AMBROSE, ST.

Ambrose, St.: translation

(c. 333, Trier, Germany – 4 April, 397, Milan)

   The "Father of Christian Hymnology," he was elected Bishop of Milan in 374 and introduced the eastern practices of antiphonal and congregational singing into the liturgy as part of a psalm vigil service, which consequently spread widely. That he composed the text for the Te Deum was discredited in the 19th century, but scholars believe he did write as many as 14 traditionally attributed texts, and certainly Aeterne rerum conditor, Deus creator omnium, Iam surgit hora tertia, and Intende qui regis Israel.