St. Ambrose’s memorial is December 7th.
He was one of the four original doctors of the Church, and he baptized St. Augustine.
He also had perhaps the strangest life story of any of the Church Fathers!
Here are 8 things to know and share . . .
1) Who was St. Ambrose?
St. Ambrose of Milan was born around A.D. 338 and died in 397.
He was the bishop of Milan, Italy.
2) What makes is his life story so strange?
Originally, he was a government official, he became bishop in a most extraordinary way.
After the death of the local bishop, the Catholics and Arians got into a vehement conflict about who should be the new bishop.
Ambrose was trying to keep the peace and settle the two groups down when someone—allegedly a small boy—began chanting “Ambrose, bishop!”
Soon the two groups began chanting together that Ambrose should be the new bishop.
(The Arians, apparently, felt that although Ambrose was Catholic in belief he would be a kinder bishop than they otherwise would likely get.)
This set of circumstances is extraordinary enough, but what’s even more extraordinary is that Ambrose wasn’t even a Christian yet. He was an unbaptized catechumen!
3) Can it get any stranger?
Yes it can!
