Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Read Chapter 16
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
The sea is holy Scripture which has within it profound meanings and the mysterious depths of the prophets. Into this sea many rivers have entered. Delightful and clear are these streams. These fountains are cool, springing up into life everlasting. There, too, are “pleasant words, like honeycomb,” and courteous conversations which water souls with the sweetness of moral commands. The streams of holy Scripture are diverse; you know that which you should drink from first, second, and last.
This course … will bring you honor and true glory. With your ears opened to give heed and your hands ready to execute the command you have heard, let your tongue be silent and keep your heart under custody. Be slow and dull for idle talk but knowing and wise in hearkening to the saving words of the holy Scriptures. Let the hearing of worldly tales be to you as a bitter taste in your mouth but the discourse of holy men as a honeycomb. .
You who love instruction and are eager to listen, receive once again the sacred words: delight yourselves in the honey of wisdom; for so it is written, “Good words are honeycombs, and their sweetness is the healing of the soul.” For the labor of the bees is very sweet and benefits in many ways the soul of man; but the divine and saving [honey] makes those in whom it dwells skillful in every good work and teaches them the ways of [spiritual] improvement. Commentary on Luke, Homily
It came to pass that our was born while his father, , was administering the prefectureship of the Gallic provinces. On one occasion, when the child had been placed in a cradle in his father’s courtyard and was asleep with his mouth open, a swarm of bees suddenly approached and covered his face, so that they were continually flying in and out of his mouth. His father, who was strolling nearby with his wife and daughter, watched with fatherly affection to see in what way this miracle would terminate. Meanwhile, he restrained the maid from driving away the bees, for she had accepted the responsibility of feeding the child and was anxious lest they harm him. But, after a while, the bees flew away and rose so high in the air that they could in no way be seen by human eyes. The father, terrified by this event, said, “If this child lives, he will be something great.” For, even then, the Lord was acting during the infancy of his servant in order that what was written might be fulfilled: “Well...
