Saint Ambrose of Milan

12° The book of Elijah and Fasting, written around the year 399. Saint Ambrose treats therein of fasting, its virtue, and its effects. He shows that it was through fasting that Elijah performed all the wonders that sacred history recounts of him. He cites several other examples of the efficacy of fasting. According to him, fasting is the food of the soul, the death of sin, the foundation of chastity, etc.; he rises with force against the luxury of feasts and against the disorders that intemperance entails.

13° The book of Naboth, written around the year 395, against avarice, the cruelty of the rich, and the abuse of wealth.

14° The book of Tobit, written in the year 376. The Saint therein offers praise for Tobit and his virtues, and provides excellent lessons against usury. It is without foundation that some have sought to contest this work as belonging to Saint Ambrose.

15° The four books of the Interpellation or the Complaint of Job and David, written around the year 383, are also certainly by Saint Ambrose. One finds in the first two the complaints that Job and David make to God regarding the weakness and misery of man. In the other two books, he responds to the unjust complaints of those who find fault that the impious are happy in this life and the just in adversity.

16° The Apology of David, written around the year 384. The author therein justifies David, and shows that he expiated through penance the crimes he had committed, which is rare among persons of his rank. There is another apology of David that also bears the name of Saint Ambrose; but it does not appear certain that it is by this Father.

17th The Commentaries on the Psalms. This entire work is reduced to twelve homilies or discourses which are believed to have been collected by one of the Saint's disciples. Only a small number of psalms are explained.

18th The Commentary on Saint Luke, written in 386, is a series of discourses on this evangelist. The holy doctor focuses simultaneously on the literal, historical, and mystical sense, and seizes every opportunity to combat the heresies that prevailed in his time.

19th The Treatise on the Offices of Traité des Offices des ministres A work of clerical morality inspired by Cicero. Ministers. Ambrose took particular care to choose only worthy ministers of religion. He did not want the members of his clergy to involve themselves in temporal affairs, and he ordered them to be content with their patrimony, or, if they had none, with the stipend they were given. It was to teach all his clerics to be truly the light of the world that he composed, around the year 386, these three books of the Offices of Ministers. One also finds in this work details on the general principles of evangelical morality which, in this respect, are suitable for all Christians.

20th. The three books On Virgins or On Virginity, to Marcellina. Saint Ambrose had been bishop for only two years when Marcellina, his sister, begged him to put into writing what he had said from the pulpit on the excellence of virginity; for he often treated this subject on Sundays. He yielded to her request and composed his three books On Virgins in 377.

The elegance with which this work is written has made it justly admired by Saint Jerome and Saint Augustine . But it is es saint Augustin Cited for his definition of fraternal charity. pecially commendable for the unction and the spirit of piety that are noticeable throughout. The first two books are employed to show the excellence of virginity and to make felt the spiritual advantages it procures. The author insists on the virtues of the Blessed Virgin, whom he proposes as a model to those who have embraced this state; he praises Saint Agnes; he cites the example of Saint Thecla, and the details into which he enters on these subjects are embellished with all the graces and figures of rhetoric. In the third book, he treats of the principal duties of virgins; he recommends that they do not drink wine, that they avoid visits, that they apply themselves to exercises of piety, that they pray and reflect often during the day, that they repeat the Lord's Prayer and the psalms in the evening when going to bed and in the morning when rising, and that they begin each day with the recitation of the Creed, which is the summary and seal of our faith. He wishes virgins to live in that salutary sadness which works salvation; that they avoid all immoderate joy, and especially dancing, the danger of which he makes felt.

21st. The book On Widows, written around the year 377. In it, he exhorts women who had lost their husbands to keep perpetual chastity.

22nd. The book On Virginity, written the following year. The holy doctor gives therein, according to Scripture, a high idea of this virtue; but he does not wish young girls to take the veil lightly when they are of an inconstant character. "Some," he says, "complain that the number of virgins will soon cause the human race to perish. I would like to know who has lacked wives and who has found themselves in the position of not being able to find any?" The holy doctor observes that it is not virgins, but war and the sea that destroy the human species. He does not, however, wish everyone to embrace the state of virginity lightly: not only is marriage holy, but it is the general state of those who live in the world.

23rd. The book On the Institution of a Virgin, written around the year 391. This book contains the refutation of Bonosus, who was renewing the error of Helvidius, which consisted in denying that the holy Mother of God lived in perpetual virginity. The author recalls therein the instructions he had given to Ambrosia, one of the virgins who served God in Bologna under his guidance; and he shows that retreat, silence, humility, and prayer are the principal duty of a Christian virgin. He describes therein the ceremonies used when a virgin solemnly embraced this state. She presented herself at the foot of the altar, where she made her profession before the people; the bishop, after instructions relative to the circumstance, gave her the veil which distinguished her from other virgins; but her hair was not cut as it was for clerics and monks. The holy doctor ends by praying to Jesus Christ to assist at these spiritual nuptials and to receive his spouse, who consecrates herself to him publicly, after having consecrated herself to him long before in spirit and in her heart.

24th. The Exhortation to Virginity, written around the year 393. These are instructions addressed to the daughters of Juliana, a widow of Florence.

25th. The Invective against a virgin who had allowed herself to be corrupted. The Saint exhorts her to weep for her fault and to expiate it through penance.

26. The book of Mysteries or of the Initiated. In his book on the mysteries, composed in 387, he instructs the newly baptized and explains to them with great clarity the ceremonies of baptism and confirmation, as well as the doctrine of the Church on the sacrament of the Eucharist. There can be no doubt that this work is by the holy doctor; it is attributed to him by all authors, and this is further proven by the first part of the work itself. The author, after having explained the ancient figures of the Eucharist, such as the sacrifice of Melchizedek, the manna, and the water that flowed from the rock, adds: "You may say: But I see something else; how can I be sure that I am receiving the body of Jesus Christ? I will prove that it is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated, and that the blessing is more powerful than nature, since it changes it." He cites several miracles in this regard, among others that of Aaron's rod changed into a serpent, and finally the mystery of the Incarnation, which he compares to that of the Eucharist. "A virgin," he says, "gave birth, which is contrary to the order of nature; now, the body that we consecrate is born of a virgin. Why do you seek the order of nature in the body of Jesus Christ, since Jesus Christ was born of a virgin against the order of nature? Jesus Christ had a real flesh that was nailed to the cross and laid in the tomb. Thus the Eucharist is the true sacrament of this flesh. Jesus Christ assures us of it himself, by saying: This is my body. Before the blessing of the heavenly words, it is another nature; after the consecration, it is his body... If the blessing of a man is capable of changing the nature of things, what shall we say of the divine consecration, where the words of the Savior himself operate? Will the word of Jesus Christ, which could make out of nothing what was not, not have the power to change what is into what was not?" The Saint recommends that the new faithful keep the mysteries of their faith secret, because of the abuse that pagans could have made of them. Saint Augustine, who was baptized by Saint Ambrose in 38 7, undoubtedly Saint Augustin Cited for his definition of fraternal charity. attended the discourses that the holy archbishop gave to the neophytes at that time.

27. The books of the Sacraments are not by Saint Ambrose. One finds the same doctrine and some of the same expressions as in the Mysteries in the six books on the Sacraments, which are attributed to Saint Ambrose by writers of the 9th century and in manuscripts of the 8th.

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The author of this work was a bishop who lived in a place where there were many adult catechumens, and where there were still remnants of idolatry. The books on the Sacraments are an imitation of that of Saint Ambrose on the Mysteries, with the difference that the former work is longer and its style is low and groveling. If it were not by Saint Ambrose, as the new editors of this Father doubt, as do Ceillier and Rivet, the cause of the Church would gain by it, since instead of one witness to its doctrine, it would have two. See the new editors of Saint Ambrose, vol. II, p. 341.

28. The two books on Penance, written around the year 384. In his book, he refutes some objections of the Novatians; then he shows that penance is false and fruitless when it is not accompanied by the change of heart in which its essence consists. The holy doctor exhorts the faithful to frequent communion, because the Eucharist is our spiritual bread and our daily nourishment.

29th The five books on the Faith. Fritigern, king of the Goths, having made an incursion into Roman lands in Thrace and Pannonia, Gratian wished to cross Gratien Roman Emperor of the West, protector of Ambrose. into the East with an army to assist his uncle Valens; but he resolved at the same time to protect himself against the snares of the Arians, of whom Valens was the protector. With this in view, he begged Saint Ambrose, for whom he had a singular veneration, to give him in writing some instructions against Arianism. The holy archbish Arianisme Heresy opposed by Columbanus in Italy among the Lombards. op, to second his pious intentions, composed in 377 his Treatise on the Faith to Gratian, or on the Trinity. This work is divided into five books, the last three of which were not written until 379. It is an excellent refutation of Arianism. The author establishes the dogma there with as much wit as strength and solidity, and provides the most satisfactory answers to the objections.

30th The three books on the Holy Spirit, written in 381, at the prayer of Gratian. The style of the books on the Holy Spirit is less concise and simpler. This is, says Saint Augustine, because the subject does not need the ornaments of discourse to touch the heart, and it suffices to establish by solid proofs the consubstantiality of the third person of the Holy Trinity. One finds there several things copied from Saint Athanasius, Hegesippus, and Saint Basil on the same subject.

31st The book on the Incarnation, written in 382. It is again a refutation of the Arians, addressed to two officers of Gratian's court.

32nd The Letters, numbering ninety-one. They are divided into two classes in the latest edition: the first class contains those whose date could be determined, and the second, those for which the date is not certain.

33rd The books on the death of Satyrus. Saint Ambrose delivered the funeral oration for his brother Satyrus on the day of the funeral. Seven days later, they went to the tomb of Satyrus to repeat the prayers of the Church, according to what was practiced at that time. Saint Ambrose delivered the eulogy for his brother a second time; and as he dwelt at length on the happiness of a Christian death and on the resurrection of the dead, this eulogy is commonly called the Discourse on the Resurrection.

34th The Discourses on the death of Valentinian and Theodosius.

35th Several Hymns. The Latin Church still sings in its office hymns composed by Ambrose. Saint Augustine, Saint Isidore, Bede, the Council of Rome in 430, etc., attribute twelve to him, such as Deus Creator omnium; Jam surgit hora tertia; Veni, Redemptor gentium; Illuminans Altissimus; Aeterna Christi munera; Somno refectis artibus; Canors paterni luminis; O lux beata Trinitas; Fit porta Christi pervia, etc. Most of the hymns for the weekdays of the Latin Church appear to be by the same Saint. It is said that he was the first to establish the custom of singing hymns in church. Those of which he is the author are composed in such a way that the meaning ends at the fourth verse, without them being able to be sung by two choirs. Saint Hilary also composed hymns at the same time. George Cassander, in the dedicatory epistle of his collection of hymns, makes an observation on those entitled: Hymns of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, etc. One must not, he says, understand anything other than that these are hymns to the praise of God, in memory of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; and these expressions, church, altar, mass of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, etc., have the same meaning. This way of speaking is found in Saint Ambrose, in Saint Augustine, etc.

The liturgy of Milan , cal Milan Italian city where the saint has an altar and an annual feast. led Ambrosian, received a new luster from our holy doctor; but it is proven by his own writings that it was older than him, at least as regards certain points borrowed from the Roman liturgy. Saint Barnabas, or rather Saint Merocles, is regarded as the first author of this ancient liturgy. See Father Lebrun, Explication des cérémonies de la messe, vol. II, diss. III, p. 175; l'Origine Apostolica della Chiesa Milanese e del rito della stessa, opera del dottore Nicolo Sonmani, oblato e prefetto della bibl. ambros. in Milano, 1755; Muratori, Antichità, etc., diss. LVIII, de riti della Chiesa Ambrosiana, p. 222.

In the appendix of the Benedictine edition, we find two prayers to be recited before Mass. Some critics, however, have thought that the one of these prayers which begins with the words: Summe Sacerdos, could be by our Saint, and that it represents his style quite well. One may see Father Le Brun on the hymn Te Deum, the life of Saint Augustine, etc.

Saint Ambrose had composed other works that have not reached us. Others have been attributed to him which are not his and about which we shall say nothing.

Saint Ambrose, in the rules he prescribes for the orator, demands a simple, clear style, full of strength and gravity, which excludes affectation and studied ornaments. He nevertheless fell himself into the defects he blamed, because they were those of his century; but the witticisms and plays on words he sometimes employs do not prevent one from finding in his works much strength, pathos, and unction. Fénelon cites the letter to Theodosius as proof of the first of these qualities, and the discourses on the death of Satyrus as proof of the second. The books that the holy doctor worked on with care are polished, ingenious, adorned with flowers and figures; in general, his style is noble, concise, sententious, sparkling with wit, and always has a certain sweetness that charms the reader. His letters, especially those he wrote to the emperors, are masterpieces; one sees in them that the Saint knew the world and affairs, and that he knew how to adapt himself to all ranks.

The edition of the Works of Saint Ambrose by Cardinal Montalte, later Pope under the name Sixtus V, is the most esteemed of all the ancient ones. It has been reprinted several times. Dom du Frische and Dom le Nourri, monks of the Congregation of Saint-Maur, produced a new one that eclipsed all others, and which appeared Congrégation de Saint-Maur Learned monks who edited the works of Ambrose in the 17th century. in Paris in 1686, 1690, 2 vols. in-fol. Richard Simon, however, reproached them for having left in the text several errors that Dom Lemerault, librarian of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, had undertaken to correct. See the critical letters of Richard Simon, and Dom Ceillier.

The edition of the Works of Saint Ambrose by the Benedictines was reprinted in Venice in 1752, 4 vols. in-fol.

The books on Virginity were translated into French by Father Duranti de Bonrecueil, an Oratorian, who preceded them with a curious dissertation on virgins. This translation, in one vol. in-12, 1729, is esteemed, as is that of the letters of the holy doctor, by the same, in 3 vols. in-12, 1741.

The Abbé de Bellegarde translated the Treatise on the Offices of Ministers, 1 vol. in-12, 1691.

This account is by Father Giry: we have reviewed and completed it with the History of Sacred and Ecclesiastical Authors, by Dom Ceillier, and the Literary France, by Dom Rivet.