[Rank]
S. Ambrosii Episcopi Confesoris Ecclesiae Doctoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C4a

[Name]
Ambrose

[Rule]
vide C4a;mtv
9 lectiones;

[Oratio]
God, who didst give unto thy people blessed Ambrose to be a minister of eternal~
salvation; grant, we beseech thee, that we may be found worthy to have the same~
as an intercessor in heaven, whom we have had for a teacher of life upon earth.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, was the son of another Ambrose, a Roman citizen, and~
was born when his father was Prefect of Gaul, (about the year of our Lord 340.) A~
swarm of bees settled upon his face when he was in his cradle, which was~
considered an omen of his future eloquence. He received a liberal education at~
Rome. He was afterwards, under the Prefect Probus, made governor of Liguria and~
Emilia, and so came with authority to Milan. Auxentius, an Arian, who had been~
intruded into the Bishoprick of Milan, happening to die, the most violent~
disputes arose about the choice of a successor. Ambrose came to the church in~
his official capacity, and urged upon the contending factions, in a long and~
powerful speech, the necessity of keeping the public peace; whereupon a child~
suddenly cried out, Ambrose, Bishop, and the whole assembly took it up, and~
unanimously called for his election.

[Lectio5]
Ambrose refused, and would not yield to their prayers, whereupon they carried~
their petition to the Emperor Valentinian. It was very pleasing to this Prince~
that those he had appointed as judges should be chosen Bishops, as also to the~
Prefect Probus, who had, as it were prophetically, said to him when he appointed~
him, Go and govern them more like a Bishop than a Judge. When the will of the~
Emperor was added to the desire of the people, Ambrose yielded, and received~
Baptism, (for hitherto he was only a Catechumen,) Confirmation, and Communion,~
and then the several Orders on successive days, till on the eighth day, which~
was the 7th of December, (in the year 374,) the weight of the Episcopate was~
laid upon his shoulders. Being made Bishop, he showed himself a stout upholder~
of the Catholic faith, and the discipline of the Church, and turned to the truth~
great numbers of Arians and other heretics, and, among them, he begat in Christ~
Jesus that burning and shining light of the Church, Austin.

[Lectio6]
After the murder of the Emperor Gratian, (in 383,) Ambrose was sent as an~
ambassador to Maximus, by whom he had been slain, and, as he refused to repent,~
the Bishop renounced his communion. After the massacre which the Emperor~
Theodosius had commanded at Thessalonica, (in 390,) he refused to permit that~
Prince to enter a church. The Emperor pleaded that he was no worse than David,~
who had been guilty of adultery and murder, to which Ambrose answered him, As~
thou hast followed him in his sin, follow him also in his repentance. Then~
Theodosius humbly did public penance laid upon him by the Bishop. At length the~
Saint was worn out with his continual labour and care for the Church, (for the~
which also he composed many excellent books,) and foretold that the day of his~
death was at hand, though he had not then fallen into his last sickness. As he~
lay dying, Honoratus, Bishop of Vercelli, heard a voice from God three times~
crying to him that the hour of Ambrose's departure was come, whereupon he went~
to him quickly, and gave him the sacred Body of our Lord. When he had received~
It, the Saint, still praying, with his hands stretched out in the form of a~
cross, gave his spirit to God, upon the 4th day of April, in the year of Christ,~
397.

[Lectio94]
Ambrose, bishop of Milan, son of Ambrose, who was a Roman citizen, was educated~
in the City in the liberal arts. Appointed by the prefect Probus to govern~
Liguria and Aemelia at his order and with his authority. Ambrose went to Milan.~
There Auxentius the Arian bishop had died and the people were quarreling about~
the choice of a successor. In the exercise of his official duty, Ambrose went~
into the church to quell the riot that had arisen and, when he had spoken at~
length and eloquently on the peace and tranquility of the state, suddenly a~
boy's voice exclaimed, "Ambrose bishop!" Then the whole populace witb one voice~
demanded that he be elected. And so he received baptism (for he had been only a~
catechumen), the other sacraments of the Christian initiation, all the degrees~
of orders according to the custom of the Church, and was raised to the dignity~
of the episcopate. In carrying of his office, he courageously defended the~
Catholic faith and the discipline of the Church both in speech and in writing,~
and converted many Arians and other heretics to the faith, among whom was St~
Augustine, whom he begot to Christ Jesus as his spiritual child. Worn out by all~
his labors and cares for the Church of God he died on April 4 in the year 397.
&teDeum
