AMBROSXANS 404 AMBR03IANS to rule the Church there, but his exhortations so overcame tliis indifference that the Milanese virgins, now grown to be nunu'rous and fervent, formed the favourite portion ol liis iloclc, and widows strove to equal them in piety. Many of these holy women limited themselves to the obligations imposed by a chaste life, and shared the lives of their families in all other ways; others, however, withdrew alto- gether from their families and from the world, to live under the guidance of a superior a life of pov- erty and mortification filled with the praises of God, with meditation on the Holy Scriptures and the exercise of various worlcs of Christian charity. It was to one of such associations of virgins who took the instructions of the holy Bishop as their rule of life that St. Marcellina, the sister of St. Ambrose, belonged. These teachings have been summed up in certain treatises of his which have come down to us, namely, in his three books "De virginibus ", his one book "De viduis," and those "De virgini- tate", "De institutione virginis", "De exhortatione virginitatis", and "De lapsu virginis consecratre" (P. L., XVI, 187-389). St. Ambrose is, in fact, the one Father who has written most concerning virginity. His writings, and the example of what was taking place at Milan, did much to foster voca- tions to virginity and the formation of those com- munities which were later to grow into monasteries of women. The whole movement, indeed, is one of the most remarkable in the Christian life of the second half of the fourth century. These holy women, while waiting to have rules for the religious life specially written for them, contented themselves with the Bible, with certain treatises of the Fathers concerning their state, and certain traditions con- cerning the practical ordering of their lives. Some of these rules unquestionably dated back to the holy Doctors who had presided over the formation of the earliest communities, so that it becomes easy to understand the influence which St. Ambrose ex- ercised over the beginnings of the religious life among women. Th'5 Order of St. Ambrose was the name of two religious congregations, one of men and one of women, founded in the neighbourhood of Milan dur- ing the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, under the patronage and invocation of St. Ambrose. (a) The cradle of the first was a wood near Milan, where three noble Milanese, Alexander Grivelli, Antonio Petrasancta, and Albert Besuzzi, sought a retreat from the world. Other solitaires, and even priests, joined them, and Gregory XI gave them the Rule of St. Augustine, with certain special constitutions (1.375). Thenceforward they had a canonical existence, and took the name of "Fratres Sancti Ambrosii ad Nemus ". Their habit consisted of a tunic, scapular, and hood, of a chestnut colour, and they elected their own prior, who was subse- quently instituted by the Archbishop of Milan. The priests of the congregation devoted themselves to preaching and to the labours of the apostolic minis- try; they were not, however, allowed to accept the charge of a parish. In matters of liturgy they all followed the Ainbrosian Rite. Various monasteries were founded on these lines, whose sole bond of union was a community of customs, and which Eugenius IV merged into one congregation, in 1441, under the name of "Congregatio Sancti Ambrosii ad Nemus", with the original house as its centre. The general chapter met everj' three years, and elected the prions, whose term of oH^ice was for the same period. The rector, or superior-general, had two visitors to as.sist him. Their di.scipline had become relaxed in the time of St. Charles Horromeo, who succe-ssfuUy undertook their reform (1.579). In l.')89 Sixtus V united the monasteries of the "Broth- ers of the Apostles of the Poor Life", also known as "Apostolini", or "Brothers of St. Barnabas", to the Congregation of St. Ambrose. Their houses were situated in the Province of Genoa and in the March of Ancona; the order had been founded by Giovanni Scarpa at the end of the fifteenth century. After this union, which was confirmed by Paul V in 1606, the congregation added the naine of St. Barnabas to its title, adopted new constitutions, and divided its houses into four provinces, two of the houses, St. Clement's and St. Pancras's, being in Rome. Ascanio Tasca, and Michele Mulozzani, each of whom was superior-general, have left several works, as have Zaccaria Visconti, and Francesco- Maria Guazzi. Another member of the order, Paolo Fabulotti, was the author of a treatise "De potestate papse super concilium" (Venice, 1613), of which there have been several editions. Various Ambrosians, moreover, have received the title of Blessed, namely: Antonio Gonzaga of Mantua, Filippo of Fermo, and Girardo of Monza. The order was dissolved by Innocent X in 1650. (6) The Nuns of St. Ambrose (Ambrosian Sisters) wore a habit of the same chestnut colour as the Brothers of St. Ambrose, followed the Ambrosian Liturg; , and con- formed to their constitutions without, however, being under the jurisdiction of their superiors and general chapters, Si.xtus IV having, at their request, given the nuns this canonical standing in 1474. Their monastery, built on the top of Monte Varese, near Lago Maggiore, was under the invocation of Our Lady of the Mount. Their foundress ^as the Blessed Catarina Jlorigia, or of Palanza, who first led a solitary life on this spot, and is commemorated 6 April. Several of her original companions died in the odour of sanctity, namely: the Blessed Juliana of Puriselli, Benedetta Bimia, and Lucia Alciata. Our Lady of the Mount was their one monastery. The nuns long maintained their fervour, and were held in high esteem by St. Charles Borromeo. The Annunciat;B of Lombardy are also called " Nuns of St. Ambrose", or "SLsters of St. Marcellina", and were founded, in 1408, by three young women of Pavia — Dorothea Morosini, Eleonora Contarini, and Veronica Duodi — who were under the direction of the Benedictine, Beccaria. Their houses, scat- tered throughout Lombardy and Venetia, were united into a congregation by St. Pius V, under the Rule of St. Augustine. The mother-house is at Pavia. It is the residence of the prioress-general, who is elected every three years, by the general chapter of the con- gregation. Mother Joanna of Parma, who entered the Order in 1470, did more than anyone else towards giving it a definite organization. The nuns lived in cloister, under the jurisdiction of the bishops. One of their number was St. Catharine Fieschi Adorno, who died 14 September, 1510. The Oblates op St. Ambrose and of St. Charles. — St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, early realized the assistance which the various religious orders would be to him in the reform of his diocese in compliance with the injunction of the Council of Trent. The help of the Barnabites, Somaschi, and Theatines was, therefore, cnlistcil by him, and he entrusted the management of his semi- nary to the Jesuits, who were great favourites of his, though he found himself subsequently obliged to take it from them. These various auxiliaries, however, great as was their devotion, were not sulli- ciently at his disposal to supply all the needs con- nected with the government of a vast diocese. Ac- cordingly, the Archbishop, in order to fill this gap, decided to found a diocesan religious society whose members, all priests, or destined to become priests, should take a simple vow of obedience to their bishop. Such a society, in fact, already existed at Brescia, under the name of "Priests of Peace". St. Charles endeavoured, without success, to win
