Tillemont, "served only to augment his humility. He rather sought to conceal the gifts that were bestowed on him, and grew daily in faith and charity before God and man. Instead of boasting how the Lord had delivered him from perils and dangers; he humbly said, that God denied to him the crown of martyrdom, after which he so earnestly longed, because He saw him unworthy of it." *

Sometimes when informed of the death of any good bishop, or other person of eminent piety, he would weep, but not because they had left this world, but rather for envy, that they had attained their goal, and he had yet to run his course.

Although St. Ambrose was so inflexible in all matters of discipline, yet he was invariably kind and paternal in his manner. In one of his letters to Theodosius he says: "He who loves most truly reproves most freely; and the more I esteem a person, the more earnestly do I speak the truth to him, even at the risk of offending him."

St. Augustine says of his mother, that "she loved him (St. Ambrose) as an angel of God," and it is hardly to be supposed that so many, both high and low, would have clung so affectionately to him, had they not felt that he was truly a father to them.

His writings were numerous, and till just before

* Vie de S. Ambroise, Ar. 48.

† Conf. bk. vi. 3.

his death, we are told by Paulinus, that he wrote them all with his own hand.

On Easter Day the earthly remains of the great Ambrose were removed into the church which bears his name, and he was buried beneath the altar. His memory is still cherished; the Roman Church celebrates the 7th of December, the anniversary of his ordination, while the English Church has appointed the 4th of April for his commemoration, supposing that to have been the date of his death. But Ambrose will be remembered by both Churches, nay, by all Churches, with gratitude and veneration, as long as Christianity endures; for, as it has been beautifully observed,—“ The Church neither forgets her departed saints, nor deems that they are severed from her fellowship. The communion of saints is a part of her baptismal faith, and though hid from the eyes, she knows they are nigh in spirit. She commemorates them with thanksgivings, and commends them to God's keeping as her precious treasures. fondly cherishes the remembrance of their words and deeds, of their gentleness and purity; she rejoices over them with a sorrowful gladness, as a mother musing over departed children; she can no longer behold them, and break bread with them, but she can prolong their presence by the vivid recollection of their beloved image, and by the consciousness of an united adoration; she knows that while

She

she tarried praying without, they were but within the precinct of an inner court, nearer to the Eternal Throne. . . . They are not severed, but out of sight. The communion of saints is still one. Nothing is changed but the visible relations of an earthly life.

.. The unity of the Saints on earth with the Church unseen is the closest bond of all. Hell has no power over it; sin cannot blight it; schism cannot rend it; death itself can but knit it more strongly. Nothing is changed but the relation of sight; like as when the head of a far-stretching procession, winding through a broken hollow land, hides itself in some bending vale; it is still all one; all advancing together; they that are farthest onward in the way are conscious of their lengthened following; they that linger with the last are drawn forward, as it were, by the attraction of the advancing multitude. Even so we are ever moving on, ever pressing on beyond the bounds of this material world. The life of the Church is one and indivisible; there is but one energy of spiritual being in which all are united, all are nourished by the same hidden manna, all slake their thirst in the same waters of life."* Yes, and our Church, in the Eucharistic service, faithfully holds the doctrine of this "Communion of

* The Commemoration of the faithful departed.--Archdeacon Manning.

T

the Saints."

Thus she prays:

"We also bless Thy

holy name for all Thy servants departed this life in Thy faith and fear, beseeching Thee to give us grace so to follow their good example, that with them we may be partakers of Thy heavenly kingdom."

ST. AUGUSTINE.

As when the sun hath climb'd a cloudy mass,
And looks at noon on some cathedral dim,
Each limb, each fold, in the translucent glass,
Breaks into hues of radiant Seraphim;

So, sainted Bishop! in the letter'd store
Which still enfolds thy spirit fled from sight,
Comment, prayer, homily, or learned lore,
Christ bathes each part with His transforming light

Late ris'n in thee. Thence all is eloquent
With flowing sweetness! o'er each rising pause
Thou build'st in untir'd strength: through all is sent
The Word, pleading for His most righteous laws.

For thy sick soul, by Baptism's seal reliev'd,

Deep in her brackish founts the healing Cross receiv'd.

THE CATHEDRAL.