Ambrose of Alexandria

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox saint Ambrose of Alexandria (before 212 – c. 250) was a friend of the Christian theologian Origen.

Life

Ambrose was attracted by Origen's fame as a teacher, and visited the Catechetical School of Alexandria in 212. At first a gnostic Valentinian and Marcionist, Ambrose, through Origen's teaching, eventually rejected this theology and became Origen's constant companion,<ref>Origen, Epistle to Sextus Julius Africanus vol. i. p. 29</ref> and was ordained deacon.<ref>Jerome's De Viris Illustribus # 61.</ref><ref>Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica vii. 18</ref> He plied Origen with questions, and urged him to write his Commentaries (treating him as "Template:Lang" in Commentary on John V,1) on the books of the Bible, and, as a wealthy nobleman and courtier,<ref name="DGRBM"/> he provided his teacher with books for his studies and secretaries to lighten the labor of composition.<ref>S. Epiph. adv. Haer. 64. [44] § 3</ref>

He suffered during the persecution under the Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax in 235.<ref>Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, 6.18.</ref> He was later released and died a confessor.<ref name="patrick">Template:Cite web</ref> The last mention of Ambrose in the historical record is in Origen's Contra Celsum, which the latter wrote at the solicitation of Ambrose.

Origen often speaks of Ambrose affectionately as a man of education with excellent literary and scholarly tastes. All of Origen's works written after 218 are dedicated to Ambrose, including his On Martyrdom, Contra Celsum, Commentary on St. John's Gospel, and On Prayer.<ref name="DGRBM">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Ambrose's letters to Origen (praised by Jerome) are lost, although part of one exists.<ref>Routh, Reliquiae Sacr. ii. p. 367</ref>

Veneration

Ambrose is venerated as a saint by some branches of Christianity. His feast day in the Catholic Church falls on 17 March.<ref name="patrick"/>