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St. Ambrose was a small man with pale yellow hair like a nimbus. In the violence and confusion of his time, he stood out courageously resisting evil, strengthening the Church, and administering it with extraordinary ability. His learning gained for him the title of Doctor of the Church.

When Ambrose had governed at Milan for two years, the bishop died, and the city was torn by strife over the election of a successor. When he stood up to protest a voice suddenly called out, "Ambrose, bishop! On December 7, 374, he was consecrated. The new bishop now gave his possessions to the poor and his lands to the Church, reserving only a small income for the use of his sister Marcellina.

Conscious of his ignorance of theology, Ambrose began to study the Scriptures and the works of religious writers, particularly Origen and Basil.

When Augustine of Hippo came to live at Milan, he called on the bishop, and in time the two became great friends. Augustine went often to hear Ambrose preach, and was at last baptized by him. One of Ambrose's topics was the blessing and virtue of virginity, when chosen for God's sake. At the request of Marcellina, he made a popular manual of his sermons on this subject.

When Ambrose fell sick, he foretold his own death, saying he would live only until Easter. He busied himself writing a treatise called 'The Goodness of Death', and with an interpretation of the Forty-third Psalm.

On Good Friday, 397, he partook of the Last Sacrament, and died soon after. He was then about fifty-seven and had been bishop for twenty-two years. His remains now rest under the high altar of his basilica, where they were placed in 835.

Ambrose's varied writings influenced the development of the Church. He was the first of the Fathers to use Latin effectively, and as the Roman Empire declined in the West he helped to keep this great language alive by starting it on its new course in the service of Christianity. He enriched Church music, and seven of the hymns he wrote are still a part of the liturgy. His personality combined firmness where God's law was concerned with warmth, moderation, and generosity in all else. Trusted by sovereigns, loved by the people, Ambrose was-to quote Augustine's words after their first meeting—"a man affectionate and kind."
 

EWTN Document Library:

Lives of Saints - St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor
Taken from "Lives of the Saints."
 

St. Ambrose - On the Duties of the Clergy, Book I
De officiis ministrorum. Between 377-391. Follows Cicero's De officiis in title, division, formal content. Book I: on the virtuous; Book II: on the practical; Book III: on the opposition between the virtuous and the pratical. Especially for the clergy, but perhaps also to all the faithful, differs from the original in showing difference between Stoic morality centered on man, and Christian morality, centered on God, which Ambrose shows through the eschatological viewpoint of the work as a whole.

St. Ambrose - On the Duties of the Clergy, Book II-III
De officiis ministrorum. Between 377 and 391. Follows Cicero's De officiis in title, division, formal content. Book I: on the virtuous; Book II: on the practical; Book III: on the opposition between the virtuous and the pratical. Especially for the clergy, but perhaps also to all the faithful, differs from the original in showing difference between Stoic morality centered on man, and Christian morality, centered on God, which Ambrose shows through the eschatological viewpoint of the work as a whole.

St. Ambrose - Selected Letters
Ambrose's letters 17-8, 20-2, 40-1, 51, 57, 61-3. Ambrose's letters are among the most important sources for his life and the religious and political situation of his time. 1, 21, 51, 57 deal with relations of Church and state; 21-22 deal with the Arian question; 17-18 document his anti-pagan attitude; 40-41 cast light on his anti-Jewish policy; 22 shows his preoccupation with the life of the Church.


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