Saint Ambrose

St. Ambrose

Saint Ambrose (340 to 397 A.D.) was Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397 and an important early Church Father (Saint Augustine considered him to be a model bishop). He was also one of the most illustrious Doctors of the Church , and fitly chosen, together with Saint Augustine, Saint John Chrysostom, and St. Athanasius, to uphold the venerable Chair of the Prince of the Apostles in the tribune of Saint Peter's at Rome.

Saint Ambrose was a lawyer before he became a priest and later a bishop. He attacked imperial moral standards and strengthened the position of the Church in the Roman Empire through his preaching and writing. Saint Augustine was one of his famous converts.

In 390 A.D., emperor Theodosius responded vindictively to sedition in Thessalonica by massacring 7000 people. When he turned up at Ambrose's church in Milan, Ambrose refused him entry until he had repented of his crime. Ambrose's reasoning was that the same Lord made both the emperor and the ordinary people. Theodosius subsequently did repent of his actions. Ambrose also got Theodosius to pass a new law that any sentences of death or proscription were to be stayed for 30 days, after which they were to be reviewed. In taking the actions that he did, Ambrose established that under Christianity, nobody, not even the emperor of Rome was above the law, and that the law was based on God's standards.

During his lifetime, Ambrose called several councils and worked tirelessly against the Arian heresy.

Some of his writings

Saint Ambrose in His Study, c. 1500. Spanish, Palencia. Wood with traces of polychrome.

• De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Ghost)
• De mysteriis (On the Mysteries)
• De incarnationis Dominicae sacramento (On the Sacrament of the Incarnation of the Lord)
• Homiletic commentaries on the Old Testament
• De excessu fratris Satyri (funeral orations)
• Letters
• Hymns
• Ethical works: De bono mortis (Death as a Good); De fuga saeculi (Flight From the World); De paenitentia (On Repentance); De paradiso (On Paradise); De sacramentis (On the Sacraments); De viduis (On Widows); De virginibus (On Virgins); De virginitate (On Virginity); Exhortatio virginitatis (Exhortation to Virginity); De sacramento regenerationis sive de philosophia (On the Sacrament of Rebirth, or, On Philosophy [fragments])

Saint Ambrose quotes

• “No one heals himself by wounding another.”

• "It is a better thing to save souls for the Lord than to save treasures. He who sent forth his apostles without gold had not need of gold to form his Church. The Church possesses gold, not to hoard, but to scatter abroad and come to the aid of the unfortunate."

• "One of the duties of fortitude is to keep the weak from receiving injury; another, to check the wrong motions of our own souls; a third, both to disregard humiliations, and to do what is right with an even mind. All these clearly ought to be fulfilled by all Christians, and especially by the clergy."

• "When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking about Christ."

• "Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light."

• "Prayer is the wing wherewith the soul flies to heaven, and meditation the eye wherewith we see God."

• "Love is like a shadow, one can only catch it by falling into it."

• "Our own evil inclinations are far more dangerous than any external enemies."

• "It is not enough just to wish well; we must also do well."

• “If you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to you and the other to the man with no shirt.”

• "True repentance is to cease from sin."

• “Let God alone be sought as the judge of loveliness, Who loves even in less beautiful bodies the more beautiful souls.”

Other quotes of St. Ambrose resources

• Saint Ambrose of Milan quotes

• Saint Ambrose quotes

• Saint Ambrose - Quotes, video

External links

St. Ambrose is the patron saint of beekeeepers.

According to legend, when St. Ambrose was a child, his face was swarmed by bees, and though they didn't sting him, they did leave a drop of honey on his face.

• St. Ambrose, Britannica
• St. Ambrose, New Advent (Catholic website)
• Saint Ambrose, Catholic Online
• History of St. Ambrose St. Ambrose Cathedral.
• Writings of St. Ambrose including "On beliefs in Resurrection" and "On the Holy Spirit"

Videos:

• The Untold Story of Saint Ambrose: Unlocking the Life of a Beloved Christian Saint, Christian Channel
• Who was St Ambrose of Milan?

Sources

• The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989