Commontide
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
The 1st Sunday in Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Advent
Because you sent your beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life; that when he shall come again in power and great glory to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Ecumenical Commemoration
Ambrose was governor of Liguria and Aemilia when the people of Milan acclaimed him their bishop in 374, though he was not yet baptized. He was consecrated on 7 December of that year, the day the Church still keeps. As bishop he wrote against the Arians, composed hymns his congregation sang under siege, baptized Augustine, and told three emperors where the limits of their authority lay. He died at Milan on 4 April 397 and is buried there still.
Ambrose was born around 340 in Trier, Germany, the son of a Roman prefect. He received the education of a Roman aristocrat: classical rhetoric, philosophy, and law. Following his father's career path, he became a successful advocate and was appointed as a *consularis* (Roman governor) of the province of Aemilia-Liguria, which included Milan, one of the most important cities in the Western Roman Empire at this time.
In 374, the bishop of Milan died, and the city was divided between Arians and Nicene Christians over the succession. Ambrose, though still only a provincial governor and a catechumen (a Christian preparing for baptism but not yet baptized), was acclaimed by the entire city — both factions — as a compromise candidate for bishop. Despite his protests that he was unprepared and unbaptized, he was elected, baptized, and ordained as bishop within a week.
Ambrose's episcopacy transformed him from a capable administrator into one of the greatest figures of the Church. He brought to the office a combination of Roman practical wisdom, theological learning (he had studied Scripture intensively in preparation for the baptismal office), rhetorical brilliance, and uncompromising integrity. Almost immediately, he established himself as the spiritual leader not merely of Milan but of the Western Empire.
Ambrose's most famous confrontation was with the Emperor Theodosius I. In 390, after riots in the city of Thessalonica, Theodosius ordered the massacre of thousands of civilians. When the Emperor came to Milan to celebrate a festival, Ambrose barred him from the church and demanded public repentance. After weeks of conflict, Theodosius submitted to ecclesiastical discipline — a remarkable moment in which the Church asserted its prophetic authority against imperial power. This confrontation became the symbol of Ambrose's entire episcopal ministry: unwavering witness to Christian truth regardless of political cost.
Ambrose was also a prolific writer and theologian. He produced biblical commentaries, theological treatises on virginity and fasting, and a series of homilies on the Psalm-like canticles of Scripture. His works defended Nicene orthodoxy, explained Christian ethics to a Roman population newly Christianized, and established the theological framework for Western theology that Augustine would build upon.
Ambrose was also a liturgical innovator and composer. He developed new forms of hymnody for congregational singing, and several of his hymns survive (including the *Te Deum*, though its authorship is disputed). His liturgical reforms influenced the development of the Roman liturgy.
Ambrose's relationship with Augustine of Hippo, his younger contemporary, was crucial in Augustine's spiritual development. Augustine traveled to Milan, heard Ambrose preach, was impressed by his biblical scholarship and his synthesis of classical philosophy and Christian faith, and was baptized by Ambrose in 387 — an event that marked Augustine's definitive commitment to Christian life and intellectual work.
Ambrose died on April 4, 397 (his feast is celebrated on December 7, the anniversary of his ordination as bishop), having served Milan for 23 years. His epitaph read simply: 'Ambrose, a man of God.' His influence on the development of Western Christianity — through his theological work, his assertion of ecclesiastical independence, his liturgical innovations, and his influence on Augustine — exceeds that of almost any other fourth-century figure.
Traditionally, Ambrose's unexpected election as bishop was understood as a divine calling: a pagan magistrate suddenly transformed into one of the Church's greatest leaders. The story was told as evidence of God's providence and Ambrose's extraordinary gifts. His confrontation with Theodosius became the paradigmatic story of ecclesiastical resistance to imperial authority: the Church speaking truth to power, the Emperor humbling himself before God's representative.
According to Paulinus, Ambrose's final days were marked by spiritual victory. Though he suffered physical illness, he was sustained by prayer and Scripture. On his deathbed, he was visited by Augustine, and his last words were a prayer for the city of Milan. After his death, his body was discovered to be incorrupt — a tradition that reflected the veneration of his memory rather than a documented historical fact.