Truly it is worthy and just... eternal God. Who in Thy Holy Catholic Church dost so arrange and order the priests as to make for Thyself a Church having no spot or wrinkle. (Eph. 5, 27) Who didst of old on the solemnity of this day deign to raise up the throne of Thy disciple Ambrose, confessor and priest, that when he had laid down secular office, and renounced public honor, Thou might make him the teacher and judge of Thy flock, and strengthen him before the Church as a shepherd. For his sake, we your subjects ask that Thou who didst suddenly exalt him as a bishop for Thy sheep, and through the voice of the people, choose Him as pastor for Thy flock, may by his prayers make us holier, having driven away our sins, and render Thy people more just, as it celebrates the solemnity of this day; that as shepherd and sheep together, by following in his footsteps, we may merit to come to the heavenly kingdom. (The Ambrosian Rite preface for the feast of St Ambrose.)
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| St Ambrose Bars the Emperor Theodosius from Entering the Cathedral, 1619-20, by the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). The holy bishop had excommunicated the emperor after his troops had massacred a large number of civilians during a riot in the Greek city of Thessalonica; the excommunication was not lifted until the emperor had publicly repented. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.) |
