Kathryn Lopez
1.
Happy feast of St. Ambrose, who converted St. Augustine. Your witness to one person can change the world, never forget that.
— Fr. Claude Burns (@FrPontifex) December 7, 2015
Today we celebrate the feast of a great saint who received God’s mercy and was so transformed by it that he was able to lead for Christ many people along the holy way of the redeemed. In his young 30s, St. Ambrose was prefect of Gaul — an enormous responsibility — during the 370s. He believed the Christian faith but he hadn’t yet been baptized. After the death of the Bishop of Milan, he went to where the election was to take place to make sure that there were no fights between the Orthodox Catholics of the time and the heretic Arians (who believed that Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived and chosen by God but not God). He gave a little speech reminding everyone of Christ’s teachings on peace and mutual love, at which point someone in the crowd began to shout “Ambrose, Bishop!” It soon started to be echoed by everyone, Catholics and Arians alike. He tried to run away from the responsibilities, but when the emperor Valentinian heard of the election, he consented to it, proud that he had chosen as Prefect someone with the virtues capable of serving as a Bishop. Eventually Ambrose was baptized, then ordained a deacon, a priest, and a bishop, on this day in 374. After his ordinations, he set himself to learning the Christian faith in such detail that he could really feed others with this nourishment — becoming eventually a doctor of the Church, one of the greatest teachers in the history of the faith. And he taught by his example, constantly seeking to remind people of God’s mercy and making it a rule of life, harmonizing battling emperors, family members and others. St. Augustine, who was converted under his guidance, wrote that whenever he tried to speak with Ambrose, Ambrose was surrounded by a crowd of the needy, whom we would treat with great patience, helping to address their problems as if he were still addressing the great problems of the entire Province of Gaul. When a famine broke out, he sold many of the sacred vessels in order to care for the poor. When people suffered injustice, he risked his own life to challenge the wrong-doers, including the emperor. He is a great model for us of what God is calling each of us to in life and what he will strengthen us to do even more during this Jubilee Year. Let us ask Christ to strengthen us to become merciful like St. Ambrose, merciful like our Heavenly Father, as we enter into communion with Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity and offer ourselves with him to the Father in atonement for our sins and the sins of the world.
3.
Stained glass from St Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie of Saint Ambrose of Milan
https://t.co/Z4fCxizaQR
— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) December 7, 2015
4.
“The Devil tempts that he may ruin and destroy; God tests that He may crown” – St. Ambrose
— Fr. Jay Finelli (@iPadre) December 7, 2015
5. 7 Things Every Catholic Should Know about St. Ambrose
Mosaic, c.2014 in Westminster Cathedral of Saint Ambrose, based on a 5th-cent. portrait of today's saint
https://t.co/VgWUwidjXE
— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) December 7, 2015
6.
Our own evil inclinations are far more dangerous than any external enemies. – St. Ambrose drops the mic
— Diana von Glahn (@DianavonGlahn) December 7, 2015
7.
St. Ambrose offers us a model for public Christian witness https://t.co/MYWx75u4PV
— Dominicana (@DominicanaDHS) December 7, 2015
8.
QOD: "No one heals himself by wounding another." –St. Ambrose, today's saint #quotes #Catholic
— Sean Gallagher (@SeanGIndy) December 7, 2015
9.
St Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the church intercede for us. Inspire us to be merciful, help us to be holy. pic.twitter.com/EpmbAq2L1g
— Fr. Patrick Brennan (@Pathound) December 7, 2015
10. With Pope Benedict’s help from a Wednesday audience in 2007, St. Ambrose seems the perfect guide the day before the jubilee of mercy begins:
Like the Apostle John, Bishop Ambrose — who never tired of saying: “Omnia Christus est nobis! To us Christ is all!” — continues to be a genuine witness of the Lord. Let us thus conclude our Catechesis with his same words, full of love for Jesus: “Omnia Christus est nobis! If you have a wound to heal, he is the doctor; if you are parched by fever, he is the spring; if you are oppressed by injustice, he is justice; if you are in need of help, he is strength; if you fear death, he is life; if you desire Heaven, he is the way; if you are in the darkness, he is light…. Taste and see how good is the Lord: blessed is the man who hopes in him!” (De Virginitate, 16, 99). Let us also hope in Christ. We shall thus be blessed and shall live in peace.
PLUS:
Tomorrow we begin the Jubilee #YearofMercy. Does that make this the Jubileeve?
— eliseanne (@eliseitaliano) December 7, 2015
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