Publicly, St. Ambrose is remembered for his successful opposition to the
restoration of the statue of the Goddess of Victory to the senate chambers
and his humiliation of the Emperor Theodosius for the massacre of 7000
people at Thessalonica in 390 AD. For this massacre, Theodosius was
refused admittance to Milan Cathedral and ordered to do public penance.
St. Ambrose is considered the first of those political bishops who strove to
unite Church and State for the betterment of both.
St. Ambrose’s extraordinary popularity was in no doubt due to his
unending devotion to his flock, his dignified character and lofty views. He
always catechized his people in a way that was positive and practical. The
conversion of the great St. Augustine was directly due to his manner,
preaching and teaching. However, compared to St. Augustine and even St.
Jerome he was a scholar of lower rank. Nevertheless, his style possessed a
sweetness and harmony that always charmed St. Augustine.
St. Ambrose died April 4, 397 AD. The story of his life was completed by
Paulinus, his intimate friend and secretary, in 422 AD. It recounts many
wonderful facts concerning the life of the Saint, including a number of
miracles attributed to him before and after his death.
Extracts
Paradise (C. 375 AD):
10, 48
“Nor is it a matter of indifference that the woman was not formed of the same clay
from which Adam was made, but was made from the rib of Adam himself, so that
we might know that the flesh of man and woman is of but one nature, and that there
is but one source of the human race. Therefore at the beginning it is not two that
are made, man and woman, nor two men, nor two women, but first man is made,
and then woman from him. For God willed to settle one nature upon mankind, and
starting from the one origin of this creature, He snatched away the possibility of
numerous and disparate natures.”
The Virgins (377 AD):
2, 2, 6
“Mary’s life should be for you a pictorial image of virginity. Her life is like a
mirror reflecting the face of chastity and the form of virtue. Therein you may find
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