Ambrosius von Mailand und die Metapher von der Besiegelung mit dem Heiligen Geist in seinen Taufkatechesen „De sacramentis“ (sacr. 6,2,6-9) und seiner systematischen Schrift „De spiritu sancto“ (spir. 1,6,78-80). Zwei unterschiedliche Textgattungen im Vergleich

Abstract

In his De sacramentis, a work of mystagogical catechesis, Ambrose of Milan († 397) introduces the newly baptized to, among other things, the meaning of the baptismal ceremony’s concluding rite, that is, the sealing with the Holy Spirit. Ambrose’s comments on the spiritual seal (spiritale signaculum) may be found in, among other places, sacr. 6.2.6-9. Taking this rite as an example, he demonstrates that the divine Trinity cooperates in the administration of the sacrament. On the basis of 2 Cor 1:21-22, he shows God and Christ to be the common bestower of the Spirit. The unity of Christ and the Spirit Ambrose underlines by way of a quotation from the Song of Songs (8:6), which he considers to be a typological annunciation of the spiritual sealing that takes place in baptism. Ambrose is the fi rst church father to draw a typological connection between the seal of the Song of Songs and the spiritual seal of baptism. Also original is his interpretation of this rite in connection with Rom 6:3-11. A comparison of the catechetical addresses in sacr. with Ambrose’s treatise De spiritu sancto reveals numerous diff erences in both form and content. So in sacr. 6.2.6-9, the Spirit is seen as a gift from God and Christ to the baptizands, while in the corresponding passage from spir. (1.6.78-80), it is the Spirit’s own sealing work on the baptizands that is emphasized. That is the means by which God’s Spirit would imprint the image of Christ on the hearts of the baptizands. Ambrose is thus responsible for introducing the concept of the spiritale signaculum to Latin theology. After discovering it in Greek (πνευματικὴ σφραγίς) in Cyril of Jerusalem (catech. 5.6), Ambrose most likely translated it into Latin and then gave it the meaning described above.