(ca. 340-397) religious writer
Ambrose was born to an ancient noble family of the Roman Empire. His father was Prefect of Gal-lia. He had a younger brother, Satyrus, and an older sister, Marcellina, who influenced Ambrose’s dedication to the virtue of virginity.
Ambrose received a brilliant liberal and legal education, acquiring a thorough mastery of Greek language and literature. He also studied law, and his eloquent speeches attracted the attention of Emperor Valentinian, who named him consular governor of Liguria and Emilia. In 374, Ambrose became the bishop of Milan and occupied this position until his death. He became famous as one of the most illustrious of the Four Doctors of the Church, which included St. augustine, St. jerome, and St. Gregory.
From his lifetime to the present day, Ambrose is known for the exceptional clarity and piety with which he expressed the Church’s teachings. Most of his writings are homilies, or commentaries, on the Old and New Testaments. His education allowed him to engage in scholarly and spiritual studies of authors, such as virgil, Origen, cicero, St. Basil, and others, which he did primarily to learn how to teach.
Some scholars divide Ambrose’s surviving texts into four groups: scripture-commentaries, moral texts (referred to as ascetico-moral writings), dogmatic texts (concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Holy Ghost, and the sacraments), and occasional texts. His most influential piece, De Officiis min-istrorum, belongs to the moral texts and, as such, is a treatise of Christian morality. Also belonging to this group are his “On Virgins,” which he addressed to his sister.
Of his dogmatic texts, his De Mysteriis (a treatise on baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist) is extant, as are many of his occasional texts (mostly letters, official notes, and reports). From these and other of Ambrose’s writings, much social, religious, and cultural information of ancient Milan and Rome has been preserved.
English Versions of Works by Saint Ambrose
De Officiis. Edited with an introduction, translation, and commentary by Ivor J. Davidson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
On Abraham. Translated by Theodosia Tomkinson. Chrysostomos of Etna: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 2000.
Works about Saint Ambrose
McLynn, Neil B. Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Theresa, Sister M. Nature-Imagery in the Works of Saint Ambrose (1931). Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, 2003. Vasey, Vincent R. The Social Ideas in the Works of St. Ambrose: A Study on De Nabuthe. Rome, Italy: In-stitutum Patristicum “Augustinianum,” 1982.
Williams. Daniel H. Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Nicene-Arian Conflicts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
