Feast day: 7 December
Saint Ambrose of Milan
Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis
Roman governor acclaimed bishop of Milan while still unbaptised, Ambrose became the great defender of the Church's freedom before emperors, the master of Latin hymnody, and the man who baptised Augustine.
- Born
- c. 339, Trier (Roman Gaul)
- Died
- 4 April 397, Milan (Italy)
- Canonization
- Venerated as a saint immediately after his death by popular acclaim, before formal canonization processes existed; recognized as a Doctor of the Church from the eighth century and confirmed by Boniface VIII in 1298.
- Country
- Roman Empire (Italy)
Biography
From governor to bishop
Son of a praetorian prefect, trained in law and rhetoric, Ambrose was governor of Aemilia-Liguria at Milan when the see fell vacant amid conflict between Catholics and Arians. Entering the basilica to keep order in 374, he was acclaimed bishop by both parties. Still only a catechumen, he was baptised, ordained and consecrated within a week, gave his goods to the poor, and set himself to study Scripture and the Greek Fathers.
The freedom of the Church
He refused to hand over a basilica to the Arian court of the empress Justina in 385-386, holding the church with his people through nights of vigil and teaching them to sing antiphonally. In 390, after the massacre of Thessalonica, he required public penance of the emperor Theodosius before readmitting him to communion, establishing that the emperor is 'within the Church, not above it'.
Teacher, hymnwriter, father of Augustine
His allegorical preaching on the Old Testament freed the young Augustine from his objections to the Bible; he baptised him at the Easter Vigil of 387. Ambrose composed Latin hymns in simple iambic metre that shaped Western liturgical music, wrote De Officiis Ministrorum, De Mysteriis and De Sacramentis, defended the perpetual virginity of Mary, and left Milan its own Ambrosian Rite. He died on Holy Saturday 397.
Timeline
- c. 339 — Born at Trier
- c. 372 — Governor of Aemilia-Liguria at Milan
- 374 — Acclaimed bishop; baptised and consecrated in one week
- 386 — Resists the Arian court; introduces antiphonal hymn singing
- 387 — Baptises Augustine at the Easter Vigil
- 390 — Imposes public penance on Theodosius
- 397 — Dies in Milan on Holy Saturday
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Beehive — The tradition that bees settled on the infant's mouth, sign of his honeyed eloquence.
Scourge — His defence of the Church against Arianism and imperial pressure.
Book and crozier — Doctor and bishop.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Fortitude before power, pastoral tenderness towards penitents, disciplined study taken up late in life, and generosity that melted church plate to ransom captives.
Importance in the Church
He defined the relationship between Church and State for the Christian West, gave the Latin Church its hymnody and much of its sacramental catechesis, and formed Augustine, through whom his influence runs through all later theology.
Miracles
Augustine records the discovery in 386 of the bodies of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius at Milan and the healing of a blind man, Severus, at their relics, an event he says he witnessed himself (Confessions IX, 7).
Quotes
“The emperor is within the Church, not above the Church.”
Sermo contra Auxentium, 36
“Where Peter is, there is the Church; where the Church is, there is no death but eternal life.”
Commentary on Psalm 40, 30
Writings
De Officiis Ministrorum — Christian ethics for the clergy, modelled on Cicero.
De Mysteriis / De Sacramentis — Mystagogical catecheses on baptism and Eucharist, a primary source for early liturgy.
Hymns (Aeterne rerum conditor, Veni redemptor gentium) — Foundational Latin hymns still sung in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Prayers
Hymn of Saint Ambrose (Aeterne rerum conditor)
Eternal maker of all things, who rule both night and day and give the seasons in their turn to lighten our weariness: look upon us, Lord Jesus, and let your gaze correct our faults; sin falls away when you behold us, and tears wash guilt from the heart. Amen.
Latin: Aeterne rerum conditor, noctem diemque qui regis, et temporum das tempora ut alleves fastidium.
Ambrose's morning hymn, quoted by Augustine; still used at Lauds.
Places
Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan (Italy) — Built by him; his body lies there with Gervasius and Protasius.
Milan Cathedral and the Ambrosian Rite — The liturgy of Milan still bears his name.
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)