Ambrose of Milan, in a letter to Felix bishop of Como (Letter 5), refers to the construction and dedication of a church of Apostles, possibly *All Apostles (S02422) in Lodi, near Milan. Written in Latin in Milan (northern Italy), c. 381.
Evidence ID
E05148
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
Major author/Major anonymous work
Ambrose of Milan
Ambrose of Milan, Letter 5.1
Ortus enim sermo de basilicae, quam condidit Apostolorum nomine dedicatione, dedit huic sermoni viam; siquidem significabat quod sedulo tuae quaereret sanctitatis praesentiam.
‘For the conversation concerning the dedication of the basilica which he [Bassianus, bishop of Lodi] had built in the name of the Apostles gave rise to the following topic: he indicated that he dearly sought your holy company.'
Text: Faller 1968.
Translation: Frances Trzeciak.
Liturgical Activities
Ceremony of dedication
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
Letter 5 of the letter collection of Ambrose of Milan. This letter was addressed to a friend and correspondent, Bishop Felix of Como, Italy. Ambrose’s letters have been transmitted in ten books, but scholars disagree over whether this was a decision made by Ambrose or by a later editor. This letter dates from c. 381.The letter is preserved in the Maurist collection as Letter 4. See Patrologia Latina, vol. 16, 855D-867B for a discussion of this alternative order, which is based on the date of composition rather than the order of letters in the manuscript tradition.
Discussion
Lodi (ancient Laus Pompeia) is some 25 kilometres south-east of Milan. It is not entirely clear whether this church was dedicated to all the Apostles; it could have been a dedication to the Apostles best known in Italy, Peter and Paul.Bibliography
Edition:Faller, O., Sancti Ambrosii Opera: Epistulae et Acta (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 82.1; Vienna: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1968).
Further reading:
Canellis, A. (ed.), La correspondance d’Ambroise de Milan (Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne, 2012).
McLynn, N., Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
Nauroy, G., "The Letter Collection of Ambrose of Milan," in: C. Sogno, B. Storin and E. Watts (eds)., Late Antique Letter Collections (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2016), 146-156.
Images
Burials ad sanctos. Photo credit: M. Moliner, Marseille (M Moliner, 'La basilique funéraire', Gallia, 69(2) 134, fig. 65)
The entry pipe and tomb inside the shrine. Photo credit: M. Moliner, Marseille (M Moliner, 'La basilique funéraire', Gallia, 69(2) 134, fig. 68)
)
The plan of the church. Image from M Moliner, 'La basilique funéraire', Gallia, 69(2) 134, fig. 64)
Record Created By
Frances Trzeciak
Date of Entry
21/03/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S02422 | All Apostles | Apostoli | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E05148 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05148