” “"Catechesis is inseparable from the testimony of life". These are the words of Benedict XVI in this morning’s catechesis about the figure of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan in the IV century. Speaking to the 20 thousand devotees gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, the Pope recalled the death of the bishop of the Milanese diocese, which took place in 397, at the dawn of the Holy Saturday. "On that Good Friday in 397 he said , Ambrose’s wide-open arms as he died expressed his mystical participation in the death and resurrection of the Lord. That was his last catechesis: in the silence of his words, he still spoke with the testimony of his life". Born in Trier in 340, explained the Pontiff, "Ambrose was sent to run the provinces of Emilia and Liguria, from the see of Milan", where the fight between Orthodox and Arians was in full swing". He "soothed the souls of the two opposing parties and his authority was so great that although he was a simple catechumen he was acclaimed by the people as Bishop of Milan". Because of this, went on the Pontiff, he began to study and comment the Scriptures, transferring "into the Latin milieu the meditation of the Scripture that had been started by Origen, thus starting in the West the practice of the lectio divina" which "went so far as to guide all of Ambrose’s preaching and writings". (continued)” “
