St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church
S. Ambrosii Episcopi Confessoris et Ecclesiæ Doctoris
FeastWhite
Understanding the Day
Season
Advent
Week
Week 2 of Advent
Rank
Feast
Advent is a season of waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ. In this second week of Advent we celebrate St. Ambrose, an important bishop, confessor, and Doctor of the Church. The rank “Double” is an older liturgical term that indicates this is a full feast observed with special prayers, readings, and a richer celebration of the Eucharist and the Divine Office; in practical family terms, it means the day has greater liturgical importance than ordinary weekdays of Advent while still keeping the season’s spirit of expectant prayer and penitence.
There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the observance takes place on the day itself within the Advent timetable. This celebration matters because it honors a pastor and teacher of the Church whose witness of leadership, teaching, and holiness helps families see how faith is lived in service to God and neighbor.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Sir 15:5 In the midst of the assembly he opened his mouth; and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding; He clothed him with a robe of glory. (Allelúja, allelúja.) Ps 91:2 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to Your name, Most High. Glory Be to the Father…
Commemoration Feria II after II Sunday of Advent We who have been refreshed by the food of spiritual nourishment, humbly beseech You, O Lord, that through partaking of this sacrament You will teach us to disdain the things of earth and love those of heaven. Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.
Weekly Formation
Willful Murder
Sins Crying to Heaven
Willful murder
Willful murder is the deliberate and unjust taking of innocent human life. Scripture describes innocent blood as crying to God because the act attacks a person made in His image and commits an injustice that the victim can no longer answer on earth.
The Ten Commandments
Thou shalt not kill.
The Fifth Commandment protects human life because every person is made by God and belongs ultimately to Him. It forbids unjust killing and deliberate injury, and it also condemns hatred, revenge, and conduct that recklessly endangers oneself or another.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebration
Ambrose
St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church
Roman theologian and Bishop of Milan (c. 340–397)
Born
0339-00-00 · Trier
Died
0397-04-04 · Milan
Ambrose of Milan, venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Arianism and paganism. He left a substantial collection of writings, of which the best known include the ethical commentary De officiis ministrorum (377–391), and the exegetical Exameron (386–390). His preaching, his actions and his literary works, in addition to his innovative musical hymnography, made him one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century.
In 1965, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I took a historic step by simultaneously revoking the mutual excommunications that had been in place since the Great Schism of 1054. This act symbolized a significant movement towards reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, fostering dialogue and unity in the Christian faith.
This event reminds us of the importance of reconciliation and unity in the body of Christ.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
In prayer, God speaks to us through his Word, and we respond with both our hearts and our words. Jesus taught his disciples the vocal prayer of the Our Father, and vocal prayer is an essential part of Christian life. Because it is expressed outwardly, it is especially accessible to groups and can lead us toward deeper, more contemplative prayer. Meditation invites us to seek understanding of the Christian life, reflect on what we read in Scripture and other helps for prayer, and bring it honestly into the realities of our lives. As we pray, we can ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Through vocal prayer and meditation on the mysteries of Christ, we are led toward a deeper knowledge of the love of Jesus and union with him.
¶ 2701
Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his disciples, drawn by their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the Our Father. He not only prayed aloud the liturgical prayers of the synagogue but, as the Gospels show, he raised his voice to express his personal prayer, from exultant blessing of the Father to the agony of Gesthemani.
¶ 2702
The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience the need to translate our feelings externally. We must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our supplication.
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
¶ 2703
This need also corresponds to a divine requirement. God seeks worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that rises from the depths of the soul. He also wants the external expression that associates the body with interior prayer, for it renders him that perfect homage which is his due.
¶ 2704
Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer, however, cannot neglect vocal prayer. Prayer is internalized to the extent that we become aware of him "to whom we speak;" Thus vocal prayer becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer.
¶ 2705
Meditation is above all a quest. the mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. the required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the "today" of God is written.
¶ 2706
To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"
¶ 2707
There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.
¶ 2708
Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.
Baltimore track
Baltimore Catechism No. 3
Lesson 34 — From the Seventh to the End of the Tenth Commandment
Q. 1306.What are we commanded by the eighth Commandment?
A.We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things, and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one.
Q. 1307.What is a lie?
A.A lie is a sin committed by knowingly saying what is untrue with the intention of deceiving. To swear to a lie makes the sin greater, and such swearing is called perjury. Pretense, hypocrisy, false praise, boasting, &c., are similar to lies.
Q. 1308.How can we know the degree of sinfulness in a lie?
A.We can know the degree of sinfulness in a lie by the amount of harm it does and from the intention we had in telling it.
Q. 1309.Will a good reason for telling a lie excuse it?
A.No reason, however good, will excuse the telling of a lie, because a lie is always bad in itself. It is never allowed, even for a good intention to do a thing that is bad in itself.