Saint Ambrose Bishop of Milan

Defense of Nicene Orthodoxy

Ambrose was a forceful opponent of Arianism throughout his episcopate. He worked to install bishops of Nicene conviction, presided over the Council of Aquileia in 381 that deposed the Arian bishops Palladius and Secundianus, and persuaded the emperor Gratian to support the Nicene confession, presenting him with the treatise De Fide.

His best-known confrontation came in 385-386, when the Arian imperial court demanded the surrender of Milan's churches for Arian worship. Ambrose refused, maintaining the principle that what belongs to God lies outside the emperor's authority, and held out with his congregation until the order was rescinded. He likewise required public penance of the emperor Theodosius I after the massacre at Thessalonica in 390, treating emperor and commoner alike in matters of repentance.

Hymnody and Liturgical Reform

Ambrose introduced antiphonal singing, in the Eastern or Syrian form, into the worship of the Western Church, a practice that came to be associated with his name as Ambrosian chant. He composed a number of hymns of dignified simplicity that entered into liturgical use during his own lifetime; the Orthodox synaxarion credits him with twelve hymns, among them the Te Deum, while one of his most enduring compositions is the Advent hymn Veni redemptor gentium.

He was also a prolific theological writer. His works include De Fide and De Spiritu Sancto on Trinitarian doctrine, the ethical treatise De officiis ministrorum, the Exameron on the work of creation, and writings on the sacraments, repentance, and pastoral duty.

Church and Empire

Ambrose was influential in public affairs as well as ecclesiastical ones. He persuaded the emperor Gratian to remove the Altar of Victory from the Senate hall at Rome, on which senators had been accustomed to swear oaths, resisting efforts to restore the older Roman cults.

The Orthodox account also records his missionary influence beyond the empire: Queen Fritigelda of the Marcomanni sought Christian instruction from him, was converted through his letter, and urged her husband toward peace with Rome.

Relics & Shrines

Ambrose was buried in the Ambrosian basilica at Milan, beneath the altar, between the martyrs Gervase and Protase. His relics remain in the crypt of the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, where they continue to be venerated alongside those martyrs.

Traditional Accounts

Several traditions surround Ambrose's life. The synaxarion relates that when he was an infant a swarm of bees settled on his sleeping face, flying in and out of his mouth and leaving honey on his tongue, an omen of his future eloquence; this tradition underlies his patronage of beekeepers. He is also said to have possessed gifts of healing and, by tradition, to have raised a dead boy at Florence.