- Our Father among the Saints Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (397)
- This illustrious light of
Orthodoxy in the Western Church was born in Gaul in 349, but his widowed
mother took the
family to Rome while he was still a small child. Brilliant and
well-educated, he was made a
provincial Governor in 375 and took up residence in Milan. In those
days, the Arian heresy was
still dividing the Church, despite its repudiation at the Council of
Nicaea in 325. When the time
came to elect a new Bishop in Milan, the Orthodox and Arian parties were
so divided that they
could come to no agreement on a new Bishop. When Ambrose came as
Governor to try to
restore peace and order, a young child, divinely inspired, called out
"Ambrose, Bishop!" To
Ambrose's amazement, the people took up the cry, and Ambrose himself was
elected, though he
tried to refuse, protesting that he was only a catechumen (it was still
common in those days to
delay Holy Baptism for fear of polluting it by sin). He even attempted
to flee, but his horse
brought him back to the city. Resigning himself to God's will, he was
baptized and, only a week later, elevated to Bishop. Immediately, he
renounced all possessions, distributed all of his money to the poor and
gave his estates to the Church. Straightaway, he entered into a
spirited defense of Orthodoxy in his preaching and writings to the
dismay of the Arians who had supported his election. Soon he persuaded
Gratian, Emperor of the West, to call the Council of Aquilea, which
brought an end to Arianism in the Western Church. (Arianism, however,
continued to prosper among the barbarian nations for many years; see the
Martyrs of Africa, also commemorated today).
-
Several times the holy Bishop was called upon to defend the Church
against domination
by the secular powers. Once, putting down an uprising in Thessalonika,
the Emperor Theodosius
punished the city by ordering the massacre of thousands of its
residents. When the Emperor later visited Milan and came to the
Cathedral to attend the Liturgy, Saint Ambrose stopped him at the door,
condemned his crime before all the people, forbade him entrance to the
church and
excommunicated him for eight months. The Emperor went away weeping, and
submitted in
humility to the Church's discipline. When he returned after long
penance to be restored to
Communion, he went into the sanctuary along with the clergy, as had been
the custom of the
Emperors since Constantine the Great. But again the holy Ambrose
humbled him in the sight of
all the people, saying "Get out and take your place among the laity; the
purple does not make
priests, but only emperors." Theodosius left without protest, took his
place among the penitents, and never again attempted to enter the
sanctuary of a church. (When the Emperor died, it was Bishop Ambrose
who preached his funeral eulogy).
-
Saint Ambrose, by teaching, preaching and writing, brought countless pagans to the
Faith. His most famous convert was St Augustine (June 15), who became his disciple and
eventually a bishop. Ambrose's many theological and catechetical works helped greatly to spread
the teaching of the Greek fathers in the Latin world. He wrote many glorious antiphonal hymns
which were once some of the gems of the Latin services.
-
Saint Ambrose reposed in peace in 397; his relics still rest in the basilica in Milan.
source:http://www.abbamoses.com
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