se of St. Martin and
St. Bernard. St. Augustine relates several miraculous cures worked by
the relics of St. Stephen. Many extraordinary things are related in
the life of St. Ambrose. Why not give faith to them after the
testimony of these great men, and that of their disciples, who had
lived with them, and had been witnesses of a good part of what they
relate?

It is not permitted us to dispute the truth of the apparitions noted
in the Old and New Testament; but we may be permitted to explain them.
For instance, it is said that the Lord appeared to Abraham in the
valley of Mamre;[417] that he entered Abraham's tent, and that he
promised him the birth of a son; also, it is allowed that he received
three angels, who went from thence to Sodom. St. Paul[418] notices it
expressly in his Epistle to the Hebrews; _angelis hospitio receptis_.
It is also said that the Lord appeared unto Moses, and gave him the
law; and St. Stephen, in the Acts,[419] informs us that it was an
angel who spoke to him from the burning bush, and on Mount Horeb; and
St. Paul, writing to the Galatians, says, that the law was given by
angels.[420]

Sometimes, the name of angel of the Lord is taken for a prophet, a man
filled with his Spirit, and deputed by him. It is certain that the
Hebrew _malae_ and the Greek _angelos_ bear the same signification as
our _envoy_. For instance, at the beginning of the Book of
Judges,[421] it is said that there came an angel of the Lord from
Gilgal to the place of tears (or Bochim), and that he there reproved
the Israelites for their infidelity and ingratitude. The ablest
commentators[422] think that this _angel of the Lord_ is no other than
Phineas, or the then high priest, or rather a prophet, sent expressly
to the people assembled at Gilgal.

In the Scripture, the prophets are sometimes styled angels of the
Lord.[423] "Here is what saith the envoy of the Lord, amongst the
envoys of the Lord," says Haggai, speaking of himself.

The prophet Malachi, the last of the lesser prophets, says that "the
Lord will send his angel, who will prepare the way before his
face."[424] This angel is St. John the Baptist, who prepares the way
for Jesus Christ, who is himself styled the Angel of the Lord--"And
soon the Lord whom ye demand, and the so much desired Angel of the
Lord, will come into his temple." This same Saviour is designated by
Moses under the name of a prophet:[425] "The Lord will raise up in the
midst of your nati