St. Jerome has detained its long; the other Fathers are, as subjects of Art, much less interesting.
St. Ambrose.
Lat. S. Ambrosius. Ital. Sant’ Ambrogio. Fr. St. Ambroise. Ger. Der Heilige Ambrosius. Patron Saint of Milan. (April 4, A.D. 397.)
We can hardly imagine a greater contrast than between the stern, enthusiastic, dreaming, ascetic Jerome, and the statesman-like, practical, somewhat despotic Ambrose. This extraordinary man, in whose person the priestly character assumed an importance and dignity till then unknown, was the son of a prefect of Gaul, bearing the same name, and was born at Treves in the year 340. It is said that, when an infant in the cradle, a swarm of bees alighted on his mouth, without injuring him. The same story was told of Plato and of Archilochus, and considered prophetic of future eloquence. It is from this circumstance that St. Ambrose is represented with the bee-hive near him.
Young Ambrose, after pursuing his studies at Rome with success, was appointed prefect of Æmilia and Liguria (Piedmont and Genoa), and took up his residence at Milan. Shortly afterwards the Bishop of Milan died, and the succession was hotly disputed between the Catholics and the Arians. Ambrose appeared in his character of prefect, to allay the tumult; he harangued the people with such persuasive eloquence that they were hushed into respectful silence; and in the midst a child’s voice was heard to exclaim, ‘Ambrose shall be bishop!’ The multitude took up the cry as though it had been a voice from heaven, and compelled him to assume the sacred office. He attempted to avoid the honour thus laid upon him by flight, by entreaties,—pleading that, though a professed Christian, he had never been baptized: in vain! the command of the emperor enforced the wishes of the people; and Ambrose, being baptized, was, within eight days afterwards, consecrated bishop of Milan. He has since been regarded as the patron saint of that city.
He began by distributing all his worldly goods to the poor; he then set himself to study the sacred writings, and to render himself in all respects worthy of his high dignity. ‘The Old and the New Testament,’ says Mr. Milman, ‘met in the person of Ambrose: the implacable hostility to idolatry, the abhorrence of every deviation from the established formulary of belief;—the wise and courageous benevolence, the generous and unselfish devotion to the great interests of humanity.’
He was memorable for the grandeur and magnificence with which he invested the ceremonies of worship; they had never been so imposing. He particularly cultivated music, and introduced from the East the manner of chanting the service since called the Ambrosian chant.
Two things were especially remarkable in the life and character of St. Ambrose. The first was the enthusiasm with which he advocated celibacy in both sexes: on this topic, as we are assured, he was so persuasive, that mothers shut up their daughters lest they should be seduced by their eloquent bishop into vows of chastity. The other was his determination to set the ecclesiastical above the sovereign or civil power: this principle, so abused in later times, was in the days of Ambrose the assertion of the might of Christianity, of mercy, of justice, of freedom, over heathenism, tyranny, cruelty, slavery. The dignity with which he refused to hold any communication with the Emperor Maximus, because he was stained with the blood of Gratian, and his resolute opposition to the Empress Justina, who interfered with his sacerdotal privileges, were two instances of this spirit. But the most celebrated incident of his life is his conduct with regard to the Emperor Theodosius, the last great emperor of Rome;—a man of an iron will, a despot, and a warrior. That he should bend in trembling submission at the feet of an unarmed priest, and shrink before his rebuke, filled the whole world with an awful idea of the supremacy of the Church, and prepared the way for the Hildebrands, the Perettis, the Caraffas of later times. With regard to St. Ambrose, this assumption of moral power, this high prerogative of the priesthood, had hitherto been without precedent, and in this its first application it certainly commands our respect, our admiration, and our sympathy.