Background
Born in the city of Trier (now in Germany), Ambrose was the son of one of the highest-ranking administrative officials of the Roman Empire, the praetorian prefect of Gaul. After the early death of his father, the family returned to Rome.
(Saint Ambrose was born in France to wealthy Roman parents...)
Saint Ambrose was born in France to wealthy Roman parents in 340 AD. When he was mature, and his father had passed away, he moved to Rome, where he finished his education, and became a governor. While still a catechumen (an unbaptized Christian), the bishop of Milan died, and he was chosen for the position. At the order of the emperor he was baptized and appointed as the new bishop, the office he would hold until his death. Once he became a bishop, he gave away all his wealth and property for church use and to help the poor. He then took on a strict ascetic life and devoted himself to his work. St. Ambrose's preaching quickly became famous and he attracted many people to his church. He is well-known for his writings in which he both explains and defends the true character of the Christian faith. He also wrote on the moral and education requirements of priests. The followings books are included in this collected work: 1. On the Christian Faith 2. On the Holy Spirit 3. On the Mysteries 4. On Repentance 5. On the Duties of the Clergy 6. Concerning Virgins 7. Concerning Widows 8. On the Death of Satyrus 9. Memorial of Symmachus 10. Sermon against Auxentius 11. Letters These writings have been cataloged in an organized fashion to make it easy to reference with the Kindle format. In addition the texts have been cross-linked to the King James Bible, which is included as an appendix.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCI51NE/?tag=2022091-20
(St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born proba...)
St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born probably 340, at Trier, Arles, or Lyons; died 4 April, 397. He was one of the most illustrious Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and fitly chosen, together with St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Athanasius, to uphold the venerable Chair of the Prince of the Apostles in the tribune of St. Peter's at Rome. His dogmatic writings deal mostly with the divinity of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost, also with the Christian sacraments. At the request of the young Emperor Gratian (375-383) he composed a defence of the true divinity of Jesus Christ against the Arians, and another on the true divinity of the Holy Ghost against the Macedonians.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1495475719/?tag=2022091-20
(St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born proba...)
St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born probably 340, at Trier, Arles, or Lyons; died 4 April, 397. He was one of the most illustrious Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and fitly chosen, together with St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Athanasius, to uphold the venerable Chair of the Prince of the Apostles in the tribune of St. Peter's at Rome. His dogmatic writings deal mostly with the divinity of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost, also with the Christian sacraments. At the request of the young Emperor Gratian (375-383) he composed a defence of the true divinity of Jesus Christ against the Arians, and another on the true divinity of the Holy Ghost against the Macedonians.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1495922790/?tag=2022091-20
(This is St. Ambroses thorough overview of the Christian ...)
This is St. Ambroses thorough overview of the Christian faith. What it is, what it means and how we apply it to our lives. Not only was it a necessity for the early Church, but it applies equally for us today.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1483962717/?tag=2022091-20
(Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambr...)
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose (c. between 337 and 340 - 4 April 397), was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church. (courtesy of wikipedia.com) This edition includes the following writings: On the Duties of the Clergy. Three Books on the Duties of the Clergy. Three Books on the Holy Spirit. The Two Books on the Decease of His Brother Saytrus. Exposition of the Christian Faith On the Mysteries. The Book Concerning the Mysteries. Two Books Concerning Repentance. Concerning Virgins. Three Books Concerning Virgins. The Treatise Concerning Widows. Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3849675378/?tag=2022091-20
Born in the city of Trier (now in Germany), Ambrose was the son of one of the highest-ranking administrative officials of the Roman Empire, the praetorian prefect of Gaul. After the early death of his father, the family returned to Rome.
In Rome Ambrose received the liberal education appropriate to a high-ranking Roman who was to practice law and advance to high office in government service.
In his late 20s he was employed in legal work at the imperial court, and at about 30 he was named governor of two provinces of northern Italy, in which capacity he resided at Milan. On the death of the bishop of Milan in 374, the people of the city demanded that Ambrose be made bishop, and he reluctantly yielded. Ambrose's career as bishop had three important aspects: the quality of his thought as a Christian intellectual, his role in the final phase of the Arian controversy, and his impact upon the relations between Church and Empire. The Western Church of the 4th century was notably lacking in men of high intellectual capacity, especially compared to such Eastern figures as Athanasius and Gregory of Nyssa. Ambrose went far in the task of integrating the Christian faith with a total world view acceptable to the sophisticated Latin minds of his age. This task was soon to be brought to brilliant fulfillment at the hands of Augustine, who as a young man was much influenced by hearing sermons of Ambrose and who was baptized by him at Easter, 387.
A number of Ambrose's most important writings, for example, the commentary on Luke's Gospel, were the product of revising and combining the notes taken by enthusiastic listeners to his sermons preached on scriptural texts. His work On the Duties of the Clergy is one of the first comprehensive treatments of Christian ethics. The Arian controversy had raged in the Eastern Church since the early 320s.
The central issue was whether belief in Christ as being fully God could be reconciled with strict monotheism. The orthodox answer to this question was affirmative, an answer that was finally ratified in the East at the Council of Constantinople in 381. In the same year a Western council met at the Italian city of Aquileia with Ambrose as president. His commanding leadership and vigilant political maneuvering assured the victory of the orthodox party, and nonorthodox bishops were removed from their sees by government action. In a series of dramatic incidents in 385-386, Ambrose, defying even an imperial threat on his life, successfully stood his ground in refusing to turn over a church in Milan for use by the nonorthodox party, one of whose powerful supporters was the Emperor's mother.
Ambrose held tenaciously to the central conviction that the Emperor, as a Christian, must execute his responsibilities as ruler in accord with the requirements of Christian faith. Threatening to excommunicate the Emperor, the bishop blocked a powerful movement in 384 toward erecting again the old pagan altar and statue of the goddess Victory in the Senate house at Rome. When, in 390, the emperor Theodosius, in a fit of rage over a bloody riot in the city of Thessalonica, had his soldiers massacre several thousand inhabitants, Ambrose brought the ruler to do public penance for his act of vengeance, again under threat of excommunication. The great bishop of Milan is therefore an important figure in the history of the relations between Church and State in the Western world. Ambrose served as bishop of Milan for 23 years until his death in 397.
(Saint Ambrose was born in France to wealthy Roman parents...)
(Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambr...)
(This is St. Ambroses thorough overview of the Christian ...)
(St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born proba...)
(St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born proba...)
Deeply imbued with Neoplatonic currents of thought and widely read in religious authors whose language was Greek, Ambrose succeeded in communicating elevated conceptions of God and of the Christian pursuit of virtue. In particular, he effectively employed allegorical interpretations of the Old Testament and thus freed his hearers from the necessity of entertaining conceptions of God and of God's relations with men which appeared unworthy when understood at a literal level.
Quotations:
"Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light. .. "
"If someone offends you, don't tell anyone about it except your elder, and you will be peaceful. Bow to everyone, paying no attention whether they respond to your bow or not. You must humble yourself before everyone and consider yourself the worst of all. If we have not committed the sins that others have, perhaps this is because we did not have the opportunity - the situation and circumstances were different. In each person there is something good and something bad; we usually see only the vices in people and we see nothing that is good. "
"The Lord Jesus himself proclaims, 'This is My Body. ' Before the blessing of the heavenly words something of another character is spoken of; after consecration it is designated 'body'. He himself speaks of his blood. Before the consecration it is spoken of as something else; after the consecration it is spoken of as 'blood'. And you say, 'Amen', that is, 'It is true. ' What the mouth speaks, let the mind within confess; what the tongue utters, let the heart feel. "
"When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking about Christ. "
"Do not desert a friend in time of need, nor forsake him nor fail him, for friendship is the support of life. Let us then bear our burdens as the Apostle has taught (cf. Gal. 6:2): for he spoke to those whom the charity of the same one body had embraced together. If friends in prosperity help friends, why do they not also in times of adversity offer their support? Let us aid by giving counsel, let us offer our best endeavors, let us sympathize with them with all our heart. "
"The Lord was Baptized, not to be cleansed Himself, but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of Baptism. "
"Law is twofold -- natural and written. The natural law is in the heart, the written law on tables. All men are under the natural law. "
"How far, O rich, do you extend your senseless avarice? Do you intend to be the sole inhabitants of the earth? Why do you drive out the fellow sharers of nature, and claim it all for yourselves? The earth was made for all, rich and poor, in common. Why do you rich claim it as your exclusive right?"
"If it is "daily bread, " why do you take it once a year? . . . Take daily what is to profit you daily. Live in such a way that you may deserve to receive it daily. He who does not deserve to receive it daily, does not deserve to receive it once a year. "
"As the print of the seal on the wax is the express image of the seal itself, so Christ is the express image - the perfect representation of God. "
"Remember, then, that you received a spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear. Keep safe what you received. God the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord strengthened you and sent the Spirit into your hearts as the pledge of what is to come. "