SAINT AMBROSE Patron of the Veneration of Mary (c. 340–397): THE people of Thessalonica hurried to the circus. There was happy excitement on that day in August of 390 A.D. But those who crowded in to witness the games and races did not know they were walking into a trap. From his country residence the Emperor Theodosius, egged on by vicious counselors, had issued an order for their destruction. Not long before, a mob in this city had murdered a number of officials, including Botheric, its governor, and had dragged his body through the streets. A massacre of the people would be carried out in retribution. Now the Emperor’s soldiers were closing in on the circus. But out in the countryside, his messengers were desperately galloping in toward the city with counter-orders. Theodosius had quickly repented of the rash command.
But the news came too late. Seven thousand people were massacred behind the closed gates of the amphitheater. “A deed has been perpetrated in Thessalonica, which has no parallel in history, a deed which I in vain attempted to prevent.’’ From a country retreat, St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, wrote to the Emperor Theodosius: … It grieves me that you, who were an example of singular piety, who exercised consummate clemency, who would not suffer individual offenders to be placed in jeopardy, should not mourn over the destruction of so many innocent persons… I dare not offer the Sacrifice if you determine to attend. If the Bishop could not offer Mass in the presence of the Emperor, that meant Theodosius was excommunicated in the severest way. Yet the Bishop included in his stern letter a note of kindness: “You have my love, my affection, my prayers. If you believe that, follow my instructions…”
St. Ambrose wrote in September. After some little delay the Emperor Theodosius did follow his instructions. It is quite likely, however, that even before St. Ambrose wrote, the Emperor had issued an edict on August 18, ruling that all sentences of death must be suspended for a period of 30 days and then re-submitted for final approval. He was repentant as a ruler. But St. Ambrose wanted him as a man to repent of his sin before God. Theodosius was a mighty leader. He was a good man except for sporadic terrible outbursts of temper. He was the last man to unite in his person control of the whole Roman Empire, both East and West. And St. Ambrose demanded that he do public penance. There is a famous painting by Rubens showing St. Ambrose refuses admittance to Theodosius at the porch of the Basilica. This portrays the story as told by the historian Theodoret but cannot be verified as to detail. The essential story, however, stands. St. Ambrose was stern but very kindly, as his letter shows.
The great Emperor came and took off the imperial purple and all the other signs of imperial power. In the Basilica he confessed the sin of murder and begged the people to pray for him. They wept to see him prostrate and bewailing his sin as any ordinary man before God. At Christmas time he was readmitted to Holy Communion. Theodosius’ repentance was not short-lived, but permanent. At his funeral about four years later, St. Ambrose said: I loved him because, divesting himself of his regal state, he wept publicly for his sins and asked for pardon with groans and tears. I loved him because, Emperor as he was, he was not ashamed to do the public penance from which many of low degree shrinks, and because he deplored his sin every day he lived.
St. Ambrose’s bringing of Theodosius to penance is highly significant. For the first time in history, a bishop had claimed and exercised the right of judging, punishing and pardoning a great prince of the state. For the first time, an emperor had acknowledged and submitted to a higher power than his own. The penance of Theodosius was a dramatic representation of the principle St. Ambrose had spoken about so clearly a few years before: “The Emperor is within the Church, not over the Church.” At that time he had been addressing Valentinian II and his mother, Justina, who were trying to make him give up the Portian Basilica to the Arians. In bringing Theodosius to penance, in several other dramatic incidents, and in the whole tenor of his relations with the emperors, St. Ambrose set up a pattern of Church-state relationships which would endure for more than a thousand years. His influence on history, therefore, has been deep and important.
Milan, with its 100,000 population, was the capital of the western part of the Roman Empire during most of the fourth century. Before St. Ambrose, however, its bishops had not exerted any great influence. The man who brought Theodosius to penance changed that story. We might expect to find St. Ambrose powerful in building and robust in health. He was neither. He was short, with a rather long face and high forehead. His hair, probably light brown, was clipped short, and he wore a beard and a drooping mustache. Ordinarily his expression was grave, perhaps verging on melancholic. Considering his ability to play on words, his face must have lit up in conversation when his nimble mind found some happy pun to illustrate a point. St. Ambrose was not handsome, but his manner was courteous and charming.
St. Ambrose came from one of the outstanding families of the Empire, a family which had been Christian for several generations. It is characteristic of his cast of mind that he thought more highly of having a martyr, St. Soteris, in the family history than of its long line of consuls and prefects. At the time of his birth in the Roman city of Trier (Treves) in Germany about 340 A.D., his father, Aurelius Ambrose, was Pretorian Prefect of Gaul. In that capacity he was civil ruler of a territory approximating modern France, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, Corsica and parts of Britain and Germany. The name of St. Ambrose’s mother is not known. St. Ambrose was the third child in a family of three. The oldest was his sister, St. Marcellina, and next was his brother, St. Satyrus. His father died when Ambrose was still a child, and the family moved to Rome. Here Marcellina dedicated herself to a life of virginity, living at home, as was the custom in those days before convents. Satyrus and Ambrose received a thorough course in Latin, Greek and rhetoric—which included law.
A Great Orator: Pictures of St. Ambrose sometimes, show him with a beehive at his feet. This alludes to the story of his infancy in which his nurse found him asleep, while bees went into and out of his open mouth. She was alarmed and would have tried to chase the bees away, but his father came and told her to wait. Eventually the bees swarmed together and flew high into the sky. The father sighed in relief and said: “If that child lives, he will be something great.” A similar story had also been told by Plato and others. This account is given by Paulinus, St. Ambrose’s secretary in the last few years of his life. Paulinus wrote at the request of St. Augustine. The story, at least highlights the fact that St. Ambrose became one of the great Christian orators. He spoke with much charm and directness, really using words to convey thought rather than just stringing them together as mere ornaments of speech. While still a pagan, St. Augustine, a great master of words himself, used to listen to St. Ambrose—not because he was interested in Christianity, but because he admired the expressive flow of words and eloquent sincerity of the speaker.
As an example of St. Ambrose’s flow of words, we might consider his description of drunkenness—while realizing that a translation does not have the strength and grace of the original: From this come also deluding visions, uncertain sight and tottering gait. Often they [the drunken] leap over shadows as if they were pitfalls. The ground sways beneath them; suddenly it seems to be raised and lowered as if it were turning. In terror they fall upon their faces and grasp the ground with their hands; or they imagine that they are being engulfed by mountains rushing upon them. There is rumbling in their ears like the crashing of a tossing sea and shores resounding from the waves. If they see dogs, they think them lions and flee. Some are convulsed with uncouth laughter; others weep with inconsolable grief; others perceive senseless terrors.
While awake, they sleep, while asleep they quarrel. Life to them is a dream and their sleep is deep. It was in part St. Ambrose’s excellence as a speaker that helped him advance as a young lawyer and quickly rise to the post of Governor of Liguria and Aemilia (northern Italy). His sponsor, Probus, had sent him off with advice meant to encourage mildness, but which would prove prophetic: “Go, act not as a judge, but as a bishop.” So, at the age of 30 or fewer more, St. Ambrose now sat each morning to listen to the lawyers and to make decisions. He also had powers of administration and the right to the title of “Worshipful.” He soon won the respect and confidence of the people.
The People’s Choice: In 373 or 374, the Arian Bishop of Milan died. This was the same Auxentius that St. Hilary had tried in vain to oust. There was much discussion about a successor. Arians and Catholics each wanted a bishop after their own manner of thinking. There was in fact danger of a tumult. As governor, Ambrose went to the Basilica to maintain order. He arose and addressed the people. Somewhere in the crowd a voice was heard—according to Paulinus it was the voice of a child: “Ambrose—bishop!” Soon there was a swelling chorus echoing this suggestion. Both sides respected St. Ambrose and liked him. He was a firm but kind administrator; his personal life was upright and moral.Nobody in the cathedral was more surprised than Ambrose at the outcry. He had no desire to be a bishop. In fact, he already had an influential position and appeared to be on his way to still higher posts, so he resisted the popular demand. Paulinus supplies details which sound quite dramatic.
According to him, during the next few days St. Ambrose tried several ruses aimed at dissuading the popular will. Finally, he went to hide in the country home of a friend named Leontius. However, a letter of approval from the Emperor, Valentinian I, and a threat of punishment for anyone who concealed Ambrose were too much for this friend. Leontius turned over the escaped bishop-elect. At the time, St. Ambrose was still a catechumen. He had been carefully trained in the Catholic Faith, but the custom in those days was to delay Baptism. This custom seems strange today and indeed was an abuse; still, it gives evidence of the great efforts made by people in the fourth century to keep from mortal sin after Baptism. They considered a lapse after receiving the robe of grace to be a heinous ingratitude. That is also why public penances were so severe. St. Ambrose was baptized in late November and on successive days received the various minor and major orders of the priesthood. In early December (the first or seventh), he was consecrated a bishop. Even in those days such a rapid advance was against the canons, but the consecrating bishops considered the case very special and deserving of exceptional treatment.
Bishop of Milan: The new Bishop of Milan fully verified the popular judgment. His first act was to dispose of all his properties. He gave his lands to the Church, his silver and gold to the poor, making provision only for his sister, Marcellina. He never had to fear any accusing finger when later he spoke his strong doctrine on social obligation: It is not from your own goods that you give largesses to the beggar; it is a portion of his own which you are restored to him. What was given to all in common, you usurp for your own benefit. The earth belongs to all, not to the rich only. You are consequently pay a debt; do not go away and think you are making a gift to which you are not bound. (De Nabuthe XII, 53). Balancing this view, we can also mention something St. Ambrose says about beggars: Never were there so many beggars as today. We see coming to us strong, hearty fellows, who have no other title, but their vagrancy, and who claim the right to despoil the poor of what they earn, and empty their purses. A little does not satisfy them; they must have more. They trick themselves out in a way to render their demands more urgent, and make up false descriptions of their social condition in order to swell the gifts they receive.
To give credence to benevolently to their stories means to exhaust in a short time the alms set aside for the subsistence of the poor. There must be, therefore, a limit. Let them not go away empty-handed, but let not him who helps the needy to live become the prey of schemers. Let us not be inhumane, but let us not deprive extreme indigence of all support. (De Officiis, II, 16). Realizing that he was not prepared to teach religion, St. Ambrose began that thorough program of study which was to last through all his 23 years as bishop. He called in the priest Simplician from Rome to guide him; this was perhaps the tutor of his youth and was to be his successor in the See of Milan. St. Ambrose’s knowledge of Greek now helped him to study the Greek Fathers, especially Origen, St. Basil and St. Cyril of Jerusalem. In digesting their works and reworking them into his own orderly presentation of truth, he helped bring the fruits of Eastern theological thought to the West and demonstrated the essential unity of faith in both parts of the Empire.
When St. Ambrose became bishop, his brother St. Satyrus left a promising career in government to take charge of the temporal affairs of the diocese. This assured St. Ambrose the freedom to pursue his studies and to devote himself to the spiritual side of things. There was always a close bond of affection between the two brothers and their sister. When St. Satyrus became seriously ill after being shipwrecked while in pursuit of a defrauder, St. Ambrose also became ill, apparently by way of sympathetic communication. St. Satyrus recovered long enough to return to Italy and see his brother and sister, but he died soon afterwards, in 379. St. Ambrose found the death of his older brother a very heavy blow and preached two beautiful funeral orations in his honor.
The Bishop’s Day: St. Ambrose’s day began early in the morning with private prayers and Mass. He fasted five days a week, except when entertaining guests. His door was always open. Anybody could come in unannounced and claim his attention. Sometimes people lingered after their business was over to observe him reading. St. Augustine tells us that St. Ambrose immediately began his reading and study when an interview was over. Augustine himself sometimes came and left, not wishing to disturb him. In the evening St. Ambrose did his own writing, practically always in his own hand.
His Writings: Famous among St. Ambrose’s many writings are those on virginity (De Virginibus). These are chiefly collections and amplifications of sermons on the same subject. In fact, most of his writing is in the same category. Ambrose was primarily one who taught and preached to his own people. To help a wider group, he later wrote out and developed sermons already given. St. Ambrose played a large part in explicating the high ideals we have in the Church concerning consecrated chastity. He did not do this without criticism in his own day. Many mothers were afraid to allow their daughters to hear him. At that time (as later in history, and even down to our own time), the objection was brought up that the world would be depopulated if all followed his teaching. St. Ambrose asked, with some humor, what the young man had ever sought a wife and not found any willing candidate. Moreover, he maintained that the population increases in direct proportion to the esteem in which virginity is held. (De Virg., vii).
In advocating virginity, St. Ambrose often spoke of the peerless Virgin, the Mother of Christ. He often used the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life as the pattern in giving people practical direction in habits of virtue. For these reasons St. Ambrose is called the “Patron of the Veneration of Mary.” St. Ambrose is a master of allegory. He wrote extensively about the characters and events of the Old Testament, using them to point out truths in the moral and ascetical order. In all this he shows a mind highly mystical as well as very practical. He is not too much interested in the literal sense of Scripture. Rather, he uses Scripture as a jumping board to set the soul springing in a flight toward God. Then he has the rejuvenated soul drop down with energy to give a new direction to some ordinary affair of life on earth. St. Ambrose was not a scholar interested in the abstract. He was a bishop interested in stirring his people to piety and a good life. This method, strangely enough, helped the demanding mind of St. Augustine, the great shining light among the converts of St. Ambrose.
When he listened to St. Ambrose, the many difficulties of the literal explanations of the Bible vanished for him, and he saw that obscure passages could teach valuable truths. St. Augustine says, “I was pleased to hear Ambrose keeps on repeating in his public instructions: ‘The letter kills, it is the spirit which gives life.’ By removing the veil of mystery enveloping them, he explains in their spiritual meaning those passages which, taken literally, seemed to teach strange errors.” St. Augustine would be baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. There are extant 91 letters of St. Ambrose. In these he offers many explanations of Scriptural passages to those who asked his opinion. His letters give a good picture of the times. It is in one of them that we meet the word “Mass,” or “Missa,” for the first time. In a letter to his sister St. Marcellina, St. Ambrose uses this word to describe the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
The Liturgical Hymn: To St. Ambrose goes most of the credit for bringing the liturgical hymn to the Latin part of the Church. His name became so closely associated with singing that many hymns were called “Ambrosian,” even though St. Ambrose did not write them. This would include the well-known Te Deum. Four hymns can be surely assigned to his pen. They are: Aeterne Rerum Conditor; Deus Creator Omnium; Jam Surgit Hora Tertia; Veni, Redemptor Omnium. The name “Ambrosian” is also given to the ancient liturgy of the church and province of Milan, i.e., “the Ambrosian Rite.” … and Its Dramatic Entry The introduction of hymns into our Church services is connected with an interesting and dramatic episode in the life of St. Ambrose. The Empress Justina, acting for her son, Valentinian II, demanded that St. Ambrose surrender to the Arians the Portian Basilica just outside the walls of Milan. This was the same Justina who some years before had placed Valentinian as a little boy in Ambrose’s arms and asked him to act as the boy’s ambassador.
St. Ambrose had undertaken the mission to Maximus, the usurping Emperor, and saved Italy for Valentinian. With ready forgiveness, Ambrose would go again, at great personal risk, on another mission to Maximus and tell him in favor of Justina and Valentinian, “God bids me defend the widow and the orphan.” But now in the latter part of Lent, 386 A.D., Justina was demanding a church for the Arians. This was a repetition of a similar demand made the year before. This year, however, St. Ambrose was literally besieged in the Basilica. The church and its attached buildings became a kind of fortress. Soldiers stationed outside allowed anybody to enter, but nobody was allowed to leave. So the people just stayed with St. Ambrose over Palm Sunday and on through Holy Week. St. Augustine describes what St. Ambrose did to keep everyone fruitfully occupied: “The pious people kept watch in the church, ready to die with their bishop. Then it was that the custom arose of singing hymns and psalms, after the use of the Eastern parts, lest the people should wax faint through the tediousness of sorrow; and from that day to this the custom has been retained—many, nay, almost all—of the Christian congregations throughout the rest of the world following herein.”
A Giant in Church and Empire: St. Ambrose was one of the most influential men of the fourth century. He was the friend and confidant of emperors—in fact, the teacher of two of them, the young half-brothers, Gratian and Valentinian II. In 379 he persuaded the Emperor Gratian to outlaw Arianism in the Western Empire. St. Ambrose defeated the last strong effort for the official recognition of paganism when he logically refuted the eloquent plea of Symmachus that the altar of the goddess of victory be placed again in the Senate. Near the end of Ambrose’s life, the Emperor Theodosius won an important victory over Arbogastes, thus bringing an end to paganism in the Empire. A few months later, Theodosius died in the arms of Ambrose, and the Saint preached the Emperor’s funeral oration. It has well been said of the great St. Ambrose that “more than any other man, he was responsible for the rise of Christianity in the West as the Roman Empire was dying.”
Close to God and Man: St. Ambrose combined in himself many divergent qualities. He was a mystic and a man of energetic action; a writer of polished Latin verse as displayed in his hymns, and a person always practical; he was a good administrator, a man of orderly habits, yet anybody could walk into his house for a conference; he was often quite stern and unbending, yet he was extraordinary in his sympathy for the poor and for captives. For these latter he even sold the churchplate and sacred vessels, bringing upon himself the charge of sacrilege. St. Ambrose was very mortified and austere; he recommended the consecration of human affection to Christ through virginity. Yet at the same time he had an extraordinary love for children, deep friendships, and the warmest of affections for his brother and sister. In his later years he brought up the three grandchildren of a friend, maintaining them in the episcopal residence.
His Holy Death: In February of 397 St. Ambrose became seriously ill. A deputation came to ask him to pray that God would spare his life. Ambrose answered: “I have not so lived among you as to be ashamed to live on; but I am not afraid to die, for Our Lord is good.” On Good Friday he lay for some hours with his arms outstretched on the bed in the form of a cross while he prayed silently. He received Holy Viaticum shortly after midnight and died early in the morning of Holy Saturday, April 4. St. Ambrose was buried near the remains of the two martyrs whose bones he had discovered, Sts. Gervase and Protase. In the ninth century the remains of the three Saints were placed in one sarcophagus. This was opened in 1871. St. Ambrose’s bones, together with those of Sts. Gervase and Protase, are now in a silver shrine in the crypt of the Church of St. Ambrose in Milan.
The way St. Ambrose received his vocation is a lesson in the ways of God. We sometimes tend too much to purge out the human elements and to look for some indefinable interior call. God does not always communicate with us openly, as through “the burning bush”; rather, He often speaks through the uncouth and rasping voices of men. Though nominated by men, St. Ambrose was certainly called by God. Most Saints’ feasts are celebrated on the day of their death, their entry into the Kingdom of God. The feast of St. Ambrose, however, is celebrated on the traditional day of his consecration as a bishop, December 7. St. Ambrose is one of the four great Latin Doctors, the others being St. Jerome, St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great.
