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On the example of St Ambrose author describes relation of ancient Christians to poverty and wealth. He focuses on one specific area of Ambrose's relation to the poor and rich, namely to almsgiving. He introduces St Ambrose as a bishop with strong social awareness, who stood for the poor and searched for solution to their difficult economical situation. According to Ambrose the solution lays exactly in almsgiving, in altruistic sharing of one's own possessions with people in need. At the same time, it is a remedy for insanity that greediness leads to; and one of the ways of atonement for sins. St Ambrose reminds us what is real meaning of our life, that good will and generosity towards poor is necessary in our journey. It is not only a social gesture; however, it is a participation in God's plan of salvation and not only in the context of salvation of an individual, but in the perspective of the presence and future of the whole mankind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study by a Czech patrologist explores the concept of holiness in the sources of Christian tradition, namely Scripture and the Church Fathers. It examines the formation and transformation of the concept of holiness in biblical theology and the earliest Christian tradition back to Augustine. What does “holiness” actually mean? Is it something that a person can acquire? And if so, how? How imagine it? Testimonies from ancient times can reveal what the biblical challenge to “be holy” means, but they can also make us think of what is emphasized in various streams of Christian tradition and what, on the contrary, has been lost or remained in the background. It also deals with the caricatures of Christ and holiness in the heresies of the first centuries (Docetism, Monophysitism, Arianism). It calls us not to think of holiness only in terms of the intercessions of the saints, or in terms of a vision of a distant, eschatological future when, perhaps – with God’s grace – we will obtain holiness, but to reconsider this view and to focus our attention on the fact that we have already been joined to the saints by baptism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study and at the same time a short reading book of texts presents examples of exegetical interpretation of the Old Testament event of the crossing of the Red Sea by authors such as Philo, Origen, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Quodvultdeus. He shows with the help of allegorical reading, how the Christians of the early centuries could appropriate both the Old Testament narration of the journey out of Egyptian slavery, and various teaching of the Hellenistic schools of philosophy. With this help of which the Christians could better understand the nature of his own slavery and the way out of it. It takes a look at the origin of up to date liturgically connected story of the crossing of the Red Sea and the sacrament of baptism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines Jerusalem in the works of selected patristic authors. At the beginning Vopřada answers the question how early Christian generations as ancient believers approached Jerusalem. Then he outlines basic features of spiritual interpretations of Jerusalem in the New Testament and patristic writings. Thus the first part approaches Jerusalem as the historical reality and the second part engages its allegorisation. This historical and theological walk provides an environment for questioning issues important even for Christians today: What do Rome and Jerusalem have in common? Does the church need Jerusalem today? And if she does, how should she relate to it? Should Jerusalem be accepted as the city of God at present times, or should this qualification be reserved for the future and awaited with the Lord's second coming? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the relationship between Ambrose's mystagogical and exegetical method. Both of them bring the Christian catechumen or believer from the superficial perception of the biblical text or visible reality to the realm of the invisible that is hidden from the physical senses and is accessible only through faith. After a brief introduction to the significant characteristics of Ambrose's biblical exegesis, Ambrose's baptismal catecheses are analysed in order to clarify the conjunction of mystagogy and exegesis. The latter part of this article focuses on an example of Ambrose's exegetical work, i.e., his commentaries on the Psalms, the Explanatio Psalmorum xii and the Expositio Psalmi cxviii. There is a continuity in Ambrose's ministry to bring his audience from the visible to the invisible both in the catecheses and in his exegetical and homiletical work. The invisible is not perceived by him only in the philosophical sense, but it is understood from the point of view of the Nicene faith both in theory and practice. The presence of a similar attitude in his works speaks indirectly for the authenticity of his De Sacramentis and it indicates how profoundly intertwined his exegetical and mystagogical method are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his interpretation of the Bible, St Ambrose of Milan (d. 397) follows the Alexandrine exegetic tradition represented by Philo and Origenes. His Explanatio in Psalmum 36 is not an exception; the bishop of Milan used a template of Origen's Homilies on the Psalms to deliver a sermon for his audience. In his exegesis, he was not afraid to comment on the Greek reading of various verses on the Psalm and worked simultaneously with several texts that he considered inspired. This Latin writer's approach to the Greek Psalter is introduced by general remarks on Ambrose's exegesis of the Psalms, offering then detailed examples of his work in several verses of the Psalm. The newly discovered Greek text of four of Origen's homilies on Psalm 36 is also beneficial for shedding new light on Ambrose's work with the text and the sources he had at hand, as it proves Ambrose's access to the Greek text of Origen's H36Ps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saint Augustine occupies a prominent place in the Church's self-knowledge as a community of righteous and sinners (ecclesia permixta). The author shows how Augustine's conception of the church manifested itself in his work with catechumen and the newly baptized, who needed not only to be dedicated to the foundations of faith and the Christian way of life, but also to prepare for life in the community of the church, both saints and sinners at the same time. Augustine's teachings of the Church, made up of both righteous and sinners, can be found in the first catechesis of those who have come to take an interest in Christianity, further in the course of catechumenate preparation and also after baptism. This demonstrates how deeply ingrained the idea of a mixed church is in Augustine's thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sermon De ultima quarta feria, attributed to Quodvultdeus, was pronounced in the last phase of the baptismal preparation in Carthage at the end of the 430s. This paper studies the mystagogical method employed in the catechesis on the power of Christ's blood in baptism and the Eucharist that makes up part of the sermon. First, the baptismal rites in Carthage in 430s are presented. Second, the questions of its dating and the structure of the sermon are discussed. Third, the mystagogical catechesis on the power of Christ's blood is presented. This analysis demonstrates that Quodvultdeus stands in the Latin tradition of the patchwork usage of Biblical quotes in the course of the mystagogy that allows the audience to enter the history present in the sacred books and understand themselves as part of this history. In addition, this method allows for transferring the message of the centrality of Christ's redemption that can be attained through the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]