Nicene · c. 340 – 397
St. Ambrose of Milan
Milan, Italy
Biography
Ambrose was the Roman governor of northern Italy when, still a catechumen, he was suddenly acclaimed Bishop of Milan by popular demand in 374 and baptized, ordained, and consecrated within days. As bishop he famously made even Emperor Theodosius do public penance for a massacre, and he catechized and baptized the great Augustine of Hippo in 387. His sermons and hymns profoundly shaped Western liturgy and theology.
Historical background
In his catechetical work De Mysteriis, delivered to the newly baptized in Milan around AD 390, Ambrose taught that the eucharistic elements are truly changed into Christ's body and blood by the words of consecration, using the analogy of creation itself to explain the change.
Major writings
De Mysteriis
Instructions to the newly baptized on the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.
De Officiis Ministrorum
A treatise on Christian ethics for clergy modeled on Cicero.
Important teachings
Ambrose teaches that the words of Christ change the nature of the elements at the consecration, just as God's word brought the universe into being from nothing. He also models the Church's independence from imperial power in matters of faith and morals, famously rebuking Theodosius.
Quotations
“Before the words of Christ it is a different thing which is named; after the consecration, the Body is signified... this is My Body.”
“If then there was so much force in the word of the Lord Jesus that things which were not began to be, how much more efficacious is it that things should be changed into something else.”
“The Emperor is within the Church, not above it.”