Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

"The mysteries of God are unsearchable, as is especially declared in the prophetical words: What man is he that can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of the Lord is?  Nevertheless, some things have been revealed to us.  And hence we may gather, from the words and works of our Lord and Saviour, that there was a special purpose of God in the fact that she who was chosen to bring forth the Lord was espoused to a man.  Why did not the power of the Highest overshadow her before she was so espoused?  Perhaps it was lest any might blasphemously say that the Holy One was conceived in fornication.

And the Angel came in unto her.  Let us learn from his Virgin how to bear ourselves: let us learn by her devout utterance; above all let us learn by the holy mystery to be timid, to avoid the advances of men, and to shrink from men's addresses.  Would that our women would learn from the example of modesty here set before us.  She upon whom the stare of men had never been fixed was alone in her chamber, and was found only by an Angel.  There was neither companion nor witness there, that what passed might not be debased in gossip; and the Angel saluted her."

-- From a homily by St Ambrose

** Painting by Peter Paul Rubens

Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"And behold, there was man in Jerusalam, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.  The birth of the Lord is attested not only by Angels, Prophets and shepherds, but also by elders and just men.  Every age, and both sexes, as well as the wonders of the events themselves, are here present to strengthen our faith.  A virgin conceiveth, a barren woman beareth, a dumb man speaketh, Elisabeth prophesieth, the wise man worshippeth, the unborn child leapeth, the widow praiseth, and the just man waiteth.


Well is he called just, who looked not for favour for himself but for consolation for his people.  He desired to be set free from the bondage of this frail body, but he waited to see the Promised One; for he knew that blest are the eyes that see him.  Then took he him up in his arms, and blest God, and said: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.  Behold a just man, confined in the weary prison of the body, desiring to depart, and to begin to be with Christ. For it is far better to depart and be with Christ.


Whosoever will depart and be with Christ, let him come into the temple.  Yea, let him come, as to Jerusalem, and wait for the Lord's Christ.  Let him take hold on the Word of God, let him embrace the same with good works, as it were with arms of faith.  Then let him depart in peace, for he who hath seen Life, shall not see death.  Behold how the Lord's birth doth overflow with abounding grace for all, and prophecy was not denied except to the unbelieving.  Behold, Simeon prophesieth that the Lord Jesus Christ is come for the fall and rising of many.  Yea, he shall separate the just from the unjust by their deserts.  And according as our work shall be, so shall the true and righteous Judge command us to be punished or rewarded."

-- From a homily by St Ambrose

** The painting is by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Memorial of St Ambrose

"Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, was the son of another Ambrose, a Roman citizen, and was born when his father was Prefect of Gaul.  A swarm of bees settled upon his face when he was in his cradle, which was considered an omen of his future eloquence.  He received a liberal education at Rome.  He was afterwards, under the Prefect Probus, made governor of Liguria and Aemília, and so came with authority to Milan.  Auxentius, an Arian, who had been intruded into the Bishoprick of Milan, happening to die, the most violent disputes arose about the choice of a successor.  Ambrose came to the church in his official capacity, and urged upon the contending factions, in a long and powerful speech, the necessity of keeping the public peace; whereupon a child suddenly cried out, Ambrose, Bishop, and the whole assembly took it up, and unanimously called for his election.


Ambrose refused, and would not yield to their prayers, whereupon they carried their petition to the Emperor Valentinian.  It was very pleasing to this Prince that those he had appointed as judges should be chosen Bishops, as also the Prefect Probus, who had, as it were prophetically, said to him when he appointed him, Go and govern them more like a Bishop than a Judge.  When the will of the Emperor was added to the desire of the people, Ambrose yielded, and received Baptism (for hitherto he was only a Catechumen), Confirmation and Communion, and then the several Orders on successive days, till on the eighth day, which was the 7th of December, the weight of the Episcopate was laid upon his shoulders.  Being made Bishop, he shewed himself a stout upholder of the Catholic faith, and the discipline of the Church, and turned to the truth great numbers of Arians and other heretics, and, among them, he begat in Christ Jesus that burning and shining light of the Church, Augustine.


After the murder of the Emperor Gratian, Ambrose was sent as an ambassador to Máximus, by whom he had been slain, and, as he refused to repent, the Bishop renounced his communion.  After the massacre which the Emperor Theodosius had commanded at Thessalonica, he refused to permit that Prince to enter a church.  The Emperor pleaded that he was no worse than David, who had been guilty of adultery and murder, to which Ambrose answered him, As thou hast followed him in his sin, follow him also in his repentance.  Then Theodosius humbly did public penance laid upon him by the Bishop.  At length the Saint was worn out with his continual labour and care for the Church (for the which also he composed many excellent books), and foretold that the day of his death was at hand, though he had not then fallen into his last sickness.  As he lay dying, Honoratus, Bishop of Vercelli, heard a voice from God three times crying to him that the hour of Ambrose's departure was come, whereupon he went to him quickly, and gave him the sacred Body of our Lord.  When he had received it, the Saint, still praying, with his hands stretched out in the form of a cross, gave his spirit to God, upon the 4th day of April, in the year of Christ 397."


-- From the 1911 Breviary of St Pius X (1955 ed)


** 5th century mosaic of St Ambrose

Let us then not be ashamed to confess our sins

"Let us then not be ashamed to confess our sins unto the Lord. Shame indeed there is when each makes known his sins, but that shame, as it were, ploughs his land, removes the ever-recurring brambles, prunes the thorns, and gives life to the fruits which he believed were dead. Follow him who, by diligently ploughing his field, sought for eternal fruit: Being reviled we bless, being persecuted we endure, being defamed we entreat, we are made as the off scouring of the world. If you plough after this fashion you will sow spiritual seed. Plough that you may get rid of sin and gain fruit. He ploughed so as to destroy in himself the last tendency to persecution. What more could Christ give to lead us on to the pursuit of perfection, than to convert and then give us for a teacher one who was a persecutor?"


-- From the writings of St Ambrose
** Drawing by David Myers

Memorial of St Agnes

"This is a virgin's birthday; let us then follow the example of her chastity. It is a Martyr's birthday; let us then offer sacrifices. It is the birthday of the holy Agnes; let men then be filled with wonder, little ones with hope, married women with awe, and the unmarried with emulation. But how shall I set forth the glory of her whose very name is an utterance of praise? It seemeth to me that this being, holy beyond her years, and strong beyond human nature, received the name of Agnes, not as an earthly designation, but as a revelation from God of what she was to be. For this name Agnes is from the Greek, and being interpreted, signifieth Pure. So that this saintly maiden is known by the very title of Chastity: and when I have added thereto the word Martyr, I have said enough. She needeth not the praise which we could utter, but do not. None is more praiseworthy than she for whose praise all mouths are fitted. As many as name her, so many praise her, by the noble title of martyr.

We learn by tradition that this holy martyr testified in the thirteenth year of her age. We will pass by the foul cruelty which did not spare her tender years, to contemplate the great power of her faith, whereby she overcame the weakness of childhood, and witnessed a good confession. Her little body was hardly big enough to give play to the instruments of their cruelty, but if they could scare sheath their swords in her slight frame, they found in her that which laughed the power of the sword to scorn. She had no fear when she found herself grasped by the bloody hands of the executioners. She was unmoved when they dragged her with clanging chains. Hardly entered on life, she stood fully prepared to die. She quailed not when the weapons of the angry soldiery were pointed at her breast. If they forced her against her will to approach the altars of devils, she could stretch forth her hands to Christ amid the very flames which consumed the idolatrous offerings, and mark on the heathen shrine the victorious Cross of the Lord. She was ready to submit her neck and hands to the iron shackles, but they were too big to clasp her slender limbs. Behold a strange martyr! She is not grown of stature to fight the battle, but she is ripe for the triumph; too weak to run in the race, and yet clearly entitled to the prize; unable from her age to be aught but a learner, she is found a teacher.

She went to the place of execution a virgin, with more willing and joyful footsteps than she would have gone with to the nuptial chamber as a bride. The spectators were all in tears, and she alone did not weep. They beheld her with wonder, laying down that life of which she had hardly begun to taste the sweets, as freely as though she had drained it to the dregs and was weary of its burden. All men were amazed when they saw her whose years had not made her her own mistress, arise as a witness for the Deity. Consider how many threats her murderer used to excite her fears, how many arguments to shake her resolution, how many promises to bribe her to accept his offers of marriage. But she answered him: It is an insult to him whom I have wedded to expect me to comply. He that first chose me, his will I be. Headsmen, why waitest thou? Perish the body which draweth the admiration of eyes from which would turn away. She stood, prayed, and then bent her neck for the stroke. Now mightest thou have seen the murderer trembling as though he himself were the criminal, and the executioner's hand shake, and the faces of them that stood by turn white at the sight of her position, and all the while herself remain without fear. This one victim brought God a double offering, that of her purity, and that of her faith. She preserved virginity and achieved martyrdom."


-- Treatise on Virgins by St Ambrose

Memorial of St Ambrose

The life of St Ambrose of Milan, (Sant'Ambroggio de Milano in Italian) is a particularly fascinating story. He was born around 339 in what is now France, the son of the Roman prefect of Gaul. Following his his father's footsteps, Ambrose embarked upon a career in law and politics and by 370 AD, he had become the Imperial governor of Northern Italy. When the episcopal see of Milan became vacant in 374, the people demanded that Saint Ambrose be made their bishop. The neighboring bishops and the Emperor convinced him to accept this call as the will of God, and so the catechumen Ambrose was baptized and ordained first deacon, then priest, then bishop, all in a single week!

This politician-turned churchman was profoundly aware of his lack of preparation for this great responsibility and so set himself immediately to prayer and the study of Scripture. His deep spirituality and love of God's Word married together with the oratorical skill acquired in law and politics made St. Ambrose one of the greatest preachers of the early church.
St Ambrose proved to be a fierce opponent of heresy, paganism, and hypocrisy. He battled to preserve the independence of the Church from the state and courageously excommunicated the powerful Catholic Emperor Theodosius I for a massacre of innocent civilians in Thessalonica. St Ambrose also had a significant impact on sacred music through the composition of hymns and psalm tones that are known to this day as Ambrosian chant. Besides numerous sermons and treatises on the spiritual life, Saint Ambrose is responsible for two of the first great theological works written in Latin, De Sacramentis on the Sacraments and De Spiritu Sancto on the Holy Spirit.

Around 385, an ambitious professor of public speaking named Augustine came to hear Saint Ambrose preach in order to study his technique, and in the process, was attracted to the Catholic faith. In 386 Augustine was baptized by St Ambrose and went on to become bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Ambrose and his pupil, Augustine, together with St Jerome and St Gregory the Great, make up the four original Doctors of the Latin Church. Saint Ambrose, the great bishop of Milan, died on Holy Saturday (April 4) in the year 397 AD. His feastday in the Roman calendar is December 7, the day he was ordained bishop.

-- Biography by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, PhD

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"Dear brethren, God's love is calling us to the joys of eternal happiness for the salvation of our souls. You have just listened to the reading from the Apostle in which he says: Rejoice in the Lord always. The joys of this world lead to eternal misery, but the joys that are according to the Lord's will, bring those who persevere in them to joys that are enduring and everlasting. The Apostle therefore says: Again I say: rejoice.

He urges us to find ever increasing joy in God and in keeping his commandments. The more we try in this world to give ourselves completely to God our Lord by obeying his commands, the greater will be our happiness in the life to come, and the greater the glory tat will be ours in the presence of God.

Let your moderation be known to all men. That is to say, your holiness of life must be evident, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of men. It must give an example of moderation and self-control to all your contemporaries on earth and serve also as a memorial of goodness before God and men.

The Lord is near; have no anxiety. The Lord is always near to all who call upon his help with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love. He knows what you need, even before you ask him. He is always ready to come to the aid of all his faithful servants in every need. There is no reason for us to be in a state of great anxiety when evils threaten; we must remember that God is very near us as our protector. The Lord is at hand for those who are troubled in heart, and he will save those who are downcast in spirit. The tribulations of the just are many, and the Lord will rescue them from them all. If we do our best to obey and keep his commandments, he does not delay in giving us what he has promised.

But in every prayer and entreaty let your petitions be made known to God, with thanksgiving. In time of trouble we must not grumble or be downhearted; God forbid! We must rather be patient and cheerful, giving thanks to God always in everything."
 
-- From the Liturgy of the Hours