#st. ambrose of milan

[religious-extremist]

"But nothing causes such exceeding grief as when anyone, lying under the captivity of sin, calls to mind from where he has fallen, because he turned aside to carnal and earthly things, instead of directing his mind in the beautiful ways of the knowledge of God. So you find Adam concealing himself, when he knew that God was present and wishing to be hidden when called by God with that voice which wounded the soul of him yourself? Why are you concealed? Why do you avoid Him Whom you once longed to see? A guilty conscience is so burdensome that it punishes itself without a judge, and wishes for covering, and yet is bare before God."

+ St. Ambrose

[dramoor]

"As in Paradise, God walks in the Scripture, seeking man." ~St. Ambrose of Milan

(Photo via istockphoto)

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

Unbelief and Traditional Christianity

I recently watched two videos. These two videos proved to be fruit for a synthesis of understanding in my mind.

One podcaster talks about the Unbelief of Gen Z, the other talks about the ever increasing rabid fanaticism among Christians as they become more "based", or "trad".

After my disillusionment with Protestant Christianity, I found Stoic philosophy to provide some measure of meaning and comfort in a dystopian world. It was far more palatable then outright nihilism, in which I felt the best option for my life was to end it.

As I started looking at Christianity, and the world through Stoic eyes, I began to see what St. Ambrose of Milan saw. There is something here.

Looking to modern thinkers, and the idea of Linguistic Relativity, I realized that just because I don't know for certain what is linguistically possible - the heart knows what the heart knows - Even if words fail. Reality is a thing that transcends language, it has a quality of its own, that words can only come close to describing.

Dr. Nathan Jacobs would call that "intuitional" knowledge.

Now, many scholars might rail against intuitional knowledge. And while they rail and fuss over the fact that some refuse to conform to a dogmatic set of postulates. I have come to a point where I don't care any more.

St. Ambrose has a famous quote -

"When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are."

For myself, I have determined in my mind to follow whatever local custom is followed by the Christian believers around me. Most Christians have more in common then they have separating them, I lose nothing by being gracious and accommodating to whatever local congregations consider normative. This includes my wife, who is decidedly Low-Church Protestant.

There are some lines that should not be crossed, but given that I hang around Seventh-Day Adventists, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and the Occasional Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, or Baptist, means that most of our ethical mores are largely held in common. The day of worship is the largest issue between Adventists and the rest, but even then, I have no problem abstaining from work on Sabbath as well as Sunday.

The key is obedience. When a priest or pastor tries to recommend correction, I should not - cannot - argue. I have never experienced a conflict in recommendations between clergy. If I ever do, I may need to reassess. However, if every spiritual leader in my life is working to aid me towards my salvation, I shouldn't argue.

Are icons idols? Is the right day to worship Saturday or Sunday? These are questions that POSTDATE the covenant with Abraham.

With Moses, God gave us a set of rules to show us we weren't perfect. Were some arbitrary - like Sabbath?

I don't know. I don't think it matters.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. — Psalm 51:16–17

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” — Psalms 40:6-8

“Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. —Hebrews 10:8

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. —Romans 2:14

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High God, Have mercy upon me, A Sinner.

[paris1871]

“This is not indeed according to nature, for nature has poured out all things for the common use of all. For God caused all things to be produced in such a way that there might be food common to all, and that the earth might serve as a kind of common possession for all. Nature, then, ushered in the right to things in common, usurpation created the right of private property.” — St. Ambrose Image: Raina Masters. Model.

[moethh]

haven't really heard of him before but based on his patronage he sounds awesome

Has anyone made this post yet?

Randomly get a Saint for 2024!

This one is mine!

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 4 December – Saint Felix of Bologna (Died 432) Bishop, a disciple and the Deacon of St Ambrose at Milan. Died in Bologna on 4 December 432. Also known as – Felice. The Roman Martyrology: “At Bologna, Saint Felix, Bishop, who had been the Deacon of the Church of Milan under Saint Ambrose.”

(via Saint of the Day – 4 December – Saint Felix of Bologna (Died 432) Bishop – AnaStpaul)

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (August 27)

On August 27, one day before the feast of her son St. Augustine, the Catholic Church honors St. Monica, whose holy example and fervent intercession led to one of the most dramatic conversions in Church history.

Monica was born into a Catholic family in 332, in the North African city of Tagaste located in present-day Algeria.

She was raised by a maidservant who taught her the virtues of obedience and temperance.

While still relatively young, she married Patricius, a Roman civil servant with a bad temper and a disdain for his wife's religion.

Patricius' wife dealt patiently with his distressing behavior, which included infidelity to their marriage vows.

But she experienced a greater grief when he would not allow their three children – Augustine, Nagivius, and Perpetua – to receive Baptism.

When Augustine, the oldest, became sick and was in danger of death, Patricius gave consent for his Baptis but withdrew it when he recovered.

Monica's long-suffering patience and prayers eventually helped Patricius to see the error of his ways, and he was baptized into the Church one year before his death in 371.

Her oldest son, however, soon embraced a way of life that brought her further grief, as he fathered a child out of wedlock in 372.

One year later, he began to practice the occult religion of Manichaeism.

In her distress and grief, Monica initially shunned her oldest son.

However, she experienced a mysterious dream that strengthened her hope for Augustine's soul in which a messenger assured her: “Your son is with you.”

After this experience, which took place around 377, she allowed him back into her home and continued to beg God for his conversion.

But this would not take place for another nine years.

In the meantime, Monica sought the advice of local clergy, wondering what they might do to persuade her son away from the Manichean heresy.

One bishop, who had once belonged to that sect himself, assured Monica that it was “impossible that the son of such tears should perish.”

These tears and prayers intensified when Augustine, at age 29, abandoned Monica without warning as she passed the night praying in a chapel.

Without saying goodbye to his mother, Augustine boarded a ship bound for Rome.

Yet even this painful event would serve God's greater purpose, as Augustine left to become a teacher in the place where he was destined to become a Catholic.

Under the influence of the bishop St. Ambrose of Milan, Augustine renounced the teaching of the Manichees around 384.

Monica followed her son to Milan and drew encouragement from her son's growing interest in the saintly bishop's preaching.

After three years of struggle against his own desires and perplexities, Augustine succumbed to God's grace and was baptized in 387.

Shortly before her death, Monica shared a profound mystical experience of God with Augustine, who chronicled the event in his “Confessions.”

Finally, she told him:

“Son, for myself, I have no longer any pleasure in anything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied, I do not know what more I want here or why I am here.”

“The only thing I ask of you both,” she told Augustine and his brother Nagivius, “is that you make remembrance of me at the altar of the Lord wherever you are.”

Monica died at the age 56 in the year 387.

In modern times, she has become the inspiration for the St. Monica Sodality, which encourages prayer and penance among Catholics whose children have left the faith.

[baroque-art-history]

Emperor Theodosius Forbidden by St Ambrose To Enter Milan Cathedral by Anthony van Dyck (1599 - 1641)

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Doctor of the Church

354 - 430 

Feast Day: August 28

Patronage: brewers, printers, theologians

St.  Augustine, Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church, was the son of Saint Monica. He was raised a Christian, but lost his faith in youth and led a wild life. He lived with a woman from the age of 15 through 30 and fathered a son. After investigating and experimenting with several philosophies, he became a Manichaean but was converted by the prayers of his mother and the help of Saint Ambrose of Milan, who baptized him. He then spent the remainder of his life doing great things. His later thinking can be summed up in a line from his writings: "Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in You."

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[orthodoxadventure]

do you know of prayers to decrease suicide ideation? And can you please pray my stomach churns i am in so much distress. (I love your blog, god bless you) <33333

May God bless you and comfort you, and thank you for the kind words! I will definitely keep you in my prayers.

One thing I would recommend is reading the Psalms, and finding one that really resonates with you and including that into your prayer routine. Or if you don't have a prayer routine already, then praying this Psalm morning and night (and whenever else you need it through the day). It doesn't explicitly have to be about depression, a lot of the Psalms talk about placing their hope in the Lord even through the distress and suffering they're experiencing - and something like this might really resonate with you and comfort you.

You can find a collection of four prayers that are related to depression, anxiety, and suffering here, which should be of some help to you: https://www.sthermansoca.org/resources/prayers-against-fear/

Then there is also:

Prayer against Depression: Prayer to the Mother of God

Prayer to the Theotokos for Healing

Prayer to the Mother of God in a Time of Distress

Akathist to St. Xenia of St. Petersburg

Prayer of Someone in Trouble

Prayer of Saint John Chrysostom

Prayer to St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco

Healing Prayer of Saint Ambrose of Milan

Guardian Angel Prayers for Protection

Prayer of St. Dimitri of Rostov

Prayer for the Self

Prayers don't have to explicitly be about depression or liberation from despair in order to be helpful. Find prayers that really resonate with you, and ones that you are willing and able to pray. Try to read even one Psalm a day as well as a prayer that you find helpful.

Speak often to God about your difficulties and struggles also. Sometimes the best prayers are the ones that we come up with, because they most accurately reflect our situation, our wants, our needs, and so on. We don't need to know the perfect things to say. But the act of praying about our issues, of articulating them and putting them into words and placing them before God can be of immense help and comfort to us. And the act of articulating problems out loud can go a long way to untangling them in our head which can help us feel even a little less overwhelmed.

God bless you!

[wonder-worker]

"One of the main sources regarding the events following [Emperor Louis II of Italy's] death, Andrew of Bergamo’s Historia, has fuelled the idea that the political factionalism in Italy corresponded to political chaos and weak royal authority. This approach has recently been challenged, as it has been shown that Italian factions were extremely fluid and moved by very practical interests: the existence of factionalism in Italy did not mean the weakening of royal authority. Angelberga’s widowhood and her attempts to preserve her wealth fit effectively within this picture and emerge from Andrew’s narrative as well. Andrew reports that Charles the Bald and Louis the German were both called to Italy to claim the imperial rights. This decision was made by an assembly of the local nobles held in Pavia, and presided over by Empress Angelberga […] The Libellus de imperatoria potestate, a political pamphlet produced in Rome at the end of the ninth century, also states that the empress and “sui primates” sent a missive to Karlman. As we have seen, evidence shows that Angelberga had, at this stage, a favourite: Louis the German and his sons. However, this does not imply that she had to maintain this attitude. Louis the German was soon to die, and according to Andrew his sons did not deserve much political consideration. Andrew’s portrayal might be related to his impression that political consistency was not Angelberga’s priority and thus inspired by the fluctuating attitude of the empress. By the time he was writing, probably at the beginning of the 880s, Andrew had witnessed the change in the empress’ political attitude.

Initially, Angelberga’s hostility towards Charles the Bald seemed evident. Her appeal to Louis the German to confirm her properties was contemporary with the coronation of Charles in February 876. It is clear, therefore, that at the time Charles’ victory was not good news for Angelberga. At the same time, however, Pope John VIII, one of Angelberga’s closest friends, supported the West Frankish candidate. The same can be said for the archbishop of Milan Anspert, a relevant figure in relation to Angelberga’s troubled widowhood. In September 875 Anspert had organized what has been defined as “one of the most daring and political acts of his government”: the procession that took Louis II’s body from Brescia, where it had been originally buried, to the church of St Ambrose in Milan. According to Paolo Delogu, Anspert took the body with the aim of claiming “the role of keeper of the royal tradition in Italy, burying him beside King Pippin and Bernard in the church of St Ambrose in Milan”. The representatives of the archbishop sent to transfer the body were the bishops Benedict of Cremona and Garibald of Bergamo, with an entourage of clerics: among them was Andrew of Bergamo, as he reports in the Historia.

This event has been read as a sign that relations between Angelberga and the church of Milan were tense: she wished to keep the body of Louis in Brescia, whereas Anspert had decided to move the royal body to the mausoleum of the kings of Italy. However, this may not have been the case. In March 880 Charles the Fat issued a diploma that confirmed some properties to the monastery of St Ambrose. Among them was the monastery of Santa Cristina in Corte Olona, which, according to the diploma, had been granted to St Ambrose by Angelberga “for the sake of Louis’ soul”. If Angelberga had granted the monastery of Corte Olona to St Ambrose in Louis’ memory, this must have been done after the body had already been moved to Milan. Moreover, the grant must have taken place before March 877, when the empress issued a testament that listed all her properties, because it does not mention Santa Cristina. This exchange between the empress and the diocese of Milan might indicate that the removal of Louis’ body from Brescia happened with the empress’s consent, and that Angelberga’s grant was the result of an agreement between the empress and the Milan clergy led by Anspert.

This shows that the empress was happy to come to agreement with people who, according to the alleged French/German partition, would have belonged to the opposite party. Furthermore, it shows that Angelberga used her royal properties to negotiate alliances and support. After Louis the German died, in August 876, she had no guarantee that Louis’ sons would have been on her side. On 27th March 877 Pope John VIII wrote an enraged letter to Charles the Fat, because, according to Andrew, the latter had been plundering the monastery of San Salvatore in Brescia, in which the empress was living at the time. On the same day the pope wrote to the empress to comfort her for her sufferings. In the letter the pope said that he was doing his best to persuade Charles the Bald, whom he calls “our spiritual son Charles”, to help her, and that the emperor was showing exceptional piety and devotion. This indicates that Angelberga had asked the pope to intercede on her behalf with Charles the Bald, and therefore that between 876 and 877 she was attempting a policy of conciliation towards the winner.

This conciliatory policy is confirmed by the fact that in March 877 she issued her testament in San Salvatore in Brescia. The testament asserted the foundation of the nunnery of San Sisto – formally dedicated to the Resurrection, the holy Apostles San Sisto, Bartolomeo and Fabiano in Piacenza - to which Angelberga assigned all her properties."

Roberta Cimino, Italian Queens in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries (PHD Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2014)

[dramoor]

Basilica di Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, Italy

(Photo © dramoor 2015)

[religious-extremist]

What are the reasons you think everyone should become Orthodox Christian? I grew up an atheist bc it was popular and morally correct during my teenage years to be an atheist, liberal, sex positive, scientific, etc, so that was my identity. I no longer feel connected to most of the views I used have and I personally like to live celibate and sober. I have never practiced religion and have no personal concept of "god," though I have been drawn to learning about others religious beliefs lately. I have followed different kinds of religious/spiritual blogs and like reading about what faith adds to their life.

In your short ask, you have mentioned how the reason (or part of the reason) you became an atheist was because of how unfashionable it was to believe in God while you were growing up. It was popular and politically correct to be a liberal, sex positive, “scientific” atheist.

Your reason for becoming an atheist was your desire to please your peers; your longing to have friends who accepted you, not for who you are, but for the sacrifice you made when you set your morals aside to follow the same ideologies that they follow.

I did the same thing. I was the lost sheep, the prodigal son, I strayed from the faith because I sought the companionship of other people. Why did we do that? I did that because I was wounded in my heart, I had felt abandoned by God. I was hurt and I sought consolation from the world. I found distractions from the pain but I did not find healing.

When I returned to God, when my friends left me, when youth had departed from me, when the drugs wore off, when the money ran out, when all the distractions left me destitute of emotions and the will to live, I saw how false the world’s promises are. I realized that it was not God who left me but I left God to follow my own will, like a petulant child.

The only medicine for our souls is love, not temporal emotional love but permanent longsuffering love that only comes from God. There is no short way to describe what love is, but if you want to know, I encourage you to read the Bible, to pray, to go to Church, and you will find what you are looking for; or rather, He will find you.

St. Ambrose of Milan said, “Just as in Paradise, God walks in the Holy Scriptures seeking man.”

It’s true. He is waiting for you.

You are also welcome to message me. You are not alone in your search for the meaning of life.

May the mercies of God be with you, my dear friend.

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2024

december 7_december 20

St. AMBROSE BISHOP OF MILAN (397)

This is the world into which St. Ambrose was born in Trier (Treves) about 339-40, not long after the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325. His father, Ambrose, a civil servant, was Gaul's praetorian prefect (governor). His command included Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain. Ambrose had one brother, Satyrus, and a sister, Marcellina, who became a nun in 353, though she continued to live as a religious at home (there were few regular convents). Ambrose was not baptized as a child because Christians still regarded any sin after baptism with such horror that the sacrament was postponed as long as possible. There was. However, a service of exhortation and benediction Witchsalt and the Sign of the Cross was employed to claim the child for God and to withdraw him from the dominance of the powers of evil. All we have of Ambrose’s childhood is a legendary tale that a swarm of bees settled on his mouth as a prophecy that he would be gifted with eloquence. Upon his father's death, while Ambrose was still young, the family moved back to Rome. The brothers were tutored by a Roman priest named Simplician, whom the boys loved (he later succeeded Ambrose as bishop of Milan). Their education ended in the study of law.

The two brothers began practicing law in the court of the prefect of Italy. Their oratory and learning attracted the notice of Ancius Probus, the prefect of Italy. Ambrose was particularly marked for the fast track. When Ambrose was little more than 30 (c. 372), Emperor Valentinian appointed him ‘consular’ or governor of Aemilia and Liguria, whose capital was Milan, the administrative center of the imperial government in the West since the beginning of the 4th century. He filled this position with great ability and justice.

The Arian Bishop Auxentius of Milan, who banned Catholic congregations from worshipping in the diocese’s churches, died in 374, and the Arians and Catholics fought over the vacant position, which exercised a metropolitan’s jurisdiction over the whole of northern Italy. Ambrose had only been in Milan for three years at the bishop’s death and expected trouble selecting his successor. So, Ambrose, a Catholic in name but still a catechumen, went to the cathedral to try to calm the rival parties. During his speech exhorting the people to concord and tranquility, a child is said to have cried, “Ambrose for bishop!” Both sides took up the cry, neither of which was anxious to decide the issue between them. The local bishops had asked Emperor Valentinian to make the appointment, but he returned the dubious honor to the bishops. Now, the matter was out of their hands. Ambrose was unanimously elected bishop by all parties. The election of Ambrose, the one in charge of the local police, heightens our awareness of a truism: all clergy are recruited from the laity. It is better to choose an irreproachable person esteemed by all, than a savant who sows discord. Ambrose's choice was bold, but it surprised no one but us. What did Ambrose think of this call? At first, he protested (just like the prophets), saying he was not even baptized and fled rather than yield to the tumult. St. Paulinus of Nola wrote of the incident: “Ambrose left the church and had his tribunal prepared. . . . Contrary to his custom, he ordered people submitted to torture. When this was done, the people did not acclaim him any the less [saying]: ‘May his sin fall on us!’ Knowing that Ambrose had not been baptized, the people of Milan sincerely promised him a remission of all his sins by the grace of baptism. “Troubled, Ambrose returned to his house. . . . Openly, he had prostitutes come in for the sole purpose, of course, that once the people saw that, they would go back on their decision. But the crowd only cried all the louder: ‘May your sin fall on us'” (Paulinus, Life of Ambrose, 7). The people, however, continually pursued him and insisted that he take the see. The emperor confirmed the nomination, and Ambrose capitulated. Beginning on November 24, 373, Ambrose was taken through baptism and the various orders to be consecrated as bishop on December 1 or 7–one or two weeks later.

Quite consciously, Ambrose set out to be an exemplary bishop despite the daunting divisions within his see, his own delicate constitution, and his lack of preparation. He was a slight figure with a beard and mustache but with the natural grace of one who had been born in a palace and who could handle authority. (An early 5th-century portrait in a church he founded shows him as a short man with a long face, long nose, high forehead, brown hair, thick lips, and a left eyebrow higher than his right.) His natural dignity was ignited by enthusiasm to correct wrongs (such as high taxation, corrupt officials, venality in the law courts, and Arians in the imperial court). On his election, he dedicated himself to an austere life and the in-depth study of the Church Fathers and Scriptures under the direction of his former tutor, Father Simplician–essentially doing his seminary work after his consecration. Following his election, his life was one of poverty and humility. He gave away all his acquired property. He gave his inherited possessions into the charge of his brother Satyrus, who had resigned from his own governorship. Ambrose was a man of charity.

Sold church property to buy back captives taken in wars. He distinguished himself in defense of the oppressed, and there is a strikingly modern note in his objection to capital punishment. This left Ambrose free to follow the life he considered appropriate to the clergy: prayer seven times daily and regular fasts (although the Church of Milan followed the Eastern rule about Saturday and did not, as the Romans did, keep it as a fast), and no food until dinner. He gave daily audiences to any who wished to consult him, then occupied himself with reading and writing. His favorite writers were Philo, Origen, and Basil. He was a Greek scholar and read most of the Greek Fathers (but seems unfamiliar with the Latin Fathers such as Tertullian and Justin Martyr). He also read heretical works to refute them. As bishop, Ambrose felt he was primarily responsible for the instruction of catechumens and would himself hear confessions before he actually administered Baptism. Ambrose always washed their feet whenever he baptized new Christians, even though he knew this was not the usual Roman custom. As a metropolitan, Ambrose had to occasionally summon councils to deal with appeals from the various dioceses and set the date for the observance of Easter. He also had to preside at the election and consecration of bishops. Episcopal duties at this time are well summed up by Chateaubriand, “There could be nothing more complete or better filled than a life of the prelates of the fourth and fifth centuries. A bishop baptized, absolved, preached, arranged private and public penances, hurled anathemas or raised excommunications, visited the sick, attended the dying, buried the dead, redeemed captives, nourished the poor, widows, and orphans, founded almshouses and hospitals, ministered to the needs of his clergy, pronounced as a civil judge in individual cases, and acted as arbitrator in differences between cities. He published at the same time treatises on morals, on discipline, on theology. He wrote against heresiarchs and against philosophers, busied himself with science and history, directed letters to individuals who consulted him in one or other of the rival religions; corresponded with churches and bishops, monks, and hermits; sat at councils and synods; was summoned to the audience of Emperors, was charged with negotiations, and was sent as ambassador to usurpers or to Barbarian princes to disarm them or keep them within bounds. The three powers, religious, political, and philosophical were all concentrated in the bishop...” Continue reading @ St Ambrose (source).

VENERABLE NILUS, MONK, OF STOLBEN LAKE (1554)

Saint Nilus of Stolobnoye was born into a peasant family in a small village of the Novgorod diocese. In the year 1505 he was tonsured at the monastery of Saint Savva of Krypetsk (August 28) near Pskov. After ten years in ascetic life at the monastery he set out to the River Sereml, on the side of the city of Ostashkova; here for thirteen years he led a strict ascetic life in incessant struggle against the snares of the devil, who took on the appearance of reptiles and wild beasts. Many of the inhabitants of the surrounding area started coming to the monk for instruction, but this became burdensome for him and he prayed God to show him a place for deeds of quietude. Once, after long prayer he heard a voice saying, “Nilus! Go to Lake Seliger. There upon the island of Stolobnoye you can be saved!” Saint Nilus learned the location of this island from people who visited him. When he arrived there, he was astonished by its beauty.

The island, in the middle of the lake, was covered over by dense forest. Saint Nilus found a small hill and dug out a cave, and after a while he built a hut, in which he lived for twenty-six years. To his exploits of strict fasting and stillness [ie. hesychia] he added another—he never lay down to sleep, but permitted himself only a light nap, leaning on a prop set into the wall of the cell.

The pious life of the monk frequently roused the envy of the Enemy of mankind, which evidenced itself through the spiteful action of the local inhabitants. One time someone set fire to the woods on the island where stood the saint’s hut, but the flames went out in miraculous manner upon reaching the hill. Another time robbers forced their way into the hut. The monk said to them: “All my treasure is in the corner of the cell.” In this corner stood an icon of the Mother of God, but the robbers began to search there for money and became blinded. Then with tears of repentance they begged for forgiveness.

Saint Nilus performed many other miracles. He would refuse gifts if the conscience of the one offering it to him was impure, or if they were in bodily impurity.

Aware of his approaching end, Saint Nilus prepared a grave for himself. At the time of his death, an igumen from one of the nearby monasteries came to the island and communed him with the Holy Mysteries. Before the igumen’s departure, Saint Nilus prayed for the last time, censing around the holy icons and the cell, and surrendered his soul to the Lord on December 7, 1554. The translation of his holy relics (now venerated at the church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Of the Sign” in the city of Ostashkova) took place in the year 1667, with feast days established both on the day of his death and on May 27.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

1 Timothy 3:1-13

1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Luke 21:28-33

28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. 29 Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 11 December – Saint Sabinus of Piacenza (Died c420) Bishop, learned Defender of the Faith against heretics, Miracle-worker. Friend and assistant to St Ambrose. Sabinus was born in Milan around 330 – 340 and died in Piacenza in c420. Initially he was a Deacon of Milan, then became the Bishop of Piacenza for other 50 years. Patronage – of Piacenza. Also known as – Sabino, Savinus, Savino. The Roman Martyrology states today: “At Piacenza, St Sabinus, a Bishop, renowned for miracles.”

(via Saint of the Day – 11 December – Saint Sabinus of Piacenza (Died c420) Bishop – AnaStpaul)

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (December 7)

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of St. Ambrose, the brilliant Bishop of Milan who influenced St. Augustine's conversion and was named a Doctor of the Church.

Like Augustine himself, the older Ambrose, born around 340, was a highly educated man who sought to harmonize Greek and Roman intellectual culture with the Catholic faith.

Trained in literature, law and rhetoric, he eventually became the governor of Liguria and Emilia, with headquarters at Milan.

He manifested his intellectual gifts in defense of Christian doctrine even before his baptism.

While Ambrose was serving as governor, a bishop named Auxentius was leading the diocese.

Although he was an excellent public speaker with a forceful personality, Auxentius also followed the heresy of Arius, which denied the divinity of Christ.

Although the Council of Nicaea had reasserted the traditional teaching on Jesus' deity, many educated members of the Church – including, at one time, a majority of the world's bishops – looked to Arianism as a more sophisticated and cosmopolitan version of Christianity.

Bishop Auxentius became notorious for forcing clergy throughout the region to accept Arian creeds.

At the time of Auxentius' death, Ambrose had not yet even been baptized.

But his deep understanding and love of the traditional faith were already clear to the faithful of Milan.

They considered him the most logical choice to succeed Auxentius, even though he was still just a catechumen.

With the help of Emperor Valentinan II, who ruled the Western Roman Empire at the time, a mob of Milanese Catholics virtually forced Ambrose to become their bishop against his own will.

Eight days after his baptism, Ambrose received episcopal consecration on 7 December 374. The date would eventually become his liturgical feast.

Bishop Ambrose did not disappoint those who had clamored for his appointment and consecration.

He began his ministry by giving everything he owned to the poor and to the Church.

He looked to the writings of Greek theologians like St. Basil for help in explaining the Church's traditional teachings to the people during times of doctrinal confusion.

Like the fathers of the Eastern Church, Ambrose drew from the intellectual reserves of pre-Christian philosophy and literature to make the faith more comprehensible to his hearers.

This harmony of faith with other sources of knowledge served to attract, among others, the young professor Aurelius Augustinus – a man Ambrose taught and baptized, whom history knows as St. Augustine of Hippo.

Ambrose himself lived simply, wrote prolifically, and celebrated Mass each day.

He found time to counsel an amazing range of public officials, pagan inquirers, confused Catholics, and penitent sinners.

His popularity, in fact, served to keep at bay those who would have preferred to force him from the diocese, including the Western Empress Justina and a group of her advisers, who sought to rid the West of adherence to the Nicene Creed, pushing instead for strict Arianism.

Ambrose heroically refused her attempts to impose heretical bishops in Italy, along with her efforts to seize churches in the name of Arianism.

Ambrose also displayed remarkable courage when he publicly denied communion to the Emperor Theodosius, who had ordered the massacre of 7,000 citizens in Thessalonica leading to his excommunication by Ambrose.

The chastened emperor took Ambrose's rebuke to heart, publicly repenting of the massacre and doing penance for the murders.

“Nor was there afterwards a day on which he did not grieve for his mistake,” Ambrose himself noted when he spoke at the emperor's funeral.

The rebuke spurred a profound change in Emperor Theodosius. He reconciled himself with the Church and the bishop, who attended to the emperor on his deathbed.

St. Ambrose died in 397.

His 23 years of diligent service had turned a deeply troubled diocese into an exemplary outpost for the faith.

His writings remained an important point of reference for the Church, well into the medieval era and beyond.

St. Ambrose has been named one of the “Holy Fathers of the Church, whose teaching all bishops should in every way follow.”