{"id":5769,"date":"2010-12-07T10:25:41","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T16:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=5769"},"modified":"2011-07-01T17:51:09","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T22:51:09","slug":"st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/07\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Ambrose and the White Robed Army"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today the Church observes the feast of St. Ambrose of Milan.\u00a0 In a letter (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, <\/em>vol. 10, pg 438) written to his sister, the future saint speaks of the discovery and reposition of the remains of two martyrs, Gervasius and Protasius.\u00a0 We read:<\/p>\n

Let these triumphant victims be brought to the place where Christ is the victim. But He upon the altar, Who suffered for all; they beneath the altar, who were redeemed by His Passion. I had destined this place for myself, for it is fitting that the priest should rest there where he has been wont to offer, but I yield the right hand portion to the sacred victims; that place was due to the martyrs. Let us, then, deposit the sacred relics, and lay them up in a worthy resting-place, and let us celebrate the whole day with faithful devotion.<\/em><\/p>\n

The esteem given to martyr witnesses is apparent.\u00a0 As was the Church in general, St. Ambrose was well aware of chapter 6, verse 9 from the Book of Revelation<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cWhen he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God.\u00a0 They cried out in a loud voice, “How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”\u00a0 Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Ambrose received his wish, as his remains to this day rest underneath the main altar of the Basilica of St. Ambrose<\/a> in Milan.\u00a0 And at his side rest the remains of Sts. Gervasius and Protasius \u2013 they in red, he in white.<\/p>\n

\n

\"A
A priest prays Mass at the tomb of Sts. Ambrose, Gervasius, and Protasius. Ambrose is laid out in the center (wearing white) with the two saint martyrs at either side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[362],"tags":[950,576,577,575],"class_list":["post-5769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saints-mary","tag-michael-wurtz-csc","tag-gervasius","tag-protasius","tag-ambrose"],"yoast_head":"\nSt. Ambrose and the White Robed Army - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/07\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St. Ambrose and the White Robed Army - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/07\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-07T16:25:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-01T22:51:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Ambrose-Tomb.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Wurtz, CSC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Wurtz, CSC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/07\\\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/07\\\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Wurtz, CSC\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/da2ae92d286514ddb1218c96ef3e40b2\"},\"headline\":\"St. Ambrose and the White Robed Army\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-07T16:25:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-01T22:51:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/07\\\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":362,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/07\\\/st-ambrose-and-the-white-robed-army\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/Ambrose-Tomb.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Fr. 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