Introduction
Roughly two thousand years of church history have produced some of the greatest intellects of humanity. Of the thousands of people who influenced the course of the Church, many names, such as Peter and Paul, who led the early Church and from whose ministry flowed the New Testament, stand out. Athanasius, Jerome, and Augustine helped shape theological language as the Church became acceptable to the Roman world. Anselm and Aquinas shaped the medieval Church as it wrestled with Islam and philosophy. Then to Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, who brought reformation to the Church and a new tradition of the Protestants. To the and through the evangelists of the Great Awaking eras, to more modern names of Lewis and Graham. Such names would not even scratch the surface of the saints God used to shape and build his Church. Yet one name that perhaps is mentioned in passing is that of Ambrose.
Like Wilbur Chapman or Billy Sunday, who in their own right impacted the world for Christ yet are too often regulated to a footnote in the life of Billy Graham, Ambrose of Milan too frequently receives only brief mentions on the history student’s travel to Augustine of Hippo. In his own right, Ambrose may not have Augustine’s presence in the sheer number of volumes dedicated to him, yet this bishop from Milan fulfilled the call of Christ upon his life. The life of the reluctant bishop challenged the society of his day for the cause of Christ, and by doing so, he became an influential force in the shaping of the Church.
Life Before the Bishopric
Ambrose’s life is most notably recorded by one of his disciples, Paulinus, at Augustine of Hippo’s request after their mutual mentor’s death. Paulinus writes from his first-hand knowledge gleaned over his many years as Ambrose’s secretary and brings insight into the bishop’s life from a personal point of view. In writing the memoirs of Ambrose’s life, Paulinus communicates his mentor’s profound impact on him, which can be felt through his text. Though Ambrose’s biographer spends much of his writing on the years he knew him as bishop, Paulinus does give us a small amount of insight into his tutor’s life before his bishopric.
The future bishop of Milan was born into a governing Roman home in the city of Trier in the year 339 A.D. The father, Ambrose, was the prefect of the empire’s Gallic provinces. Along with his father, Ambrose, the younger’s family included a strong-willed older sister, Marcelina, who would become a consecrated virgin living with their mother and a brother, Satyrus. Satyrus, like his brother, sought Christian ideals and took up a career in the service of the empire. However, when Ambrose was eventually made bishop, Satyrus returned to administer the family estate until his death. Satyrus’ death significantly affected his siblings, so Ambrose wrote two funeral orations to honor his brother.
Returning to Ambrose, Paulinus recounts two stories from his youth before serving in the prefect’s praetorian court. The first of these stories occurs when Ambrose is still in the cradle. As Ambrose slept, a swarm of bees began landing on the infant’s face. His father restrained the nursemaid, who was attending to the baby, from intervening. Once the bees had left, the father said, “If the child lives, he will be something great.” Paulinus would comment, “Well-ordered words are as a honeycomb,” associating this story with Ambrose’s reputation as a great orator. The second story gives insight into Ambrose’s witty charm even as a young man. While establishing himself in Rome, Ambrose watched as people would kiss the hand of the bishop. Ambrose would jokingly extend his hand to his mother and sister, requesting that his hand be kissed because he would most likely be a bishop someday. Paulinus takes this moment to comment that this was the Holy Spirit speaking through Ambrose. From here, Paulinus quickly brushes over Ambrose’s rise to governor of the province of Liguria and Aemilia to get to the point of Ambrose’s appointment to the bishopric of Milan.
The Bishopric
Most scholars begin their treatment of Ambrose at his rise to become the bishop of Milan. Alton Gansky notices that Ambrose did not set his sights on becoming a bishop; instead, the bishopric was thrust upon him. Later in his life, Ambrose would not readily speak of the events surrounding his advancement to the position but would use them sparingly to encourage others as they entered the office.
Paulinus describes the tumultuous events surrounding Ambrose's forced election to the bishopric. Amid the continued Arian heresy, the bishop of Milan, Auxentius, who was an Arian himself, died. This death left a power vacuum that both the Catholics and Arians sought to fill. A revolt ensued, and Ambrose, the governor, was tasked to deal with the situation. Here, Paulinus sees the call of Ambrose as a miraculous event. As the crowd shouted, a child's voice rang out with "Ambrose bishop." Being a just governor known for his mild temperament and possibly equal treatment of both sides of the issue, the crowd called Ambrose to be installed as bishop. However, Paulinus gives us insight into Ambrose's opposition to this election. Paulinus writes, "… contrary to his usual behavior, he ordered tortures to be inflicted on people." The crowd received the punishment yet refused to back down from their position, noting that because Ambrose was a catechumen, a not yet baptized Christian, any sins he imposed on them would be removed at his baptism. This would not be the last time Ambrose would fight against his installation as the new bishop.
To flee from the call of the people, Ambrose first fled to his family's estate and then sought passage to the city of Ticinum. However, this did not work out, and Ambrose was taken into custody by the people who reported the matter to Emperor Valentinian. The emperor responded, "Go, act not as a judge, but as a bishop." With this final nail in the coffin, Ambrose relented his opposition, demanded that he be baptized as a Catholic, and within a week, was ordained as the Bishop of Milan. The young man who once joked that his family should kiss his hand was ironically, reluctant now in that honored position.
From here, scholars tend to view Ambrose’s life through four significant conflicts he had with the government of Rome: the restoration of the goddess Victory's alter, the Catholics' retention of a basilica against Justina and the Arians, Theodosius' demand that Christians rebuild a synagogue that a Christian riot destroyed, and the massacre of several thousand citizens by Theodosius. However, instead of viewing Ambrose's life through these four events, a more rounded view would be to look at how Paulinus records these, and dozens of other events, in his mentor's life. As one reads through Paulinus' biography of Ambrose's life, four distinct aspects of who Ambrose was stand out: his spiritual prowess, his steadfastness, his renown, and his intellect. If one were only to see Ambrose as the most scholarly person present to him, only one aspect of the man would be focused on, yet by looking through the eyes of Paulinus, the student of history would see a more well-rounded man of God.
Throughout Paulinus' biography of Ambrose, the spiritual prowess of the bishop stands out among all other characteristics of the man. The first act that Paulinus describes in Ambrose's life, after his installation as bishop, is an interaction with a paralytic noblewoman who lived across the Tiber River. Upon hearing of Ambrose's visit, she had her servants carry her to the home where he was staying. After she met the bishop, she kissed his feet and was miraculously healed. Paulinus comments on this event with the words from the Gospel of John 14:12. The greater works that Jesus mentions in John's Gospel are the foundation on which Paulinus relates Ambrose's spiritual work. In total, Ambrose's biographer relays sixteen instances of the bishop's spiritual prowess being experienced. From healings like the paralytic noble women to angels seen standing by his side as he preached, to demons fleeing from Ambrose as in the case of a young secretary of Probus inflicted with an unclean spirit every time he would leave the city of Milan. These spiritual reports of Paulinus show the overwhelming work of God through Ambrose in a passive way. In relaying these stories, Paulinus connects Ambrose as being too filled with the Holy Spirit that he parallels the likes of the apostle Peter in Acts 5:15.
Following the focus on Ambrose's spiritual prowess, Paulinus writes about his mentor's steadfastness in the face of opposition. As stated, this is where most scholars focus on handling Ambrose's life. This is possible because stories of spiritual encounters are more ambiguous. In contrast, the stories of Ambrose standing against the Roman government are more rooted in historical events that can be correlated with other historical documents. In addition to the four events that scholars tend to focus on, Paulinus records an additional eleven events from Ambrose's life. In addressing the four major events, the first and the last seem to encapsulate the other two. First, in one of Ambrose's first actions as Bishop of Milan, he had to deal with a situation over the ownership of the Portian Basilica. This situation arose over the Arian controversy and the emperor's call, at his mother's request, that the basilica be turned over to the Arians. Ambrose opposed this, and for his trouble, he lost favor in the royal court, acquiring accusations of being in league with Satan. Ultimately, Ambrose's steadfastness to orthodox teaching and spiritual prowess prevailed.
The last major historical challenge came from a significant proponent of Ambrose, Emperor Theodosius. Though Theodosius was an ally of Ambrose, the bishop believed that the emperor was not above the church but within it and thereby under the church's authority. Due to this, when the news that Theodosius took vengeance upon the people at Thessalonica so that roughly six to seven thousand people were killed in retaliation for the death of a governor, Ambrose denied the emperor entrance into the church and all benefits therein. In response, the emperor is said to have challenged Ambrose with the story of David committing adultery, to which the bishop replied, "Since you have followed him in sinning, follow him in making the correction." This was such a powerful response that Paulinus records that Theodosius "shuddered" at it and submitted himself to public penance.
These, and the other more prominent examples of Ambrose's steadfastness, show a deep conviction on the part of the bishop to stand for biblical principles. Yet, though not on the scale of fighting against emperors, the other examples Paulinus gives show that Ambrose stood for biblical ethics no matter the situation. One final example of Ambrose's steadfastness, even on the most minor scale, was his stance against avarice. Ambrose saw the greed of his day in both the world around him and the church he served. Against this, Paulinus wrote, "And to such an extent was this true that for him the task of putting a stop to it was most trying, for all things were being upset for gain." In showing that Ambrose stood steadfast against both the giants of his day and in the minutia of everyday life, the student of history can see that the bishop of Milan did not move from the precepts of the Christian faith.
The third section in which Paulinus' biography of Ambrose can be categorized is his reputation. Five of Paulinus' sections on the life of Ambrose speak to how people recognized the love and equality in which he dealt with people. As stated above, one of the reasons why Ambrose was called on to be bishop was due to his fairness indexing with Catholics and Arians alike. Much has been written on Augustine's words of affection towards Ambrose. Though scholar McLynn takes a somewhat cynical view of Augustine's feelings towards Ambrose, calling Ambrose's demeanor towards the young man "routine politeness," to Augustine, it was not routine nor simple politeness. Still, instead, it was a demeanor that made Augustine instantly love his new mentor. This characterization of the love of Ambrose is seen in his bitter tears when he hears of the death of a fellow bishop. Ambrose wept not for the man but for the congregation who lost a holy man and needed another. In another instance, after Ambrose died, a Donatus presbyter disparaged the memory of the bishop, to which some military men struck the disparager down. In these cases, one can see that Ambrose's character and reputation were ones many people loved, for he loved them back in his words and actions.
Finally, Paulinus briefly brings to life a fourth aspect of Ambrose, the bishop's intellect. Though a more thorough look at Ambrose's writings will be dealt with below, Paulinus' approach to Ambrose's intellect focuses' on his abilities through three instances. In the first instance, Paulinus relays that two wise men from Persia came to speak with the famous bishop of Milan. From six a.m. to approximately eleven p.m. the same day, the wise men sought Ambrose's thoughts on a myriad of subjects. Paulinus makes it a point to note that they departed amazed at Ambrose, only to go on to Rome to speak with another intellect, Probus. The next display of Ambrose's intellect comes through the situation with the altar to Victory being re-established. In response to this, Ambrose requested all the reports made and then proceeded to give refutations to Symmachus on the subject. Paulinus notes that Symmachus never replied, though he was an ardent supporter of the restoration, which did not occur until after Emperor Valentinian had died. The final display of Ambrose's intellect that Paulinus puts forth is in the case of Frigitil, a Marcomanni queen. She sought out writings from Ambrose, to which the bishop wrote a catechism for her. This spurred the Queen to persuade her husband to keep the peace with the Roman Empire. Eventually, Frigitil arrived in Milan, only to arrive after Ambrose's death. In giving these examples of Ambrose's intellect, Paulinus shows how his mentor was spiritually and mentally strong.
Paulinus writes much more about Ambrose's life, relaying several random stories of his mentor's life and one vision he had of the bishop before his death. However, these other stories would distract from the purpose of this paper, so history students must now turn their focus to the death of Ambrose. After a long, storied life, Ambrose of Milan died on Easter of 397. In Ambrose's last days, Paulinus records that Count Stilicho believed that if the bishop were to die, Italy would be treated with ruin. Stilicho called the city's nobles to plead for Ambrose's longer life to curb this. However, Ambrose is recorded saying, "I have not so lived among you that I am ashamed to live, nor do I fear to die, because we have a good Lord." For Ambrose, like Paul, "… to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 [KJV])" In the bishop's final hours, a report from Bassianus, bishop of Lodi, told of Ambrose's vision. In the vision, Jesus approached the elderly Ambrose and smiled upon him. Not long after, Ambrose died. Paulinus records that at the processional of Ambrose's funeral, "men, women, and children of every rank and all ages, not only Christians but also Jews and pagans …" made up the crowd in the obsequies. The love and equality that Ambrose possessed in life were also seen at his death in the crowds that gathered to mourn his passing. Ambrose followed his Lord, unwilling at first but faithfully to his dying day.
Ambrose the Writer:
Carmen Angela Cvetković recognizes that Ambrose was a teacher first and foremost. Though Ambrose did not write as robustly as his greatest mentee, Augustine, the fourth-century bishop, made his mark on the church through several of his written works. However, unlike Augustine, Ambrose did not set out to write tomes on particular subjects but instead used previous sermons as a basis on which to expand. Four of these works stand out for consideration: On Virgins, On the Mysteries, hymns, and the letters pertaining to the altar of Victory. These four works give insight into Ambrose’s theology, ecclesiastical work, and his approach to arguing against those he disagreed with.
On Virgins is Ambrose’s most extensive work. Like most of his published writings, On Virgins is taken from a sermon he delivered. In addition, Ambrose uses a sermon by Pope Liberius to bring forth a comprehensive treaty on the subject of virginity. The treaties are broken down into three books. In the first book’s opening, Ambrose points to Agnes of Rome, a virgin martyr of the early fourth century. Agnes was said to be a beautiful young girl who, at the advances of young men, would point to Christ as her spouse. When the governor sought her hand, she rejected him. This eventually led to her death at the age of thirteen. Ambrose points to Agnes as an example when he writes, “… let men marvel, let children not despair, let the married be amazed, let the unmarried imitate.” In the latter half of the first book, Ambrose turns his attention to Christ and finds within Song of Solomon an allegory of a passionate and chaste relationship between Christ and the church.
In book two of On the Virgins, Ambrose gives three examples of virgins, beginning with Mary, the mother of Jesus, then moving to Thecla, a relatively unknown woman to the modern world but of immense importance to the church of Ambrose’s day. It is said that Thecla received the Gospel from Paul and embraced virtue, and for it, two attempts on her life were made. Finally, Ambrose speaks of an unnamed virgin from Antioch. In closing this book, the bishop adds the Greek story of Damon and Pythias to connect the virgin of Antioch with the self-sacrifice within the Greek tale.
Finally, in book three, Ambrose seeks to give application to virginity. The call to stay away from wine, as not to impassion youthful desires, and to keep fasting to be untamed by youthful desires are just some of the applicable steps Ambrose suggests for those seeking to stay chaste. Others include wearing modest clothing and making visits with other youths of the opposite sex infrequent. In this way, Ambrose gave theological reasons for chastity as a virtue and real-world application for those who sought this spiritual discipline.
The second writing, On the Mysteries, is a brief treatise of Ambrose. This short writing comes from a series of sermons Ambrose gave those recently baptized at Easter. The mysteries referred to the structure of the sacraments. Three events represented these mysteries. First, Ambrose speaks of baptism; writing, “Water is where the flesh is dipped so that every fleshly sin may be washed away; there every misdeed is buried.” Next, Ambrose writes of the sealing of the believer to Christ through anointing but does not linger on the point, moving on to the third event. The final event is the eucharist, where Ambrose distinguishes the ancient manna that the Jews partook of, which left them wanting more and the bread of heaven in Jesus as satisfying. Through Ambrose’s On the Mysteries, one can see the care that Ambrose took in guiding new believers into a better understanding of the church’s sacraments so that they find the rich work of Christ within them.
From the writings based on the sermons of Ambrose, whose attention is theological, attention must be given to the hymns he produced. One cannot downplay the importance of Ambrose’s desire for the voices of creation to sing back to their maker. The church is indebted to Ambrose as Gansky writes, “It was Ambrose, a lover of music, who brought singing to the churches.” In total, eighteen hymns are said to have been written by Ambrose. The four that Augustine attests to will receive a cursory mention here.
“Aeterne Rerum Conditor” focuses on the Lord’s ability to save and keep those who call upon him from harmful paths. “Deus Creator Omnium” follows in this same vein of seeking the Lord to overcome the believer’s tendency to sway away from God. In these two hymns, Ambrose seeks to voice Jesus’ desire to overcome the ease with which his people can falter into sin. “I Am Surgit Hora Tertia” is a contemplation on the crucifixion of Christ. Whereas it is easy to see the cross as a horrid moment, Ambrose looks to it as a victory. The fourth stanza reads, “Henceforth, now, by the grace of Christ, days of blessedness have begun.” It is said that Ambrose would sing this hymn in the morning when the Gospels recorded Jesus’ crucifixion to have begun. The final hymn is that of “Intende Qui Regis Israel.” This hymn is a call for Jews to respond to the God incarnate. Of the three previous hymns mentioned above, “Intende Qui Regis Israel” is steeped in Nicene theology, of which Ambrose was a staunch supporter.
At this point, a note must be mentioned of the Ambrosian Chant attributed to Ambrose of Milan. The antiphonal chant associated with Ambrose, a cousin to the Gregorian chant, is most likely not directly created by the bishop, nor was he instrumental in making it a part of the liturgy. However, due to Ambrose’s love of music and his flexibility in conducting the liturgy, he might have given room for the antiphonal chant to be utilized within his sphere of influence.
Conclusion
The name Ambrose of Milan tends to be a footnote in the more extraordinary story of the church, especially when speaking about the great bulwark of the faith, Augustine. Yet without an Ambrose, people like Augustine might be missed as well. Instead, Ambrose stands not as a footnote but as a champion of the faith whose life impacts the world around him and the generations that followed. Gansky writes, “Ambrose never set out to be a church leader. His was the world of politics and public service. In the end, however, he became a church shaper through his courageous stand for doctrinal purity, obedience of state to the church, the introduction of music in worship, and in the mentoring of one of the greatest church shapers and theologians of all: Augustine of Hippo.” Ambrose of Milan is a life genuinely dedicated to the cause of Christ, which should be honored by all who learn his name.
Bibliography
Cvetković, Carmen Angela, “Ambrose of Milan and the Episcopal Duty of Teaching,” Teachers in Late Antique Christianity, edited by Peter Gemeinhardt, et al., Mohr Siebeck, Götingen, Germany: Hubert & Co., 2018.
Ferguson, Everett, Church History, Volume One: From Christ to the Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context, ed. 2, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013.
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Walker, Williston, A History of the Christian Church, ed. 4, edited by Richard A. Norris, David W. Lotz, and Robert T. Handy, New York, NY: Scribner, 1985.
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