Saint Ambrose. "To Milan I came, to Ambrose the Bishop… whose eloquent discourse did then plentifully dispense unto Thy people the flour of Thy wheat, the gladness of Thy oil, and the sober inebriation …More
Saint Ambrose.
"To Milan I came, to Ambrose the Bishop… whose eloquent discourse did then plentifully dispense unto Thy people the flour of Thy wheat, the gladness of Thy oil, and the sober inebriation of Thy wine. To him was I unknowing led by Thee, that by him I might knowingly be led to Thee. That man of God received me as a father, and showed me an Episcopal kindness on my coming. Thenceforth I began to love him…. And I listened diligently to him preaching to the people, not with that intent I ought, but, as it were, trying his eloquence, whether it answered the fame thereof, or flowed fuller or lower than was reported; and I hung on his words attentively; but of the matter I was as a careless and scornful looker-on…. And while I opened my heart to admit “how eloquently he spake,” there also entered “how truly he spake”; but this by degrees." – St Augustine, from book 5 of his 'Confessions'. This statue of St Ambrose is from the south door of the church of Notre Dame du Sablon in Brussels.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr
"To Milan I came, to Ambrose the Bishop… whose eloquent discourse did then plentifully dispense unto Thy people the flour of Thy wheat, the gladness of Thy oil, and the sober inebriation of Thy wine. To him was I unknowing led by Thee, that by him I might knowingly be led to Thee. That man of God received me as a father, and showed me an Episcopal kindness on my coming. Thenceforth I began to love him…. And I listened diligently to him preaching to the people, not with that intent I ought, but, as it were, trying his eloquence, whether it answered the fame thereof, or flowed fuller or lower than was reported; and I hung on his words attentively; but of the matter I was as a careless and scornful looker-on…. And while I opened my heart to admit “how eloquently he spake,” there also entered “how truly he spake”; but this by degrees." – St Augustine, from book 5 of his 'Confessions'. This statue of St Ambrose is from the south door of the church of Notre Dame du Sablon in Brussels.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr