05 — The Writings

Ambrose’s prose corpus beyond the anti-Arian works: the De Officiis, the first systematic Christian ethics in Latin; and the mystagogical and exegetical works — De Mysteriis, De Sacramentis, the Hexameron, and the commentaries on Scripture.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father / Latin)

Part of the St. Ambrose of Milan Reference Guide. This section contains two content files:

File	Summary
de-officiis-and-ethics.md	De Officiis and Christian Ethics — De Officiis Ministrorum, Ambrose’s three-book manual of conduct for the clergy, the first systematic treatise of Christian ethics in Latin: a deliberate reworking of Cicero’s De Officiis that takes over the Stoic framework of the honorable (honestum) and the useful (utile) and the four cardinal virtues, and refounds them on Scripture, humility, and charity — subordinating the useful to the honorable and making almsgiving and the redemption of captives the test of true liberality.
the-mysteries-and-the-hexameron.md	The Mysteries and the Hexameron — Ambrose’s mystagogical and exegetical works. De Mysteriis and De Sacramentis, the catecheses on baptism, chrismation, and the Eucharist that are the prime witnesses to fourth-century Milanese initiation and to a strong Latin eucharistic realism (the word of Christ changing the elements); and the Hexameron on the six days of creation, with the large body of allegorical commentary on the Old Testament patriarchs and the Psalms and on Luke, drawing on Basil, Philo, and Origen.

See Also

• St. Ambrose of Milan — master guide — the full collection and its sources
• The See of Milan — the almsgiving and stewardship De Officiis systematizes
• Preaching and Care — the catechesis behind De Mysteriis and De Sacramentis
• The Ambrosian Rite — the Milanese liturgy the mystagogical works attest
• METHODOLOGY — the citation and verification standard governing every file