In this third post in our Doctors of the Church series, we invite you to learn about three early Doctors of the Church and their contributions to the faith. From Saint Ambrose, who resisted authoritarianism, to the man who translated the Bible into the Vulgate, each of these men helped shape the doctrine of the early Church and draw others closer to the truth of the Gospel.
Read Part I and Part II of the Doctors of the Church series.
Saint Ambrose, 340-397 A.D.
Born around the year 340, Ambrose was the son of a high-ranking government official in Rome. Though his career began on a political trajectory, with a tenure as governor of northern Italy, the most pivotal moment in Ambrose’ life happened after the death of the bishop of Milan. The region was fraught with unrest as they argued over who should be the next bishop. Amidst the chaos, Ambrose urged the people to be peaceful and judicious in their selection. His sensibility gained him support, and within a week, he was baptized and consecrated bishop of Milan, even though he didn’t want the position!
Though he had previously lived a secular life, Ambrose poured himself into religious life following his appointment, studying Scripture and theology and praying daily. As he shepherded the Church through a tumultuous era, he shaped key areas of Christian doctrine and fearlessly stood against secular excesses in authority.
Over the course of his life, Ambrose penned many essays on asceticism, theology, spirituality, and contemporary issues of the era. He is also believed to have been influential in St. Augustine’s conversion to Christ, baptizing him in 387. Ambrose is the patron of beekeepers, learners, and Milan, and is depicted in the Basilica in the East Portico, the Baldachin, and in a window in the St. Margaret of Antioch chapel.
St. Jerome, 343-420 A.D.
One of the greatest scholars of the Church, Jerome was born in the 4th century in northern Italy. When he reached his thirties, he relocated to Syria, living as a recluse and learning Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. He used his extensive linguistic knowledge to create a translation of the Bible called the Vulgate. Using the “vulgar” (everyday) Latin, the translation made the Bible more accessible to common people. The Vulgate became the standard version of the Bible for the Catholic Church and was used for over a millennium.
When he learned of the destruction of Rome in 410, Jerome halted his beloved studies to oversee assistance to refugees who were fleeing to Palestine. As the Roman Empire continued to crumble, he became troubled by the destruction, and saddened by the capture of various monasteries. However, he continued to make valuable contributions to biblical scholarship for the remainder of his life. At the time of his death in 420, he was writing a commentary on the book of Jeremiah. In the Basilica, you can find Jerome depicted in the east façade, the St. Margaret of Antioch Chapel, and the Baldachin of the Great Upper Church.
St. John Chrysostom
The son of an army officer, John was born in Antioch, Syria, in 347, and became a Christian at age 23. Upon his conversion, he went to live with some monks in the mountains until poor health forced him to return to the city. After becoming the bishop of Constantinople in 397, he began to gain notoriety for his preaching.
Many of John’s sermons criticized the sensuous and lavish lifestyles led by the wealthy while the poor languished in the slums. His fearless excoriation of aristocratic customs eventually resulted in his exile to a remote town on the Black Sea. Unfortunately, he was forced to make the journey on foot in the middle of a blazing summer, pushed onward at an impossible pace by inhumane guards. Just a few months later, he was carried to a nearby chapel, where he died of exhaustion. His last words were, “Glory be to God for all things.”
Sources:
Butler’s Lives of Saints, ed. Bernard Bangley
The Way of Saints, Tom Cowan.