Ambrose of Milan: Deeds and Though of a Bishop

Ambrose of Milan (340-397), a great Father of the early Church and one of the four Doctors of the West (with Augustine, Jerome and Gregory the Great), was born into a noble Christian family. In 374, during his service as governor of the Roman province of Liguria and Aemelia, he was called by extraordinary popular demand to become the Bishop of Milan. Fully involved in the affairs of his people, Ambrose was a strictly orthodox pastor who held fast to the faith of Nicea against the Arian heresy rampant at the time. He was a concerned father who preoccupied himself with the needs of the faithful in Milan using his own wealth and property in the process. An energetic defender of the faith, he was not afraid to oppose the Roman Emperor when such was called for. But Ambrose, in this biography by noted scholar Cesare Pasini, comes across above all as a Bishop. The reader will find here a pastor who knew how to enliven his community with his imaginative preaching and solid catechesis, with the celebrations surrounding the sacramental rites, with his dedicated work for justice profoundly animated by charity, and with a sense of equilibrium in his judgments based on ethics and Christian spirituality. Often this biography cites from the ancient testimonies which history has left us about Ambrose and, even more, from the writings handed down to us by Ambrose himself. In this way the reader can better penetrate the soul of the protagonist, enjoying the captivating words of the Bishop himself. This work of Pasini makes a serious contribution to our understanding of this highly acclaimed and most beloved patron saint of the Milanese Church.

About the Author: Cesare Pasini, born in Milan in 1950, is a diocesan priest and scholar. Doctor of Oriental Church History, for several years he taught patrology in the seminary of Milan. Presently he is the vice prefect of the Ambrosian Library and was a member of the Committee Promoting the 16th Centenary of St. Ambrose. Among his publications are: Vita di s. Filippo d'Agira attribuita almonaco Eusebio, Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Roma 1981; Le fonti greche su s. Ambrogio, Biblioteca Ambrosiana-Citta Nuova, Milano-Roma 1990. He likewise edited the Dizionario dei santi della Chiesa di Milano, Ned, Milano 1995.