The Kind and Gentle Bishop
St. Ambrose was born to noble Roman parents. After his father died, his family moved to Milan. He was raised by his mother and his sister, St Marcellina. St. Ambrose became a brilliant lawyer at a young age. The Roman Emperor was so impressed with him that he appointed him governor of Milan even when St Ambrose was still in his thirties.
At that time, Arianism, or the belief that Jesus was not God, was spreading everywhere. One day, the bishop - who was an Arian, died. The people of Milan assembled to elect a new bishop. The Arians and the Catholics argued about who they wanted to elect, because the Arians wanted another Arian bishop, and the Catholics wanted a Catholic bishop. Then Ambrose walked up to the crowd and tried to stop the argument, saying that a peaceful election was possible, and that fighting would get them nowhere. As he started walking away, a voice in the crowd began shouting: "Ambrose, Bishop!" Soon after the crowd started to chant: "Ambrose, Bishop."
St Ambrose knew he was not yet a baptized Catholic, so he asked the Emperor for advice, but the Emperor told him to accept it. So he studied the Catechism and Theology, and was baptized after a short time. A week later, he was ordained the Bishop of Milan.
As soon as he was ordained, St Ambrose gave all his possessions to his brother Satyrus to distribute out to the poor. As a bishop, St Ambrose treated his people with kindness. His door was open to anyone who wanted to see him. He settled any problems with gentleness.
To help get rid of Arianism and false beliefs, St Ambrose prayed and offered Masses. He encouraged his people to assist at Mass and receive the Blessed Sacrament often. He also promoted devotion to Our Lady because she always brings us closer to her Son, Jesus. He preached regularly about how important it was to offer oneself to Jesus, including the girls to become brides of Christ. Some parents, who wanted their daughters to marry, even kept them away from St Ambrose. He caused many to convert to Catholicism, and one of his great converts was St Augustine of Hippo.
Once, a criminal escaped to the circus, and the Emperor ordered the death of nearly seven thousand men, women and children, just to find the criminal. The people waited to see what St Ambrose would do about it. St Ambrose wrote a letter to the Roman Emperor, saying that he should do private and public penance for this grave sin, otherwise St Ambrose would never say Mass for him again. The Emperor did as he was told, repented and did penance.
St Ambrose is a very good example for us in following Christ because he was a man of peace, gentleness, mercy and great faith. During his life, he showed humility and treated everyone as he would treat Christ.
Sancte Ambrosius, ora pro nobis!
(Grade 5
Creative Writing
2011, Term 1, Week 6)
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