March 20th - Blessed Ambrose Sansedoni, Mystic
(Also known as Ambrose of Siena or Ambrose Sassedoni)
Born in Siena, Italy, in 1220; died 1287; cultus confirmed in 1622.
Although
his
birth was attended by the prodigies also associated with Blessed James of
Bevagna (of Mevania)-that of three brilliant stars bearing the image of a
friar
preacher-Ambrose Sansedoni got off to a very bad start by the world's
account.
He was so badly deformed and so ugly that his own mother could hardly bear
to
look at him.
He was given into the care of a nurse, who daily took him with her to the
Dominican church where she attended Mass. Here it was remarked that the
baby,
who fretted most of the time, was quiet and content when the nurse would
hold
him near the altar of relics, and that he cried violently when taken away.
One day, as the nurse was kneeling there with the baby's face covered with
a
scarf, a pilgrim approached and said to her, "Do not cover that child's
face. He
will one day be the glory of this city." A few days later, at this same
altar, a
miracle occurred. The unfortunate child suddenly reached out his twisted
limbs
and quite distinctly pronounced the sacred name of Jesus. At once, all
deformity
left him, and he became a normal child.
So early marked with the favor of God, it was only natural that Ambrose
would be
pious. As a child of seven he would rise at night to pray and meditate,
and
he
daily recited the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. While still a
child,
he
was charitable to a heroic degree, and busied himself with the poor, the
abandoned, and the sick. When he was only two or three years old, his
father,
who was an illuminator of books, made two little books for him. One was on
secular subjects, the other on the saints. Ambrose made no hesitation
about
choosing the latter as his favorite, and throughout his life he was to
exhibit
this same choice of the things of God.
Being a handsome and talented young man, Ambrose was beset with
difficulties
when he expressed his intention of becoming a member of the preaching
friars.
Parents and friends tried to change his mind, and the devil appeared in
several
different forms to counsel him against such a step. Ambrose courageously
overcame all the obstacles in his path and joined the friars on his 17th
birthday.
After his profession in 1237, Ambrose was sent to Paris to study under
Saint
Albert the Great. With his fellow pupil, Saint Thomas Aquinas, he returned
to
Cologne with Saint Albert, and thus was associated for some years with the
two
finest minds of the century. It is said that the humility of Ambrose, and
his
recognition of the true greatness of Saint Thomas's writings, led him to
devote
his time to preaching rather than writing. He was sent on many
peace-making
missions during his 30 years of preaching, and was highly regarded by both
popes
and Dominicans.
Despite a very active apostolate of preaching in Germany, France, and
Italy,
Ambrose lived a life of almost uninterrupted prayer. He was often in
ecstasy,
and, shortly before his death, he was favored with several visions of
great
beauty. It is said that his death was hastened by the vehemence of his
preaching. Sometimes when he preached he levitated and a circle of glory,
in
which birds of brilliant plumage flitted, surrounded him. Many miracles
were
re****ted at his tomb, and he has been popularly called "Saint Ambrose of
Siena"
since the time of his death (Benedictines, Dorcy).
In art, Blessed Ambrose is a Dominican with a dove at his ear (Roeder). He
may
also be represented as (1) holding in his hand a model of his native Siena
(Benedictines), (2) holding a book, or (3) preaching (Roeder).
Ambrose is the patron of betrothed couples and especially venerated in
Siena
(Roeder).
Saint Quote:
Even the death on the Cross was sublime: for it was the culminating and
necessary point in that scheme of Love in which death was to be followed
by
blessed resurrection for the whole "lump" of humanity: and the Cross
itself
has
a mystic meaning.
-Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Bible Quote:
12 And on the next day, a great multitude that was to come to the festival
day,
when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches
of
palm
trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried: Hosanna, blessed is he that
cometh
in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel. (John 12:12-13)
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Gospel Canticle- Luke 1:68-79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
He has come to His people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of His servant David.
Through His holy prophets He promised of old
that He would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant.
This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to wor****p Him without fear,
holy and righteous in His sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,
to give His people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to ****ne on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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The second sorrowful mystery prayer of the Eucharistic
Rosary, to be offered before the Blessed Sacrament:
The Scourging of our Lord at the pillar, offered for penitence
and mortification:
O good Jesus! scourged and covered with wounds, the sins
committed by men against the holy virtue of purity thus
torture Thy innocent flesh; and in the Blessed Sacrament
impure hearts insult Thee by their sacrilegious communions.
O Thou bloody Victim, scourged at the pillar, patient Victim
abused in the Sacrament, we adore Thee and we beg of Thee,
through the intercession of Thy holy Mother the grace of
mortifying our senses.
Imprimatur: + John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York,
Sept 19, 1908.
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