Festival of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Confessor
Posted on December 7, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 1:26-38 (NKJV)
1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Devotion
Have you ever waited a lifetime to hear something? How about two lifetimes? How about close to four thousand years? All mankind had been waiting since the expulsion from the Garden of Eden to hear that the Seed of the Woman was going to be born. Many believed in this promise and trusted in God’s plan of redemption. And when that promise was given, or repeated, or clarified, many scoffed, as Ahaz did, when Isaiah prophesied of Immanuel–“God With Us”–who would be born of a virgin. God performed a miracle to give Isaac to Abraham and Sarah when they were well beyond childbearing years. God wanted us to know that He could, and would, and did, bring His Son into the world through the miracle of the virgin birth.
In our devotional reading for today we see that blessed virgin’s response. She only mentioned in passing that it was not normally possible for her to bear a child, as she had not known a man. But when Gabriel says that this will be a divine miracle, she immediately confesses her faith and submits to God’s will: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” May we all be found to have such trust in our God’s gracious promises!
Prayer: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Festival of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Confessor: O God, who didst give Saint Ambrose as a faithful teacher of the saving truth in a time of great trial, grant to Thy people zeal for Thy Word and faithful teachers for Thy Church, that they may stand steadfast against all error, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Advent: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
