From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
     Need for a savior   
      
      Christ is the Wisdom of God, so it is simple for him to instruct   
   the ignorant; he is the Power of God, so it is easy for him to restore   
   those who sin and to rescue those in peril. Let us have recourse to   
   this great teacher in all our uncertainties, invoke this ready helper   
   in all our labor, and commit our souls to this trusty defender in all   
   our struggles. He came into the world for this very purpose, so that   
   by living among us, with us, and for us, he might enlighten our   
   darkness, alleviate our toil, and ward off the dangers that threaten   
   us.   
   --Bernard of Clairvaux   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   December 7th - St. Ambrose   
   (339c-397 A.D.)   
      
   Ambrose, one of the four great “doctors” of the Western Church, had a   
   life so varied that even a novelist could scarcely have imagined such   
   a scenario.   
      
   Born in Treves (now Trier, Germany) he was nevertheless a Roman of the   
   Romans, the son of a high imperial official. Sent to Rome as a youth   
   he received a thorough education in letters and law. Around 365 A.D.   
   he entered the civil service of the Roman Empire. Only five years   
   later he was appointed governor of the provinces of Liguria and   
   Aemilia, with the rank of consul. Governor Ambrose, settling in his   
   district capital, Milan, quickly acquired a reputation as an able and   
   just administrator.   
      
   Now, at the time of Ambrose’s arrival in Milan, the bishop of that   
   diocese was Auxentius. Auxentius upheld the Arian heresy; that is, he   
   denied the divinity of Christ. Most of the Milanese Christians were   
   orthodox, however; so when Bishop Auxentius died in 374, there was a   
   strong move to elect an orthodox bishop to succeed him.   
      
   Despite this wide agreement against heresy, the Arian party was still   
   influential in Milan. Fearing that when the two parties met in the   
   cathedral to choose the new bishop, they might come to blows, Ambrose   
   made a point of attending the election in order to maintain order.   
      
   As the respected governor moved up and down in the church, a voice   
   suddenly cried out: “Ambrose bishop!” The rest of the congregation   
   took to the suggestion and joined the chorus. Ambrose spoke out in   
   reprimand. He could not possibly become a bishop, he said; he was not   
   a priest, and, although raised in a Christian household, he was (in   
   keeping with the practice of the time), only a catechumen, and not yet   
   baptized. However, the bishops present saw no major obstacle here, and   
   thought the Holy Spirit was speaking. Ambrose therefore appealed to   
   the Emperor, but again to no avail. His Majesty also found the   
   proposal excellent. So, willynilly, Governor Ambrose, then about 35,   
   was speedily baptized, ordained a priest, and consecrated bishop of   
   Milan.   
      
   The choice was, indeed, providential. The new bishop’s administrative   
   experience would help him to deal with people of every rank.   
   Conscientiously, he at once gave his property to the poor. In his   
   episcopal household he set a pattern of strict asceticism. Unlearned   
   in theology, he engaged a scholarly priest as tutor. Devoting every   
   spare moment to study, he eventually became a superior theologian. A   
   fine speaker already, he won a great reputation as a preacher. It was   
   through listening to his sermons that St. Augustine of Hippo opened   
   his heart to Christianity; and in 387 Ambrose baptized this other   
   great saint. So many of the young women who heard him sing the praises   
   of dedicated virginity took the veil, that worldly mothers began to   
   forbid their daughters to listen to him. Some people even accused him   
   of depopulating the Empire!   
      
   From the many typical episodes of his life, let me mention two.   
      
   Ambrose was, of course, strongly anti-Arian. When the pro Arian   
   Empress Justina was trying to steal some of the Milanese churches for   
   Arian use, the bishop and his flock remained all one Holy Week in the   
   cathedral to thwart its confiscation. During their “sit-in”, St.   
   Ambrose kept the people busy by composing hymns for them to sing.   
   Eventually the cathedral was saved, and the bishop emerged as a   
   composer of some of Christianity’s finest hymns.   
      
   Then, in 390 A.D., Emperor Theodosius, although an orthodox Christian,   
   authorized the senseless slaughter of 7000 innocent people at   
   Thessalonica in Greece. St. Ambrose refused to admit him to the   
   cathedral until he had made reparation. Theodosius humbly complied,   
   and performed a public penance.   
      
   When Bishop Ambrose was nearing death in 387, Count Stilicho, guardian   
   of young Emperor Honorius, declared, “The day that man dies,   
   destruction hangs over Italy.” Ambrose dismissed the idea of his own   
   indispensability: he knew God would not neglect His people. But his   
   own position in history was secure. He was one of the glories of the   
   Roman Christian world..   
   –Father Bob   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   “But if these beings angels guard you, they do so because they have   
   been summoned by your prayers.”   
   --Saint Ambrose   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And he spoke also to them a similitude: Can the blind lead the blind?   
   do they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his   
   master: but every one shall be perfect, if he be as his master.  (Luke   
   6:39-40)   
      
   <><><><>   
   Raise My Heart   
      
   Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)   
      
   O my God,   
   whatever is nearer to me than You,   
   things of this earth   
   and things more naturally pleasing to me,   
   will be sure to interrupt the sight of You,   
   unless Your grace interfere.   
   Keep You my eyes,   
   my ears,   
   my heart,   
   from any such miserable tyranny.   
   Keep my whole being fixed on You.   
   Let me never lose sight of You   
   and while I gaze on You,   
   let my love of You   
   grow more and more every day.   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)