I like to practice my debate skills on X (formerly Twitter) although most of the time it’s like tiptoeing through a field of landmines. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but just a few years ago, if you said the wrong thing, you could have gotten blocked or chastised, or both. I have no doubt that if X was a thing back in St. Ambrose’s time, he would have been canceled and blocked many times for defending the church and the truth of her teachings. Ambrose was a saint that wasn’t afraid to be right.
St. Ambrose- an Advent Saint!
The story of St. Ambrose is inspiring. It’s unfortunate for poor St. Ambrose that his feast day is nestled between St. Nicholas Day with shoes filled full of candy, and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
It’s hard to compete with that.
So let’s start with this. Usually, a feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of the saint’s death. Ambrose’s feast day is on the anniversary of his becoming Bishop of Milan! Like St. Nicholas and St. Martin, he became the bishop in an unusual way!
Ambrose was born in Trier, Germany to Christian parents in the year 339 AD. It is said that when he was a baby, a swarm of bees landed on his face! His parents were terrified that he would be stung to death. But when the bees left, he was unharmed with only a small drop of honey on his cheek. His father took that as a good sign.
He studied law, rhetoric, and literature in Rome as a young man and went on to have a successful political career. So he was somewhat well-known… as a public figure.
Another unusual way to pick a bishop!
When the bishop of Milan died, the people were divided over who should be his replacement. Arianism was quite a popular belief at the time, but other Christian people wanted to find a bishop who was strong in the Christian Faith. Ambrose quickly arrived in town to keep both sides from attacking each other.
He stood up and publicly explained all of the things they should look for in a good bishop. He should be a defender of the faith, a spiritual guide for the people, and a leader. Someone in the crowd shouted, “Ambrose for bishop!” The sentiment caught on, and the crowd started chanting it.
But Ambrose felt that he was not worthy. He wasn’t baptized. He wasn’t even a catechumen! Ambrose studied quickly and diligently and within a short span of time, he was baptized and ordained. Shortly thereafter he was anointed bishop on December 7.
From that unusual beginning, he went on to become one of the great doctors of the church. He used his newfound knowledge of theology with his advanced education to write his homilies. His words touched the heart of a young man who became another great doctor of the church, Augustine of Hippo. Ambrose baptized Augustine in 387.
For the Love of a Brother
Ambrose had a brother named Satyrus. He was well-educated and practiced law. When Ambrose became bishop of Milan, his brother left his position as prefect of Rome and came to help him with the administration of the diocese. When Satyrus died unexpectedly, Ambrose poured out his grief in this piece, On the Death of a Brother.
To this must be added that I cannot be ungrateful to God; for I must rather rejoice that I had such a brother than grieve that I had lost a brother, for the former is a gift, the latter a debt to be paid. And so, as long as I might, I enjoyed the loan entrusted to me; now He Who deposited the pledge has taken it back.
There is no difference between denying that a pledge has been deposited and grieving at its being returned. In each there is untrustworthiness, and in each [eternal] life is risked. It is a fault if you refuse repayment, and impiety if you refuse a sacrifice. Moreover, the lender of money can be made a fool of, but the Author of nature; the Lender of all that we need, cannot be cheated. And so the larger the amount of the loan, so much the more gratitude is due for the use of the capital.
Willing to be right
In 386, Emperor Valentinian demanded that Ambrose turn over some of the churches and basilica to followers of Arianism.
Instead, Ambrose said he would go willingly to prison, and even execution, but he would not turn over any church that had been committed to God. With that, he barricaded himself inside the basilica and the order was eventually rescinded!
Ambrose also stood up to Emperor Theodosius, a professed Christian, when he sent soldiers in to slaughter hundreds of people to put down an uprising. Ambrose was so upset about this, he excommunicated the emperor! Here is a painting of him standing on the steps, barring the entrance from Theodosius!
Love of Mary
Perhaps because of his love and devotion to the blessed mother, as well as his intense study of her life as a consecrated virgin, it is no coincidence that their feast days are so close together. Of Mary, Ambrose wrote:
Mary was a Virgin not in body only, but mind also . . . so pure that she was chosen to be the Mother of the Lord. God made her whom He had chosen and chose her of whom He would be made.”
He is the patron saint of beekeepers, education, and Milan.
WAYS TO CELEBRATE!
Have honey in your tea, cake, or biscuits today.
Listen to Te Deum – since Ambrose is said to be the father of antiphonal music in the church.
Read some of the Saint’s writings.
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