley crew Of
monster gods [who] 'gainst Neptune stand in arms, 'Gainst Venus
and Minerva, steel-clad Mars," whom Rome once conquered, now
worshipped, all which old Victorinus had with thundering eloquence
defended so many years, he now blushed not to be the child of Thy
Christ, and an infant at Thy fountain, submitting his neck to the
yoke of humility, and subduing his forehead to the reproach of the
Cross.
4. O Lord, Lord, who hast bowed the heavens and come down,
touched the mountains and they did smoke, by what means didst Thou
convey Thyself into that bosom? He used to read, as Simplicianus
said, the Holy Scripture, most studiously sought after and searched
into all the Christian writings, and said to Simplicianus, not
openly, but secretly, and as a friend, " Know thou that I am a
Christian." To which he replied, "I will not believe it, nor
will I rank you among the Christians unless I see you in the Church
of Christ." Whereupon he replied derisively, "Is it then the
walls that make Christians?" And this he often said, that he
already was a Christian; and Simplidanus making the same answer, the
conceit of the "walls" was by the other as often renewed. For he was
fearful of offending his friends, proud demon-worshippers, from the
height of whose Babylonian dignity, as from cedars of Lebanon which
had not yet been broken by the Lord, he thought a storm of enmity
would descend upon him. But after that, from reading and inquiry, he
had derived strength, and feared lest he should be denied by Christ
before the holy angels if he now was afraid to confess Him before
men,$ and appeared to himself guilty of a great fault in being ashamed
of the sacraments of the humility of Thy word, and not being ashamed
of the sacrilegious rites of those proud demons, whose pride he had
imitated and their rites adopted, he became bold-faced against
vanity, and shame-faced toward the truth, and suddenly and
unexpectedly said to Simplicianus, ' as he himself informed
me, " Let us go to the church; I wish to be made a
Christian." But he, not containing himself for joy, accompanied
him. And having been admitted to the first sacraments of instruction,
he not long after gave in his name, that he might be regenerated by
baptism, Rome marvelling, and the Church rejoicing. The proud
saw, and were enraged; they gnashed with their teeth, and melted
away! But the Lord God was the hope of Thy servant, and He
regarded not vanities and lying madness.
5. Finally, when the hour arrived for him to make profession of his
faith (which at Rome they who are about to approach Thy grace are
wont to deliver from an elevated place, in view of the faithful
people, in a set form of words learnt by heart)fl the presbyters, he
said, offered Victorinus to make his profession more privately, as
the custom was to do to those who were likely, through bashfulness, to
be afraid; but he chose rather to profess his salvation in the presence
of the holy assembly. For it was not salvation that he taught in
rhetoric, and yet he had publicly professed that. How much less,
therefore, ought he, when pronouncing Thy word, to dread Thy meek
flock, who, in the delivery of his own words, had not feared the mad
multitudes! So, then, when he ascended to make his profession,
all, as they recognised him, whispered his name one to the other,
with a voice of congratulation. And who was there amongst them that
did not know him? And there ran a low murmur through the mouths of all
the rejoicing multitude, "Victorinus! Vic-torinus!" Sudden was
the burst of exultation at the sight of him; and suddenly were they:
hushed, that they might hear him. He pronounced the true faith with
an excellent boldness, and all desired to take him to their very
heart yea, by their love and joy they took him thither; such were
the hands with which they took him.
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