sits therein the bodies of martyrs Vitalis and Agricola he brought from Bononia. Delivers Exhortatio virginitatis; also writes Letter 59. 394 Theodosius sets out against Eugenius from Constantinople. Early in August St. Ambrose returns to Milan. On September 6, Theodosius defeats and slays Eugenius. St. Ambrose intercedes and wins pardon for followers of Eugenius. St. Ambrose writes Enarrationes in Psalmos 35-40; also Letters 61 and 62. Arbogast commits suicide on September 8. Toward end of year, Paulinus, later Bishop of Nola, and his wife Therasia renounce world. Theodosius becomes ill, and Honorius arrives at Milan. 395 Theodosius dies in Milan. St. Ambrose delivers De obitu Theodosii. Honorius and Arcadius become emperors. St. Augustine made Bishop of Hippo. Arcadius marries Eudoxia on April 27. On November 27, Rufinus is murdered. Remains of Saint Nazarius and Celsus are discovered by St. Ambrose and brought to Basilica of Apostles. Composition of De nabuthe Iezraelita. 396 Affair of Cresconius and Ambrose's correspondence with Queen Fritigil. Because of dissensions at Vercellae, St. Ambrose visits Church there and writes Letter 63. St. Ambrose consecrates a bishop at Ticinum. A little later he falls ill. He commences but is unable to finish Enarratio in Psalm. 43. He recommends Simplicianus as his successor and dies very early in the morning of Easter Eve. He is buried in Ambrosian Basilica on April 5. 397 Some of the more important letters of St. Ambrose have been listed in the table above. The entire collection of ninetyone extant letters is presented in an English version by Sister Mary Melchior Beyenka, O. P., in Volume 26 of this series. Sister Mary Melchior divides the collection into the following groups: Letters to Emperors; Letters to Bishops; Synodal Letters; Letters to Priests; Letters to His Sister; Letters to Laymen. BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources: The important sources for the life of St. Ambrose, besides his complete works, are the following: Life of St. Ambrose, by his secretary Paulinus. It is probably the most reliable of all the biographies of saints belonging to this period. Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History. This is independent of Paulinus, and has its information from a friend of St. Ambrose, Bishop Chromatius of Aquileia; its substantial accuracy is unquestioned. St. Augustine, who knew Ambrose and was baptized by him in 387. Cf. St. Augustine: Confess. 5.13 and 14; 6.1-4; 9.5-7; Epp. 36, 44, 54, 147; De civitate Dei 22.8; De cura pro mort. 21; De gratia Christi 47; Contr. Julian. Pelagi 1.10; Serm. 286.4. St. Jerome, De viris, illustribus 124; Chronicon, Olymp. 288; Epp. 15.4; 22.22; 48.14 and 18; 84.7; 121.6; Apol. adv. Rufinum, 1,2; Transl. Hom. XXXIX Origenis in ev. Luc. Prolog. Sulpicius Severus, Chron. 2.48; Orosius, Hist. adv. paganos, 7.36; Anonymous, Gallican Chronicle A.D. 452 in Chronica Minora, ed. Mommsen, M.G.H. 9.646; Prosper 375 and 380; Idatius 382 and 385; Ennodius, ed. F. Vogel, 195, 346; Cassiodorus, Instit. Div. Litt. 20; Chron. 380; Marcellinus 398; Gregory of Tours, De miraculis sancti Martini 1.5; De glor. martyrum 47. Socrates, Ecclesiastical History 4.30; 5.11. This is regarded as of little value; its chronology is especially confused. Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History 6.24; 7.13,25. His sources are Rufinus and Socrates. Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History 4.6-7; 5.13,17,18. The chief source appears to be Sozomen. St. Basil, Ep. 197. Written to St. Ambrose, who had been elevated to archepiscopate of Milan only the year before, this letter is an answer to a request that the relics of St. Dionysius of Milan, who died in Cappadocia, be returned to his native city. Editions and Translations: Botte, Dom Bernard, Ambroise de Milan, Des sacrements des Mystères (Paris 1949). Faller, O., Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 73, containing among other works De sacramentis and De mysteriis (Vienna 1955). Frisch, J. du, et N. le Nourry, Sancti Ambrosii Mediolanensis Episcopi Opera, 2 vols. (Paris 1686-1690). Migne J., Patrologiae Latinae Cursus Completus (3rd reprint of the Benedictine edition), (Paris 1845). Romestin, H. de, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. 2 (New York 1896) 10. General Works: Broglie, Duc de, Saint Ambrose, trans. Margaret Maitland (London 1899). Dudden, F. Homes, The Life and Times of St. Ambrose, 2 vols. (Oxford 1935). Labriolle, Pierre de, The Life and Times of St. Ambrose, trans. Herbert Wilson (St. Louis 1928). Loughlin, J. F., 'Saint Ambrose,' in Catholic Encyclopedia (London 1907). Nagl, Maria Assunta, Der Heilige Ambrosius (Münster 1951). Palanque, Jean Remy, Saint Ambroise et l'empire romain (Paris 1933). Ratti, A., 'The Ambrosian Church of Milan,' in Essays in History (London 1933) 1-110. Thompson, T. and J. H. Srawley, St. Ambrose On the Sacraments and On the Mysteries (London 1950). |