Academic literature on the topic 'Ambrose, Saint, Bishop of Milan, -397'

On 17 October 2010 Mary MacKillop became the first Australian citizen to be officially canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. This event generated a similar outpouring of patriotic enthusiasm to that which greeted Mary’s beatification in 1995. The title of this paper is borrowed from a newspaper article of 1985 by the poet, publisher and self-described ‘implacable agnostic’, Max Harris, a fervent supporter of Mary’s canonization. Saints are the only relatives that you can choose, commented Bishop Ambrose of Milan in the fourth century, and taking this ancient aphorism rather more literally than St Ambrose intended, Dame Edna Everage has claimed descent from a branch of the MacKillop family tree. As Dame Edna’s creator, comedian and satirist Barry Humphries, is a shrewd observer of Australian culture, Mary MacKillop’s triumph as a saint for all Australians seems assured — but what does this reveal about the meaning of sainthood in contemporary Australian society? This paper will trace some important stages in devotion to saints in Australian history before returning to Mary Helen MacKillop, her status as a national icon, and the threads of change and continuity which can be discerned in her cult.

The article studies the history of works signed by the name of St. Ambrose of Milan which was translated into Church Slavonic and Russian. The tradition of translations of the Bishop of Mediolanum is very young and heterogeneous. The first translations have been appeared sporadically only in the second half of the 18th century, and they were not systematic. The chronological framework of the article is due to the fact that the main body of the theological, homiletic and moral-ascetic heritage of the St. Ambrose was translated and published precisely in the Synodal period. Later, some early translations have been reprinted again and again or taken as a basis for adapting texts into modern language. Thanks to the educational activities of the St. Petersburg and the Kiev Theological Academies, which began to translate regularly and print the texts of the Holy Fathers, the number of publications from the authentic texts of the saint, as well as The pseudo-Ambrose's “Words”, increased noticeably. Many translations were published in the journals “Christian Reading”, “Sunday Reading”, “A Guide for Rural Shepherds”, which contributed to the spread of the patristic heritage outside the walls of religious educational institutions. In the article we reconstruct, if possible, the names of the translators and establish the source of original Latin texts, due to misattribution of many writings published under the name of St. Ambrose. The results are expected to contribute to clarify and to supply bibliographic lists, as well as to prepare a complete annotated catalog of editions of St. Ambrose of Milan in Russian and Church Slavonic.

Numerous remarks which refer to the Christian social life in the writings of St Ambrose (339-397) offer us a relatively homogeneous picture of his pastoral opinions on marriage and family, work, property and virtues as considered in the theological context. God is the single aim of every man’s activity in the social activities. A systematic theological analysis led St. Ambrose to the conclusion that: 1) Marriage can have either a positive or negative sense and 2) that the male component in marriage is dominant over the female. He argued that the full libera­tion of both sexes would come only in Eternal Life. The emancipation of women is possible in this world through the Christian religion, through the role of a wife, mother or the consecrated virginity. Labor is inseparately related to human nature from its creation and before original sin. After original sin, human labor changed in the punishment for sin (pain and hardship) however in the same time became the means of salvation, and the redemption of sins. It is also necessary to sustain living and gives a chance to achieve moral virtues. Work and mutual assistance were made by the Bishop of Milan a model work in the society. St Ambrose ac­cepted both private possession rights and a community property of goods. The earthly goods should be used always with the religious perspective of the sole des­tiny – God. The main Aim-God, a temporary possession of goods (worldliness) and the purpose of the Main Owner- the good of every man (justice, fraternity, solidarity, mutual love) are the limits of a possession rights. The Bishop of Milan also introduced to the Christian moral theology the system of evaluation of the human deeds based on the Stoic categories of virtues and vices. St. Ambrose com­bined this system with the allegoric conception of the Four Rivers of the Philo of Alexandria and St. Paul’s moral theology. A Christian should be guided by the vir­tues of humbleness and fear of God. They will lead him to the wisdom and divine blessing, subsequently to the real knowledge of God. In this world the Christians should respect the sense of responsibility, the virtue of silence, freedom, cardinal virtues, honesty, charity and usefulness of his work. In the social life Christians are obliged to denounce the vices of egoism and arrogance, usury, greediness, vice behavior or giving unwise promises. The social problems were always subordi­nated to the theological purposes in the writings of St. Ambrose. The Christian are always obliged to be guided by Gods Commandments. St. Ambrose did not manage to work out a code of Christian moral behavior in a society, however he discussed many different problems, which were used by others (cf. St. Thomas of Aquino) to construct such a code. A synthesis of the Stoic philosophy, the philoso­phy of Philo Judaeus and St. Paul’s moral theology can be legitimately regarded as his valuable contribution to the studies of ethics.

<p><strong>Resumo:</strong> Neste artigo nos propomos a relacionar elementos próprios da leitura silenciosa e da leitura oral na vida de Aurélio Ambrósio, bispo da cidade de Milão entre os anos de 374 e 397. Também aproveitamos a oportunidade para esclarecer algumas funções episcopais assinaladas por Ambrósio, especialmente a tarefa de ensinar. Para tanto, entre as obras examinadas para a execução deste trabalho, ressaltamos <em>De Officiis Ministrorum Libri Tres </em>e <em>Exameron</em>, de autoria do próprio bispo milanês, e o livro <em>Confessionis</em> de Agostinho, discípulo de Ambrósio.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> Ambrósio – Bispo – Leitura silenciosa.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> In this article we propose to relate elements own of silent reading and reading oral in the life of Aurelius Ambrosius, bishop of the city of Milan between the years of 374 and 397. Also took the opportunity to clarify some episcopal functions signaled by Ambrosius, specially the task of teaching. For the achievement of our goals, we mainly examined <em>De Officiis Ministrorum Libri Tres</em> and <em>Exameron</em>, authored by own bishop milanese, and the book <em>Confessionis</em> of Augustinus, disciple of Ambrosius.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Ambrosius – Bishop – Silent reading.</p>

El apasionante debate historiográfico sobre el contenido y la razón de ser de las epístolas ambrosianas, que han llegado a nuestros días, continúa muy abierto. Ciertamente, el análisis de estas cartas, y de la investigación llevada a cabo sobre las mismas hasta la fecha actual, pone de manifiesto la necesidad de seguir avanzando en esa reflexión que permita aproximarnos, en la medida de lo posible, a la verdad objetiva de lo que fue la historia y el significado de la correspondencia epistolar del obispo milanés. Resulta conveniente realizar un nuevo análisis exhaustivo de los destinatarios, de la cronología y del contenido de estas epístolas, desde un enfoque historiográfico, que nos permita conocer la figura de Ambrosio y de su contexto con mayor profundidad, así como explicar el sentido o la lógica de la selección de cartas que fue llevada a cabo, muy probablemente por el mismo obispo, para su publicidad. Al respecto, el presente trabajo consiste en la elaboración de un inventario completo del intercambio epistolar documentado de Ambrosio, en el cual se valoran los aspectos citados anteriormente, no sólo teniendo en cuenta las cartas conservadas, por él remitidas (cartas publicadas y extra collectionem, así como documentos derivados del concilio de Aquileya del 381), sino también aquéllas, tanto de él como de sus corresponsales, que sólo se documentan a través de respuestas o de otros testimonios. Consideramos que esta tarea añadida de detectar y clasificar cartas desaparecidas, que fueron intercambiadas entre el milanés y sus corresponsales, contribuye a conseguir resultados más precisos y cercanos a la situación real. Nuestro estudio consta de tres partes fundamentales: la primera es la introducción, en la que se ofrece un panorama de la situación de las epístolas ambrosianas y de la controversia científica en relación con las mismas; se explica asimismo cuáles son los objetivos del proyecto y qué metodología se ha seguido, y se proporciona además una visión biográfica general sobre la figura de Ambrosio para facilitar al lector la contextualización de las epístolas abordadas. La segunda parte de nuestra tesis se centra en el análisis de la correspondencia epistolar de Ambrosio, el cual abarca un total de 43 capítulos, cada uno de ellos dedicado a un destinatario diferente (a excepción del 38 que cubre la correspondencia relacionada con el concilio de Aquileya, y el 44 de las conclusiones). En los últimos, el 45, 46 y 47, (tercera parte del proyecto) se muestran los cuadros informativos y los índices bibliográficos y de las fuentes consultadas. Nuestro examen de las epístolas se ha fijado como meta, principalmente, responder a los siguientes puntos para cada misiva: la cronología; el remitente y el destinatario; el lugar de origen y destino de la carta; la referencia documental de la epístola; y el contenido y los nombres mencionados o aludidos de personajes no bíblicos. Fruto de nuestra investigación ha sido el registro de 88 misivas desaparecidas, 19 de las cuales fueron compuestas por el obispo milanés, y la detección de 200 personajes no bíblicos a los que se hace referencia en los textos. El examen minucioso de los escritos epistolares de Ambrosio de Milán ha permitido asimismo la aportación de nuevos argumentos interpretativos de gran interés en materia de cronología, prosopografía y del contenido historiográfico de las cartas, así como relativos a la obra, la vida y el contexto histórico del referido prelado italiano.
The analysis of Ambrose of Milan’s letters and the research so far carried out on them reveal the necessity of implementing a new exhaustive analysis of the addressees, the chronology, and the contents of these epistles from a historiographical point of view. This should permit us to know the figure of Ambrose and his context more deeply, as well as explain the logic behind the selection of the letters that was made, very likely by the same prelate, for its publication. The present thesis consists of a complete inventory of Ambrose’s documented epistolary exchange, in which the above-cited aspects have been duly valued. In this task not only the preserved letters remitted by the bishop have been taken into account (published missives and extra collectionem, and the writings derived from the council of Aquileya from 381), but also those, from him and his correspondents, that are documented through replies or other testimonies. The added objective of detecting and classifying lost letters, exchanged between the bishop and his addressees, should contribute to obtaining more precise results, closer to the real situation. The exam of the epistles has principally focused on responding to the following questions that have been posed for each letter: the chronology, identification of the sender and the receiver, locations of origin and destination, documentary reference of the epistle, its contents, and the characters mentioned or alluded to in the writings. Fruit of our investigation has been the identification and record of 88 disappeared letters (19 of them composed by Ambrose), as well as the register of 200 non-biblical characters referred to in the texts. We would also like to highlight our new interpretational input in matters of chronology, prosopography, and historiographical contents of the epistles, especially concerning the work, the life, and the historical background of Ambrose of Milan.

Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was one of the most outspoken advocates of Christian female virginity in the fourth century C.E. This dissertation examines his writings on virginity in the interest of illuminating the historical and social contexts of his teachings. Considering Ambrose's treatises on virginity as literary productions with social, political, and theological functions in Milanese society, I look at the various ways in which the bishop of Milan formulated ascetic discourse in response to the needs and expectations of his audience. Furthermore, I attend to the various discontinuities in Ambrose's ascetic writings in the hope of illuminating what kinds of ideological work these texts were intended to perform by the bishop within Milanese society and beyond.

In the first part of this dissertation, I consider the mechanisms of language and rhetoric promoting virginity in context of the Nicene-Homoian debate, highlighting the fluidity and flexibility of ascetic language in the late fourth century. While in his earliest teachings Ambrose expounds virginity in ways that reflect and support a Nicene understanding of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, his later ascetic writings display his use of anti-Homoian rhetoric in order to support his virginal ideals when they are challenged by Jovinian and others. In the second part, I examine some of the various ways in which the bishop formulated his teachings of virginity in response to the complaints and criticisms of lay members of the Christian community in Milan and elsewhere. I scrutinize the bishop's rhetorical expositions of Biblical figures such as Mary, Eve, the bride of the Song of Songs, and the Jews as a means of furthering his ascetic agenda, and consider his adaptation of a female voice to avoid incurring further criticism. Finally, I consider the role that the bishop's ascetic interests may have played in the so-called Altar of Victory controversy of 384. Largely at stake in Ambrose's dispute with the Roman senator Symmachus, I argue, were the rights and privileges of the Vestal Virgins, a well-established pagan ideology of virginity whose continued prominence and existence was largely unconscionable to the bishop. Ambrose's involvement in the controversy was partly attributable to his interest in ensuring the restriction of Vestal privileges as he perceived the cult to be in direct social and ideological competition with Christian virginity. Together, these three parts attempt to demonstrate the highly fluid and flexible nature of virginity discourse in the late fourth century and to draw attention to some of the socio-theological negotiations that took place as the cult of virginity gained increasing prominence in the Christian church.

Dissertation

This chapter focuses on Augustine, whose influence on Western Christianity cannot be overemphasized, was born in a Roman province in North Africa of a Christian mother and a pagan father. Raised a Christian, he dropped out, acquired a mistress with whom he lived for thirteen years and by whom he had a son who died in adolescence, went to Italy as a professor of rhetoric, fell among the Manicheans, sloughed off his first mistress and had another for two years. Finally, Augustine went back to Africa, particularly at the urging of his very persistent mother, became again a Christian and was baptized by Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in 386. About ten years after returning to Christianity, Augustine wrote his autobiography, the Confessions, perhaps the greatest spiritual story of personal growth of Western culture. His God is emphatically the God of Plato, the God of The Republic, where the form of the good is a necessarily existing eternal force or entity, outside time and space, truly good and beautiful, the font of all other beings, from which everything stems and to which everything relates as the cause of existence.