 St. Ambrose
Name: St. Ambrose
Date: 7 December
When in the year 369 Saint Ambrose, the young son of a Roman Senator, was sent by Probus, thePrefect of Italy, to the large province of Liguria Emilia in Italy, the officer said to him, “Go andact not as a judge, but as a bishop.” Ambrose, though not Christian, had already resisted by hisprobity the corrupting influence of the Roman youth of his day. In Liguria he showed himself tobe clement as directed, and his great erudition also became well known to the inhabitants of theregion. In the year 374 he was already governor of the province, at the moment when at Milan, inthis same region, a bishop was needed for that great see. Since the heretics in Milan were manyand fierce, he went to preserve order during the election of the new prelate. Though he was stillonly a catechumen, it was the Will of God that the provincial governor be chosen by acclamation. Despite his protestations and his subsequent flight from Milan when they were not accepted, hewas found, baptized and consecrated for the archiepiscopal see. Unwearied then in every pastoral duty, full of sympathy and charity, gentle and condescending inmatters of indifference, he was inflexible in questions of principle. He manifested his fearless zealwhen it was necessary to brave the anger of the Empress Justina, by resisting and foiling herimpious attempt to give one of the churches of Milan to the Arians. He distributed all that he hadof gold and silver to the poor, and confided all financial administration of his archdiocese to hisbrother, Saint Satyrus, who came to reside with him in Milan. To master theology, he studied theSacred Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church, and conferred with learned Christiansconcerning the rules of ecclesiastical discipline. He was very active, and took such great care ofthe catechumens’ instruction that no one could surpass him in that duty. His zeal in rebuking and bringing to penance the great Emperor Theodosius, who in a moment ofirritation had cruelly punished a sedition by the inhabitants of Thessalonica, is a well known factof history. The Saint met him at the door of the cathedral to prevent his entering, and said to himthat if he had imitated David in his crime, he must now imitate him in his penance. Later thechastened and humble Emperor said that in his life he had known but one true bishop —Ambrose. Saint Ambrose was the friend and consoler of Saint Monica in all her sorrows, and in 387 had thejoy of admitting to the Church Saint Augustine, her son. He died in 397, full of years and ofhonors, and is revered by the Church of God as one of her greatest Doctors. |
