Ambrose, St

Ambrose, St, one of the most celebrated of the ancient fathers of the church, was born about the year 340, probably at Treves, where his father, as Prefect of Gaul, was wont to reside. Ambrose received a fortunate omen even in his cradle; a swarm of bees covered the slumbering boy; and the astonished nurse saw that the bees clustered round his mouth, without doing him any harm. His father, perhaps remembering a similar wonder related of Plato, foreboded from this a high destiny for Ambrose. He received an excellent education, and went with his brother Satyrus to Milan, in order to follow the legal profession. He soon distinguished himself so much, that in 369 he was appointed, by Valentinian, Prefect of Upper Italy and Milan. In this office, his gentleness and wisdom won for him the esteem and love of the people, whose prosperity had been much injured by the troubles caused by Arianism. Accordingly, by Arians and Catholics alike, he was unanimously called to be Bishop of Milan in 374. He long refused to accept this dignity, and even left the city; yet he soon returned, was baptised, as hitherto he had been only a catechumen, and was consecrated eight days afterwards. The anniversary of this event (December 7) is still celebrated as a festival by the Catholic Church. Having sold his goods, and distributed the proceeds among the poor, Ambrose proceeded to fit himself for his new office by a course of theological study, under Simplician, a presbyter of Rome. As a bishop, he won the universal reverence of all, by his mild and gentle character; but he was severe and stern against wickedness of every kind, even in high places. Thus, he repulsed the Emperor Theodosius himself even from the door of the church, on account of his having caused the rebellious Thessalonians to be cruelly massacred by Rufinus, excommunicated him, and only restored him to the church after eight months of severe penance. Only his unflinching defiance of the court party enabled him to save the churches in his diocese from the Arian heretics; and his almost threatening earnestness probably contributed largely to the defeat of Symmachus, a wealthy prefect of Rome, who had petitioned for the restoration of the pagan worship, after the famine of 383. Ambrose's most valuable legacy to the church is his hymns, and the improvements he introduced into the service. The Ambrosian ritual, a use or liturgy still retained in the Milanese Church, is claimed for him, and he is the author of many hymns which he introduced into the Western Church. The hymn, Te Deum Laudamus, has been erroneously ascribed to him. For the Ambrosian Chant, see CHANT. Ambrose died in 397. The best edition of his works, generally ascetic in tone, and in which he followed in many things the Greek theological writers, is that published by the Benedictines (2 vols. Paris, 1686-90). Ambrose is the patron saint of Milan. —THE AMBROSIAN LIBRARY there, named in his honour, was established in 1609 by Cardinal Borromeo. It now contains 160,000 volumes of printed books, and 8000 MSS.